About Us

Southeast Mental Health Services (SEMHS) is a private non-profit corporation providing mental health services to six rural and frontier Colorado counties – Baca, Bent, Crowley, Kiowa, Otero and Prowers. These counties cover a total of 9,600 square miles with an aggregate population of 52,400 people.

SEMHS offers a full range of services to adults, children and families. Individuals can be self-referred, referred by another agency or professional, or come in through the Emergency Services Team. SEMHS provides 24-hour, seven-day-a-week crisis intervention and assessment. No one is refused service due to the inability to pay.

The staff is skilled in the assessment and treatment of a variety of emotional problems including depression, anxiety, trauma, children’s issues, relationship issues, and severe and persistent mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia. People with severe and persistent mental illness receive a more intensive level of support designed to help them live successfully in the community. In 1998, the new Executive Director, Bob Whaley, provided the vision and leadership for many of the new and innovative services that today mark SEMHS as a leading example of rural mental health service delivery.

Recovery

Recovery is a term increasingly being used in the treatment of people with serious mental illness. Recovery focuses on rehabilitation, self-sufficiency and community integration. Instead of focusing on illness and pathology, clinical services work to help a person manage the day-to-day challenges of their life. Programs include work and social skills training, daily living skills training, education about mental illness and the importance of medication, symptom management and therapy to help people deal with the trauma of having a serious mental disorder.

With Recovery, the philosophy at Southeast Mental Health Services changed from treating the illness, to treating the individual – from providing programs to providing consumer-specific services.