Healthy partnership

Three of Newton’s licensed mental health counselors are acknowledging a year of collaboration as they brought their independent practices under the same roof.

While the office was fully functional by Jan. 1, the three mental health service providers are marking their unofficial partnership anniversary. It was around this time last year that Tammy Foster Harban, Dr. Sally Kuhn and Mike Huff brought their practices to the same location at 1422 First Ave. E. in Newton.

Foster Harban founded Seasons Change Counseling nearly two years ago and was operating out of a smaller space in Newton. While she was happy with the work she was doing, the longtime therapist was missing being surrounded by others in the profession.

“It’s hard for our own mental health not to have somebody to bounce ideas off of, process things or see somebody else other than our patients. I was struggling with that and I just wanted some professional people around me to support me. We can laugh. I felt like it would be good to have a partnership,” Foster Harban said.

Kuhn, who was also operating her practice “by herself in a small building,” didn’t jump on board right away with the idea but eventually did see the benefits the collaboration could bring.

She is a psychiatric nurse practitioner with a clinical doctorate. While she is trained as a therapist, her main role has become to prescribe psychiatric medication that “help people function better and then hopefully be more successful in therapy and life in general.”

Huff, a LMHC, left his former position to open his private practice, Pal’ay Christian Counseling. He provides a wide range of therapy services to all age groups. He does offer some faith-based counseling, but only as the client wants or needs it.

“It’s hard in therapy to have some specialties because the individuals who walk through the doorway all have different things going on,” Huff said.

After a year, all three reflect that the community has welcomed them as they try to provide Newton with options to help those who have mental health concerns.

“I feel like we’ve been welcomed pretty well. We have a great location. I like the referrals coming in from other agencies,” Foster Harban said.

Mental Health in 2020

While the trio has been in partnership for a year, it was not the year anyone had planned. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone has had to adapt to a new way of life in many ways.

For a time, services had to switch to remote to limit face-to-face contact. As the numbers got better, they transitioned to in-person meetings again as long as the client was comfortable with that setting. They make sure to have at least 6 feet of distance and masks are worn during sessions. Every precaution is taken to prevent possible transmission of the virus. As Kuhn points out, potential exposure creates a potential risk for more than just one patient.

“We would have to quarantine for 14 days. Yes, we can do telehealth, but if we end up too sick to function, then a lot of people out there are going to be missing services. It’s important to be a little bit selfish and take care of your own health, so that you’re able to continue providing service,” she said.

In this time of quarantine and self-isolation, the stress of 2020 adds even greater burden on those who have been struggling with mental health in the past.

“It’s difficult for people, for anybody, but more so for an individual struggling with mental health concerns. The isolation increases depression. If you’re working with an individual because of depression to begin with, now they don’t have the opportunity to come in and at least see their therapist or med provider face-to-face,” Huff said.

The year has heightened the stress of daily survival and not just with the pandemic. The August derecho also had an impact as many people were without power for a week. Then, they were left to deal with damaged houses and insurance companies coming to assess the damage, which brings unknown people into the home during the pandemic.

People are also putting off their own health, delaying non-essential procedures to avoid being in the medical setting and risking exposure. Something that could have a negative long-term effect and weighs on that person’s mental health.

“It’s just been stacked. It’s just been an unbelievable year,” Kuhn said.

With all of these variables, people tend to focus on the present. The pandemic has created uncertainty in job and food security and parents have had to stay home with their kids as schools and daycare have been closed. For those who were seeking help for mental health concerns, it’s easy for those original situations to take a back seat.

“When I work with a trauma case, and that’s where my passion is, we go from working with in-depth trauma and then in COVID and the pandemic, it’s like all those things didn’t exist,” Foster Harban said.

But in the pandemic, those issues don’t just disappear, so it’s important for the mental health counselors to be sure those are not forgotten.

“We still have to be able to address some of that because we can end up very easily just talking about what is going on right now and not even get close to the underlying situations,” Huff said.

Ways to Cope

As the pandemic continues, Kuhn described that we have entered “the chronic stage” of living with the virus. It’s not going to go away overnight and unfortunately there is no ready answer or solution to the problems. However, they don’t want to constantly deliver a bleak message, because there is hope the pandemic will come to an end, even if the end is yet unknown.

All three have placed a focus on self care throughout the pandemic, trying to find different ways to channel any negative energy coming from isolation.

Foster Harban has been encouraging her clients to find a healthy, creative activity to focus on.

“It doesn’t matter what it is, if you like to bake, bake. If you like to color, color,” she said. “But let’s do something for your mental health whatever that is for that person. So it’s going to look differently for everybody, so there’s not a one size fits all but I’ve been encouraging just trying to be creative and take care of things around the house.”

In the same vein, Kuhn advises people to think about what in life you haven’t had time to do and go do it. She used her daughter as an example. She had a cake decorating starter kit for 10 years and finally got it out and is now on Facebook making cakes for others. It’s about finding something that will be a good memory from 2020.

“Making Christmas ornaments instead of just going to Walmart to buy them and then everybody can down the road look back at 2020 and say, ‘oh yeah I remember making that ornament.’ It’s not going to do any good to deny it ever happened, it’s going to make us all come out stronger,” Kuhn said.

Spending time with family has been an emphasis this year as more people are staying home and attending fewer activities. Another option is to adopt a pet, if a person is able to. Kuhn said the warmth and fur really are positive on mental health.

Huff put this suggestion into action as he and his wife rescued a dog, Jasper, early this year. He usually gets at least 20 minutes of playing fetch or tug of war with him before coming into the office for the day.

“I do have a little placard sign that says my therapist has a wet nose. I do not let anyone touch my nose in my office so I’m not referring to me,” Huff said with a laugh.

Foster Harban has taken her own advice and has found a new creative outlet by starting a YouTube channel with a friend and fellow therapist in Oregon, "Therapy Talk With Tammy & Pauline." www.facebook.com/Therapytalkwithtp

They started the channel as a way to reach people who need to know more about mental health and to help break the stigma surrounding it. It’s not something Foster Harban refers her clients to because she gets “really goofy and silly” in the videos, but the project has been a positive for her as she copes with her own mindset in 2020.

“It’s been helpful to put myself a new creative, so taking my anxiety, taking my own mental health and putting it towards something more creative has been really good for me personally and we’re reaching quite a few people,” she said.

Positives of Technology

With the introduction of telehealth, Foster Harban believes there is a positive takeaway. People now have access to mental health services in a way they never had before.

“I think that’s huge for our mental health community. You can stay at home in your jammies and talk to your therapist. If you don’t feel like going out, you don’t have to,” she said.

But the remote service wasn’t without its struggles. Huff found it particularly difficult when speaking to younger clients who have trouble holding the phone still.

“I don’t want to feel like I’m on a roller coaster as I’m trying to talk to him,” he said with a laugh.

Foster Harban also liked that while working from home telehealth gave their clients a chance to really see them on a personal level. At times she’d be on a call and her dogs would be barking in the background. It let the clients see a different side of them, as well.

“She’s a real person, she’s not living in this …” Foster Harban began and Kuhn finished “sterile vacuum that is perfect with no problems.”

“Boy if that was the case, I would have become a therapist a long time ago,” Huff quipped.

The Future

As Foster Harban, Kuhn and Huff begin the second year of their partnership, they are always looking to add more people to the mix. The goal is to provide more hours and more options to potential clients.

For a town of Newton’s size, Kuhn is encouraged to see so many agencies step up to fulfill the need. She credits House of Mercy for still providing substance abuse treatment and places like Discover Hope and Capstone to help provide services.

“People have alternatives and we’re one of those alternatives. So that makes it a good thing for people in this area because they have options,” Kuhn said.

Huff was quick to chime in as an advantage to their independent structure as it is more flexible to make decisions for their clients and not have to make one decision across the board as it would be in an agency setting.

“I understand that structure, that had been my structure before opening the office here with my ‘partners in crime.’ I like the ability to make that decision myself based upon how I perceive the need of clients. Nothing against any agency environment, but we have that freedom to do so and flexibility in this particular time,” Huff said.

For more information about Seasons Change Counseling from Foster Harban, call 641-787-0026 or visit seasonschangecounseling.com or find her on Facebook at facebook.com/seasonschangecounseling. Huff and Pal’ay Christian Counseling can be reached at 641-831-5336 or at facebook.com/Palay-Christian-Counseling. Kuhn can be reached at 641-521-5557.

Contact Pam Pratt at 641-792-3121 ext. 6530 or pampratt@newtondailynews.com