Mary Elaine Barry became a client at The Center for Counseling & Consultation in 2022, while struggling with substance-use disorder and mental-health issues.
Now she is eagerly awaiting her one-year anniversary of being clean, while working at a job she loves, continuing her therapy sessions and asking for help when necessary.
Barry’s success story is just one example of how enhanced services at The Center are making genuine differences in people’s lives, Executive Director Julie Kramp said.
“Our staff is diligent in providing all the services included in our Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) program,” Kramp explained. “A CCBHC cares for the whole person with an integrated approach.
“While Mary is certainly not the only client to benefit from these enhanced services, her success illustrates what we can do with this holistic approach.”
Mary Barry’s story
Methamphetamine was often Barry’s drug of choice when she was a young adult. She managed to get sober for 17 years but went back to her old ways when, once again, she fell in with the wrong crowd.
Almost a year ago, Barry began inpatient treatment for her substance-use disorder and today is looking forward to Oct. 13 when she will celebrate one year of being sober.
Her road to recovery began when she sought help at The Center where she was counseled by Kevin Ford, the non-profit-agency’s director of its Substance-Use Program.
“Then I went to City on a Hill at Dighton,” Barry said. “This was a 29-day inpatient treatment program that serves only women and is Christian-based.
“Today, with the help of many people at The Center and their ACT team, I am doing well. I can call on them any time – day or night – if I need to.”
ACT stands for Assertive Community Treatment, which offers person-centered services with a recovery-based approach.
Barry, 58, attends counseling sessions with Ford and Shannon Brandon, peer-support specialist.
In addition, she works at Great Bend Coffee, 2015 Lakin, five days a week as a prep cook and dishwasher, and is accepting more responsibility by stepping up to the cash register and making coffee.
“I had wanted to get a second job to help pay my bills and get a place of my own,” Barry recalled. “Then Noell Miller at The Center suggested I ask for more hours at Great Bend Coffee, which I did. And now I don’t have to get a second job.
“Great Bend Coffee is family-oriented and the job is rewarding. But my favorite thing is when I told LeResa Likes, the owner, that I was going for inpatient treatment, she encouraged me to ‘get healthy.’ I left there in tears that day; I was so grateful.”
Likes held Barry’s job for her. “When I told her I was back in town, she said ‘see you in the morning.’ She accepted me right back.”
Noell Miller
Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) representatives came to town earlier this year to talk with staff and clients in connection with CCBHC requirements. Barry was one of the interviewees.
Noell Miller, Individual Placement Support/Supported Employment Supervisor at The Center, said Barry outlined her story of recovery during the interview.
“Mary is a motivated go-getter, with a passion for her work and a willingness to mentor others,” Miller said. “She focuses on maintaining good mental and physical health.
“She keeps the lines of communication open with us and her boss, while speaking up for herself. Mary is keeping her doctors’ appointments and meeting with her counselor, while concentrating on preventive care for her physical and mental-health.”
Barry also is learning to budget her money with the help of the ACT team and others.
Miller noted that part of the CCBHC’s focus is supported employment “because a job can help our clients regain the independence they may have lost. It also can reduce mental-health concerns and allow someone to move beyond the need for public assistance.
“Mary is a true success story and the perfect example of where caring for the whole person can lead.”
