Vision

Southwest Counseling Center, Inc. will be the preferred comprehensive behavioral health provider in Southern New Mexico.

History

Southwest Counseling Center is the longest continuously running community mental health center in New Mexico, having been established under the Community Mental Health Center Act of 1963. President Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Center Act only shortly before his tragic assassination. The Center is a private, nonprofit community mental health center.

Background

Southwest Counseling Center serves a mixed urban-rural area of southern New Mexico. The Center serves the community of Dona Ana County. There are approximately 3,300 open client cases throughout the various locations of the Center.

Southwest Counseling Center, an agency deeply rooted in its community for more than forty-five years, is committed to providing services that are accessible, culturally competent, and culturally sensitive. The agency attempts to incorporate specific values, needs, and problems of the local culture into a responsive and beneficial treatment approach.

Despite a notable rural character, the area is undergoing a rural to urban transition. Residents of the catchment area have widely varying incomes and education. This area is the third most rapidly growing and changing area in New Mexico with a 2005 Census reported at 193,888 an 11 percent increase over 2000. The area has 23 percent of persons living below the poverty level. Rapid population growth is associated with the development of the space and defense industries at nearby White Sands Missile Range, the attractiveness of the area for retirees, diversification and development of the economy, which has attracted new industries, and the expansion of the El Paso, Texas metropolitan area. This rapid growth has placed increasing demands on the Center for accessible, culturally competent, and community based services.

Locations

100 W. Griggs Avenue, Las Cruces. Outpatient Services, Monday and Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m., with outreach capability and 24-hour continuous, comprehensive crisis intervention program. 575-647-2800

118 S. Main Street, Las Cruces. Serenity Center. Outpatient substance abuse programs, including DWI school, for adults, adolescents and children. Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. and 24-hour crisis intervention program.

125 S. Main Street. Psychosocial rehabilitation services. Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; and Friday 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Twenty-four hour crisis intervention program available through the Center's Crisis Line, 575-526-3371 or 1-800-964-1542.

2941 Los Amigos Court, Las Cruces, 24-hour residential services for SDMI adults.