Newsletter, Spring 2017: Thank You Edition

Click here to review SCCC's 2017 Spring Newsletter: Thank You Edition

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Southern California Counseling Center celebrates the 49th graduating class of the Community Counselor Course

The Southern California Counseling Center proudly celebrated the graduates who completed the Community Counselor Course.  On behalf of the counseling center administration, Associate Clinical Director Clay Crosby congratulated the graduating class.  "You are a brave group," remarked Clay.  Marianne Diaz, Director of Outreach and founding counselor of the class noted "this is the 49th graduating class for this course, which the counseling center holds twice a year."  "This class came about after the Los Angeles riots in 1992 with the sole purpose of healing communiti...

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Welcome to SCCC’s new Director of Agency Advancement, Maral Chalian

We welcome Southern California Counseling Center, Director of Agency Advancement, Maral Chalian to our staff.  Maral comes to the Center with a great deal of energy, experience and passion for our work.  We look forward to working with her and introducing her to you, our friends and supporters. Gail Wilburn Executive Director

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Agastock 2016 is around the corner! July 24th from 3-8PM at The Echo

SCCC is grateful to share that we are the beneficiary of Agastock, the annual benefit concert put on by a former SCCC client to support our efforts in addressing trauma recovery.  The concert also commemorates the life of Alice Ferguson. Cash or check can be taken at the door or you can make a donation here and bring your receipt.  All are welcome - see you at The Echo!  Take a look below for more details.  

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SCCC congratulates our Community Counselor Course graduates!

Congratulations graduates! Every January and July, the Southern California Counseling Center offers a six-month Community Counselor Course (CCC).  CCC provides training, supervision and support for community members who are already involved, or are interested in helping high-risk populations and under-served communities.  The course provides students with the opportunity to build a solid base of counseling skills alongside case workers and staff members from local non-profits and government agencies. SCCC congratulates the January 2016 cohort of students who ...

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What a night! SCCC Celebrates its 50th anniversary at the Peterson Automotive Museum

Thank you volunteers! On April 30th, SCCC held its 50th Anniversary Gala: Zero to Fifty... and onward at the Peterson Automotive Museum.  By all measures the event was an incredible success!  With the support of 50+ volunteers, SCCC was able to raise more than $230,000! A huge THANK YOU to our generous donors!  Your contributions enable SCCC to continue pursuing its mission: to change lives and strengthen communities by providing affordable mental health care to people in need.  YOU are changing lives.  Also, a very special THANK YOU to the volunteers who ...

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Maria Berbeo describes her experience with SCCC’s Best Practice Parenting course

The Southern California Counseling Center offers a unique 10-week parenting class called Best Practice Parenting.  In this post, one of the facilitators describes her experience with the program and why it is meaningful to her.   Best Practice Parenting By Maria Berbeo, SCCC Counselor and Best Practice Parenting facilitator Having come from a childhood of abuse, divorced parents, and six other siblings, when I had my daughter, and on top of it all, being a single parent, I knew it would take effort to feel comfortable with my parenting skills. I found ...

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A Morning with Lee Mun Wah

Robert Mendelsohn, Clinical Director at SCCC, attended a training session lead by Lee Mun Wah at the yearly conference of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists in Los Angeles.  He shares his experience below. An internationally known psychotherapist, filmmaker (‘Color of Fear,’ ‘If These Halls Could Talk’) and diversity instructor, Lee Mun Wah led a training at the yearly conference of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists in Los Angeles this week.  The theme:  meeting each other in personal conversations ...

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A Special “Thank You” to the Max & Pauline Zimmer Family Foundation

SCCC thanks the Max & Pauline Zimmer Family Foundation  for 16 years of generous support and for their grant  in 2016 in support of our Trauma & Resiliency  Training &  Services Program.  Thanks to the Foundation, we are able to train our counselors who bring trauma work to those in Los Angeles who would have nowhere else to go for this service.  Thank you for making a difference in the lives of those we serve. Max & Pauline Zimmer        

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Alexandra Katehakis Investigates Sex-Addiction in her New Book “Sex Addiction as Affect Dysregulation: A Neurobiologically Informed Holistic Treatment”

In her new book Sex Addiction as Affect Dysregulation: A Neurobiologically Informed Holistic Treatment, SCCC alum Alexandra Katehakis investigates sex-addiction through the perspective of regulation theory.  Combining affective neuroscience—the study of how emotions actually grow the brain and nervous system—with tried-and-true cognitive behavioral addiction interventions, she takes us on a journey from looking at the history of sexual addiction to a call for sexual health, and sound public policy. By exploring the neurobiological underpinnings of sex-addiction, ...

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Second Annual PoMo Gathering

On Sunday, April 3, six from SCCC gathered at USC for the second annual PoMo Gathering organized by SCCC volunteer supervisor Kathie Adams, LMFT.  The meeting served as an opportunity for those interested in post-modern therapies such as Narrative, Solution-focused or Collaborative Language systems to meet, talk and make community. SCCC’s Clinical Director, Robert Mendelsohn, LMFT, led a conversation entitled “Teaching Post-structuralism – Beyond Powerpoint”, to discuss the challenge of conveying to therapists-in-training the powerful philosophical ideas about ...

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CARING CONNECTIONS: SCCC’s Collaborative Partnerships are Key to Maximizing Impact in the Community

--by Clay Crosby, LMFT, SCCC Associate Clinical Director Partnership and collaboration are highly valued concepts in today’s mental health field.  Agencies are actively seeking ways to work together to serve their communities more effectively and efficiently.  The Southern California Counseling Center (SCCC) works with other organizations throughout the Greater Los Angeles region in service of our stated vision, “to create empowered communities where mental health care is a right, not a privilege.” Our newest collaboration is with the Watts Labor Community ...

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Gang Awareness Training: May 21 – Registration Now Open

Gang Awareness Training: A Therapeutic Education (known as G.A.T.E. at SCCC) is taking place Saturday, May 21, 2016,  9am - 5pm.  The course will be taught by Marianne Diaz, Director of Outreach Services  (7 CEUs).  Click here to register. G.A.T.E. is designed for anyone who works with adolescents or adults who are impacted by gang culture or community violence. Grounded in a non-judgmental view of gang membership, the course introduces participants into the realities gang members face and provides effective methods of connecting and working with teens and adults ...

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SCCC Counselors Receive Training in Suicide Assessment and Intervention

Every week, clients experiencing distress seek help at the Southern California Counseling Center.  Often they are experiencing thoughts of suicide. On February 27th, 40 SCCC counselors and alumni received a 3-hour training on suicide assessment and intervention from Rick Mogil and Carolyn Levitan of Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services.  Didi Hirsch is the home of the Suicide Prevention Center, a nationally recognized organization that provides a 24-hour Suicide Prevention Crisis Line (1-877-727-4747).  SCCC’s counselors found the information presented invaluable and ...

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TICKETS ON SALE NOW: Zero to Fifty & Onward – Celebrating 50 years of affordable mental health counseling

Tickets are on sale now for SCCC's 50th Anniversary Gala: Zero to Fifty & Onward at The Peterson Automotive Museum on April 30, 2016. Tickets are limited - click here to purchase yours today.  

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Trauma & Resiliency Training & Services at SCCC

--by Dr. Kim Cookson, Director of Trauma & Resiliency Training & Services Any negative life event occurring in a state of relative helplessness – a car accident, the sudden death of a loved one, a frightening medical procedure, a significant experience of rejection – can produce the same neurological changes in the brain as do combat, rape, or abuse.  What makes a negative life event traumatic isn’t the life-threatening nature of the event, but rather the degree of helplessness it engenders and one’s history of prior trauma.                   ...

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Newsletter ~ February 2016

We hope you enjoy reading our Newsletter -- this edition features our 2015 Honor Roll!   Thank you to all -- your support means the world to us.

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SAVE THE DATE: Zero to Fifty & Onward — 4.30.16 at The Petersen Automotive Museum

We hope you will join us as we celebrate 50 years of changing lives and strengthening communities by providing affordable mental health counseling to people in need! Details and ticket purchasing information will be updated as we move closer to the event.  Stay tuned! For questions about the event or for information about Sponsorship opportunities, please contact Lizzy Beach, Director of Development at [email protected]  -or-  323.904.3215  

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2016 – Celebrating 50th years of affordable mental health counseling

This year marks our 50th anniversary celebration – and what a year it will be! As we begin this year, we are grateful to those who paved the way and made it possible for us to be here today. SCCC has been meeting the mental health needs of the diverse communities of Los Angeles since 1966. Founded by psychiatrist Dr. Benjamin Weininger and psychologist Hans Hoffman, we remain dedicated to the belief that all people, regardless of income, must have access to quality mental health services. The Center was established with a model that supported the belief that carefully ...

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Center ‘drives’: giving back for 13 years!

For some, the holiday season can be the most stressful time of year.  Each year since 2003, the counselors, staff, Board, supervisors and alumni of the Southern California Counseling Center,  have worked together to provide two holiday drives for families who are part of SCCC Outreach Services – a Thanksgiving Feast Drive and a Holiday Gift Drive. For the past two years we have not only provided for families at our mid-city location but also have included Watts Los Angeles. Our partners at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC) provided the names of 10 ...

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