Prakash Ellenhorn is a psychiatric and psychosocial program. This means that we are as focused on ameliorating the ravages of stigma, loss of social role and institutionalization, as we are focused on treating psychiatric illnesses. At Prakash Ellenhorn autonomy and mastery are coupled with symptom reduction as our primary goals for our clients. Focused on individual empowerment, we treat our clients as autonomous agents in their lives, and thus deserving of an individualized outlook. We help empower our clients by appreciating their unique struggles and strengths. This individualized approach is the very counter-definition of institutional care. We do not provide care in bulk. We contour our care to the individual needs of our clients.
Focused on psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery, and resisting institutional care, we see our “treatment milieu” as the community itself. Much of our work involves helping clients get back into life. We offer each client thorough vocational testing, and vocational and educational counseling. Our vocational and educational specialists work with our clients to secure jobs, get back to school, reengage with hobbies and volunteer. No matter what the community endeavor, we live with the motto of “find, get, keep”. We not only find opportunities; we help our clients get them – securing a job, enrolling in a class, attending volunteer activities. Once they have taken advantage of one of these opportunities, we assist our clients in keeping them, providing such resources as transportation, tutoring, organizational coaching, mediation with supervisors on jobs, and one-on-one accompaniment to jobs, classes, volunteering. With many of our clients we use Dr. Ellenhorn’s “Values-Driven Module Plan”. In this process, clients engage with their team to set goals for community recovery that best match their unique values.
We often say at Prakash Ellenhorn that our clients come with a wide-range of psychiatric issues, but they all suffer from one serious complaint: losing track of their dreams. Their lives interrupted by their illness, they feel like life itself has failed them, or that they, themselves have failed at life. Accordingly, hope, the struggle over hope, and the means to recover a sense of hope are central parts of our work. It is our job to dream of possibilities with our clients, to seek out and find these opportunities, and, in the end, to help our clients achieve their greatest potential.
