Pathways Counseling agency hopes new location allows for growth, accessibility

ELYRIA — After moving into a new, larger facility in late May, Pathways Counseling and Growth Center hopes to grow into its new space to meet rising demand for affordable mental health services in the county. Pathways is a community counseling service that offers both faith-based and nonspiritual counseling, and it spent nearly four decades operating out of the First United Methodist Church in Elyria before moving into its new location at 347 Midway Plaza. The agency had been considering seeking a larger space for some time, and Executive Director Ruthie Lasecki said that ongoing renovations at First Methodist, which is undergoing a rebrand and reorganization effort, gave it the extra push it needed. "We opened in 1981 actually under the name Samaritan Counseling Center and we changed our name to Pathways Counseling and Growth Center probably around 2001," Lasecki said. "We were actually over in the First Methodist Church for, oh my gosh, almost 40 years, so this was a big change for us." Lasecki said the summer was spent getting counselors and staff situated and comfortable in the new space. She said while leaving its space at the church was bittersweet, and the organization still greatly valued its relationship with the church, the new location offers more room, more visibility and easier access for many of Pathways' clients. "We had the third floor and there were just only so many offices (at the church)," she said. "We wanted some space on the second floor but they needed it for their needs, which is understandable, so yeah, it was kind of that push. It was a very tough decision, (we were there) for so long, but this is nice. It has a newer feel, it is bright and airy, we have space for staff meetings, group therapy and an observation room for our interns." The organization hopes to use its newfound space to expand its group therapy offerings, something that Lasecki said clients had repeatedly asked for in surveys that Pathways sends to everyone who receives service. While Pathways serves all ages of clients, Lasecki said that it has developed a strong program for treating those diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD, particularly children. "We have a lot of specialties in OCD, which, to me, is an area that is really often looked over," she said. "A lot of people are misdiagnosed and they are either diagnosed with anxiety or ADHD (attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder) when a lot of the time they have OCD. It is a very complicated diagnosis, and our clinical director specializes in it and we have two staff members that have extensive training in that." Lasecki said that Pathways is working to expand its OCD treatment and education programming with the help of a grant from the Lorain County Community Foundation, and her hope was to eventually launch a true OCD clinic out of the agency. She said that group meetings for parents of kids who have been diagnosed with OCD can be hugely beneficial to both the parents and their children. "We are kind of in the beginning stages of that to see what the need is, but I feel pretty strongly about the need, looking at our clientele with this diagnosis," Lasecki said. "But we are also looking at possible DBT (dialectical behavioral therapy) groups, other parenting groups and things like that. When we are doing our satisfaction surveys, looking at what our clients need, what is needed in our community, there have been a lot of requests for groups." The amount of children that Pathways serves has been on the rise, particularly since COVID-19, Lasecki said. While the organization does offer telephone or video sessions, Lasecki said that most clients, particularly the young ones, prefer to meet with therapists in person. "We just want to target our population with the expansion of groups, maybe an OCD clinic and in addition work with our kids and our parents because there is always a huge need," she said. "The amount of children that we see has grown so much, and you can't do anything without having the parents on board. Sometimes these parenting groups are a lot more accessible and really help with how the treatment is going to go for the children." Another longtime focus area for Pathways is the treatment of Spanish-speaking clients, and the agency has a long-standing relationship with El Centro de Services Sociales of Lorain to provide translators to clients who speak primarily Spanish. While Pathways does accept insurance, the organization also offers free services to some individuals and a sliding cost scale to try and make service affordable for anyone who needs it. A rising need for mental health services is far from exclusive to Lorain County, and Lasecki said Pathways is working to hire additional therapists to meet the demand, but that same demand has made it harder to find them. "Our big focus, I think, moving forward is really concentrating on the younger population along with another large piece would be the 20- to 30-some year olds, we also get a lot of clients coming from that group," she said. "It is hard out there right now." For more information or to seek mental health services from Pathways, call (440) 323-5707. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.