Kathy Castor Center for Counseling and Wellness supports the growing mental health needs in the community

Congresswoman Kathy Castor stands proudly with a group of women in front of the building where she is being transported. She cuts the blue ribbon draped over the entrance to mark the grand opening of the Kathy Castor Center for Counseling and Wellness.

The center is a new location as part of the Helen Gordon Davis Center For Women, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping women in the Tampa Bay area succeed in their personal and professional lives. Their original counseling center in Hyde Park has been serving the Tampa community since the 1970s.

The program provides counseling services to women, men, families, couples, teens and children over 9 years of age. They provide help and resources to approximately 400 to 500 clients per year. Eighty-two percent are women. Thirty-eight percent earn less than $14,000 a year. Twenty-four percent are single parents.

Photo by Tashie TierneyHelen Gordon Davis Center for Women, Director of Counseling and Wellbeing Susan McIntyre.“There are success stories where you see people change from being really depressed, negative or hopeless, after which they sit in the driver’s seat of life and can say: ‘I can determine my own path to my satisfaction’,” says Center for Women, director counseling and wellbeing, Susan McIntyre.

Meeting a growing need

As the need for mental health support grows, the Center for Women sees the need to expand its efforts. Castor, who had worked for the Center for Women for years, led the campaign to raise money for this building.

“We’ve seen mental health issues increase for all people, and especially for women who have to care for their families while trying to put food on the table,” Castor says. “It has now reached a point where it is all crushing and they need an outlet.”

With the help of the community and Castor’s efforts, the center has secured $1.2 million in federal grants to make the new building a reality and provide an essential service to the community: free therapy.

The grant allows the center to offer clients the first twelve counseling sessions free of charge. Through these sessions, the center supports underserved adults who lack the resources needed to receive mental health care. One of them is Bobbi, a client who just completed her twelve free sessions and wishes she had more.

When Bobbi Kingsbury came across the Center for Women’s counseling center, she was suffering under the crippling weight of financial insecurity, unresolved childhood trauma, and possible impending homelessness.

Bobbi says the counseling has given her newfound validation and coping skills.

“I don’t feel as powerless and hopeless as I did 12 sessions ago,” she says.Photo by Tashie TierneyBobbi Kingsbury says her counseling sessions at the Helen Gordon Davis Center for Women have given her new validation and coping skills.

“When I came to this place, I didn’t really want to live, I was hopeless… I don’t make enough money to even survive and that’s so stressful and so depressing,” Bobbi says. “That’s why it’s so important to have a place where twelve free sessions are possible.”

As Susan McIntyre emphasizes, therapy should not only be available to those who can afford it.

“Most of the people we see don’t have insurance, or the counseling isn’t covered, or there’s a huge co-pay, and these are people who may really need mental health… My job is to help those groups of people who are underserved, McIntyre says.

Serving the community in various ways

The Kathy Castor Center for Counseling and Wellness is located on Sligh Avenue in the upper edge of Seminole Heights, adjacent to some communities where residents are underserved, at risk and often do not have access to free counseling. Beyond just counseling, the center works to improve the communities around it by providing citizen groups and promoting mental wellness in schools.

With more than fourteen years of service at the Center for Women, McIntyre has seen firsthand the importance of going beyond counseling and support services to provide mental health care to the community. That is a fundamental goal of the new center. May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the center’s calendar is full of wellness seminars and events.

The center will continue to offer community events each month, educating the public on important mental health topics such as prevention, surviving trauma, and simply letting people know that it is normal to feel unwell, especially in stressful or difficult times. McIntyre calls them “healthy mindset” activities.

The center will also provide graduate students in counseling-related fields with valuable training in a clinical setting to fulfill degree and experience requirements.

Casey, who declined to give her last name, is one of those students. She has been working at the center since November and says it is a safe place for both clients and counselors in training.

Photo by Tashie TierneyCasey is a counselor in training who is gaining valuable experience in a clinical setting at the Kathy Castor Center for Counseling and Wellness.“We learn techniques to cope with our stressors, but a big part of that is having a community that you feel comfortable talking to,” says Casey. “The supervisors feel safe and heard, which allows us to show up to our clients 100 percent”

The Kathy Castor Center for Counseling and Wellness marks the beginning of a new, hopeful era in meeting the community’s mental health needs through community education programs, free therapy for underserved individuals, and valuable training for future counselors.

“I want people to know it’s here,” Castor says. “There is a lifeline for women and for families. If they don’t know where to go, they can go to the (middle).”

To reach the Helen Gordon Davis Center for Women counseling line, please call 813-210-9719. For more information, visit Women’s Wellness and Counseling Center.

This story was created through an underwriting agreement between 83 Degrees Media and the Helen Gordon Davis Center for Women to highlight programs the Center has created to help women in the Tampa Bay area achieve professional and personal success.