ABOUT GRAND RAPIDS COUNSELING SERVICES
Western Michigan’s Grand Rapids Counseling Services (GRCS) offers evidenced-based, outpatient treatment services with an emphasis on helping clients to meet court and professional agency requirements. Among the substance abuse services offered are Driving Under the Influence (DUI) and US Department of Transportation (DOT) assessments. Several group educational sessions are available in Spanish as well as English.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
Counseling can be arranged to address a variety of mental and behavioral health concerns in addition to substance abuse and addiction. Among the staff’s areas of specialization at Grand Rapids Counseling Services are anxiety, depression, grief, relational challenges, and occupational matters.
The bulk of services, however, focuses on drug and alcohol use and consequences. Assessments, classes, and counseling groups at GRCS are designed to meet government mandates. All provide education and guidance on addiction, recovery concepts, relapse prevention, coping strategies, and decision making. Some classes address specific substances, including alcohol, marijuana, and opiates.
The facility’s main substance abuse treatment group meets for four weeks. Other groups focus on anger management, domestic violence, relapse prevention, and nutritional therapy.
US DOT assessments related to the restoration of a client’s license in a safety-sensitive profession involve individual meetings described on the facility’s website as comfortable and discrete, coordination of treatment, follow-up evaluations, and official reports.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
Among the five counselors on staff at Grand Rapids Counseling Services is a licensed therapist approved by the DOT as a Substance Abuse Professional. Two therapists hold master’s degrees and additional treatment team credentials include specialized training in alcohol and drug abuse counseling.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
The counseling center in Grand Rapids is accessible by public transportation and provides services during weekday, evening, and Saturday morning hours.
REVIEWS
At the time of this writing, feedback on this facility is scarce. The Grand Rapids Counseling Services Facebook page, which its staff may monitor, had a single rating of five out of five stars. The reviewer praised the clinical staff’s professionalism and skill.[1]
The one individual polled by Best-rehabs.com to date provided less favorable ratings and would not recommend the program to others. Insufficient supervision of clients who lacked strong motivation for recovery was this loved one’s central complaint. Although awarding three out of five stars for the effectiveness of treatment and four for the staff’s level of training and experience, they reported that “counselors were fooled into thinking people were ready to leave” treatment. Other metrics measuring treatment nevertheless suggested satisfaction, including four stars each for the facility’s capability to address co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders and the availability of options in counseling approaches. Opportunities for family involvement in treatment received three stars.
Asked to rate the facility’s cleanliness and upkeep, the reviewer selected four stars. They awarded their highest rating of five stars for the affordability of services.
FINANCING
Grand Rapids Counseling Services publishes its fees in detail online. Costs range from $25 for a one-hour relapse prevention group session to $575 for the DOT professional service. Substance abuse groups cost $60 per hour-and-a-half-session, four-hour seminars on various topics are $80, and a 50-minute individual counseling sessions is billed at $125. A sliding fee scale is available for general counseling and the facility accepts insurance coverage from Blue Cross Blue Shield, Priority, and the Blue Care Network at the time of this writing.
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