GALION – Families in Galion are in good hands with the expansion of Family Life Counseling & Psychiatric services downtown.
Family Life Counseling was originally founded in Mansfield in 1999 by Dr. Steven Burggraf, and has been in Galion since October 2015. Thursday’s ribbon cutting commemorated the move to a newly remodeled office on the second floor of the Lincoln Way Professional Building in Galion’s Public Square.
“Family life is a part of our name and filters through our approach in what we do,” Burggraf said. “We’re hoping we can help families be stronger from the very youngest through the very oldest, and deal with some issues people are facing today in an excellent way.”
One issue that Burggraf and his Galion staff face is tackling the drug and alcohol addition and abuse problem in their community. However, it’s not limited to just Galion – Burggraf sees addiction problems throughout Family Life Counseling’s other Ohio offices.
“One of our mottos is, ‘Find a need and meet it,’ and there are obvious mental health and drug and alcohol needs in communities across the state of Ohio,” Burggraf said. “We reach out and if there are opportunities for us then we come.”
Family Life Counseling does offer a medication-assisted drug abuse treatment program to combat opiate addiction. While the program does assist those on Suboxone, their preferred method is Vivitrol.
“If an individual has started treatment with Suboxone we will still provide treatment, however ethically and otherwise we believe Vivitrol is the methodology better suited to help people achieve recovery,” Burggraf said.
Still, treatment and recovery at Family Life Counseling goes much deeper than medication-assisted treatment. Burggraf said their substance abuse programs provide a comprehensive approach to address more than just the addiction.
“Research indicates that individuals who have drug and alcohol addiction or abuse issues typically also have some underlying mental health issues,” he said. “We use an integrated model to treat both simultaneously.
“What distinguishes us from other facilities is if you have mental health issues and substance abuse issues you typically see two different counselors,” Burggraf continued. “We think our holistic approach is much more efficient.”
Family Life Counseling also makes a point to reach out to families, not just the individuals suffering with addiction. A staff of seven full-time counselors sees a full demographic of children, adolescents and adults.
“We’re very interested in identifying the needs of the family instead of just working with an individual, because family is so important,” Burggraf said. “We seek to engage them with the process; if we’re working with a young child we engage the mother or father and help them to deal with issues they’re dealing with at home or at school.”
This way, Burggraf and his staff hope to integrate themselves into the Galion community so they can better serve those in need.
“We want to be known as Galion Family Life Counseling and not simply as a satellite dropped down in the middle of the community,” he said. “We want to become a part of the community and become a part of the solution to some of the ills and difficulties families go through.”
