Community Center for Health and Wellness
For over three decades, the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP) – the leading graduate school for studying the frontiers of psychology and spirituality – has served the Bay Area community through its Transpersonal Counseling Center. In 2009, the Center changed its name to The Community Center for Health and Wellness, reflecting the Institute's expanded commitment to provide the full range of the ITP's whole person, transformative, and healing services to the community. In addition to psychotherapy and counseling services, the Community center now offers a variety of transformative programs for groups and individuals that are both accessible and affordable.
The Community Center for Health & Wellness' website is located at www.itp.edu/resources/cchw/index.php.
Professional Training Program
Clinical Psychology
Certified by the California Psychology Internship Council (CAPIC), the CCHW is committed to the highest standards in client care and staff training. Professional services are provided by experienced interns drawn from Psychology graduate programs throughout California. CCHW interns are selected for both their competency and compassion, and are individuals who have excelled in their personal and professional development. The staff is professionally supervised by licensed psychologists and adheres to all laws and ethics governing the practice of psychology.
In addition to exceptional clinical training and counseling, the center houses a private practice incubator (PPI) for staff. Here, interns are trained in developing and sustaining a viable private therapy practice. Upon completion of their degree and training requirements, interns with the help of CCHW staff, will begin to build their own practice, recruiting and serving clients who will remain their clients after they complete their work at the Center. This unique and generative opportunity enables those clients interested in longer-term therapy to stay with their therapist as long as they wish, and also supports the next generation of emerging therapists and psychologists from the Center.
Marriage and Family Therapy
CCHW has recently established an internship for ITP graduates from the MA in Counseling Psychology program. This internship provides the clinical training and supervision required for licensure in California as a Marriage and Family Therapist. Interns will be available to conduct counseling for adults, couples, families, and children and will participate in the training program of the Center.
Spiritual Guidance
CCHW is also embarking on the newest phase of its service to the community by providing Spiritual Guidance to those who seek a specialized kind of accompaniment in their spiritual journey. Interns from the Spiritual Guidance training program at ITP are prepared to work with people of all ages in this process and are supervised by experts in the field with experience in several different spiritual traditions. For more information about spiritual guidance, click here.
Community Collaboration: The Core Mission
The Institute of Transpersonal Psychology's initiative to be of meaningful support and service to the community informs the Center's overall mission, and is realized through meaningful collaboration with other community health providers.
One example of this commitment is the relationship between The Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP) and Stanford School of Medicine Center for Education in Family and Community Medicine/Peter Judge Cystic Fibrosis Quality of Life Program. The goal of this program is to improve the quality of life for those who face Cystic Fibrosis every day, including giving assistance to caregivers and family members. This program offers help with such life skills as time-management, effective communication, self-advocacy, and help with issues related to stress, anger, grief, and loneliness.
CCHW is also engaged in a collaborative relationship with RotaCare and El Camino Hospital, offering a program that provides counseling services at a free clinic in Mountain View, CA. The mission of this initiative is to provide individual and group counseling to those who need it the most and have the least means to pay.
Another rewarding partnership has been between ITP and Ravenswood School District in East Palo Alto, providing school counseling services to over 400 students and families. The CCHW staffed the project with professional counselors competent in working with children, adolescents and their families. These services allowed behavioral issues to be addressed in a way that decreased classroom distractions and created a better learning environment for all.
The Center is also a proud contributor to the national "Give an Hour" program, which is currently focusing on the psychological needs of military personnel and their families. Through this program, services are provided pro bono to both veterans and their families who are being adversely affected by the stress and strain of the current military campaign. Licensed mental health providers, including several ITP clinical faculty members, offer these services at CCHW, and Interns will join the licensed provider in the room as a mentoring experience with this important mission and population.
In addition to community partnerships, the CCHW also offers psychological testing and counseling. One program the Center offers these valuable services to is the Catholic Charities Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) Program. The URM Program works to ensure that the young refugees have their medical, dental, psychological, and legal needs addressed in a timely manner; participate in English as a Second Language (ESL), life skills, tutorials, and social activities; and are placed in age-appropriate living situations upon leaving.
Putting Words into Action through Community, Caring, Connecting
The Community Center for Health and Wellness is driven by the values of Community, Caring, and Connecting. "Project Outreach" is CCHW's way of connecting with and supporting local non-profits as they give time and resources, to the community at large. CCHW hopes to make a meaningful offering to these fellow community givers. The project's aim is to offer programs, trainings, and support groups in a co-creative and shared learning environment. Project Outreach services are customized to individual and team needs within participating organizations. Trainings or offerings include, but are not limited to:
• Compassion Fatigue and Burnout Trainings
• Mindfulness Skill Building
• Self-Care
• Communication Skill Building
• Stress Reduction
• Group Processing
• Volunteer/Staff Trainings
• Emotional Intelligence Training
• Self/Other Awareness
• Forgiveness
• Cultivating Positive Emotions and Enhancing Well being
Gaining Community Support to Give Back
CCHW community initiatives have received four grants in 2009. The grant from Stanford School of Medicine Center for Education in Family and Community Medicine/Peter Judge Cystic Fibrosis Quality of Life Program supports the on-going work with the CF population and their caregivers. A grant from the Los Altos Rotary Foundation and a grant from the Mountain View Rotary Foundation are supporting the Center's important outreach work at the RotaCare free health clinic affiliated with El Camino Hospital in Mountain View. The grant awarded to CCHW by the Palo Alto Kiwanis Club is supporting the every day mission of CCHW, which provides the Center's professional services at affordable prices. Many individuals have made significant contributions in support of the development of CCHW as well. These gifts validate the mission of the CCHW and further inspire its work in the community as a mainstream partner for health and wellness.
CCHW's offices are located at:
744 San Antonio Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303 Suite 22/24.
If you have questions or would like to support CCHW's community initiatives, please contact the executive director:
Dr. Craig Schlarb, Ph.D. (650) 855-8898 cschlarb@itp.edu
