Barbara Morse, NBC Channel 10
(WJAR) — Thrive Behavioral Health is turning 50 and has proven to be a life line for its 3,500 clients it sees each year.
One of them? Adrianne Marshall.”I have to take care of me, so that’s why I like going here and stuff because they help me help myself and I feel supported,” said Marshall.
One of the things she looks forward to is meeting with her peer support professional, Kristin Phelps.
“I definitely come with the life experiences,” said Phelps. “My battle with substance use disorder and mental health issues was a lifelong battle. I was in a treatment program.”
And now, after extensive training, Phelps is a peer counselor.
“Just being able to have somebody sitting next to you that knows….that have the same struggles and then also seeing that they’ve had success and knowing that you can get there too,” said Dawn Allen, CEO and president of Thrive Behavioral Health.
“Before I was always the problem. I was always the thing everyone was trying to fix. Now if there’s a problem, people come to me,” said Phelps.
ike Marshall. She’s been seeing Phelps for a few months.
“I really try to look at them as okay, they’re not a friend, but yet they’re there to help and support you,” said Marshall.
“We do everything soup to nuts here so your whole family can come here and be served,” said Allen.
But first you need to know you need help–and want that help.
“I think that the hardest step is that first step and once you take that and get in to a place like here at Thrive there’s a whole team of people, a whole community of people waiting to be behind you,” said Phelps.