Merger, move opens new horizons for counseling business

Sandpoint residents will be seeing a new, but familiar, face on First Avenue this month: local businesses New Horizons Counseling Center and Sand Creek Mental Health and Wellness are merging their efforts and re-locating both offices into the Sand Creek Landing building, located at 212 N First Ave.

The merger combines more than 100 years of mental health experience into one office, said partner Susan Stevens, offering a full range of mental health services under one roof.

New Horizons, which was opened in January 2000 by Stevens and Stephen Cummings, along with Sand Creek, which was started in June 2005 by Lynn Russell, offers a full range of mental health services including personal, family, children and couples therapy; psycho-social rehabilitation (PSR); cognitive behavioral and behavioral therapy; sexual abuse; therapy guided imagery; employee assistance programs as well as assisting in critical incidents. The businesses also have limited bio-feedback capabilities.

"We focus on wholeness of the individual," Stevens said. "We're eclectic in our range of therapy styles."

The merger was spear-headed by Cummings and Stevens, who came into partnership with Russell last fall. Currently, both businesses will retain their names but have the goal of becoming one large agency, Stevens said. Sand Creek also has an office located in Bonners Ferry, which is also included in the merger, Stevens said.

The combined businesses have a total of eight employees, many of whom have a background in the Idaho Health and Welfare system.

Cummings, a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), retired from Health and Welfare and is the former clinical supervisor for the agency for Bonner and Boundary counties.

Stevens is a licensed marriage and family therapist and MS in psychology.

Also on the team is Reed Tate, a licensed social worker who also does PSR; Ray Kosse, LCSW; Janie Arambar, licensed masters in social work, who is a counselor and also does PSR; Ellen Wiseman, PSR worker with a master's degree in special education; Eric Simonet, PSR specialist; and Pam Von Der Does, a licensed professional counselor and PSR specialist.

Steven C. Puffer, M.D. is the medical consultant for both agencies.

"I think the underlying strength of our business," Cummings said, "is our broad range of experience with the human condition: From birth to old age, we've seen it all."

Stevens said the business works closely with supportive agencies in the community in order to connect clients with the services they need.

Both Kosse and Arambar have extensive experience working with families, children and mental health. Kosse has been providing services to several area veterans as well. The two agencies want to be available to serve the needs of veterans of both prior and present conflicts, said Cummings, who is himself a veteran of Vietnam.

From his experiences with Health and Welfare, Cummings said he has seen mental health treatments evolve from being considered a disease, which lead to patients being locked up and separated from society, to being considered simply a "problem of living," one that is acceptable in society.

"That's what we do," Cummings said, "We take care of problems of living, right here, close to home, no stigma attached. We're really down to earth."

The merged businesses opened at Sand Creek Landing on Jan. 15 in suites 100G and 101G.

Information: New Horizons, 255-2004; Sand Creek, 263-7180; or the Bonners Ferry office, 267-0780