Searcy (LP) Wednesday, January 18 was Open House for a new clinic at Harding University. It is called The Compassion Clinic. Dr. Gene Wright, is the director. Clients that they see are military veterans, their families, and children. “These are the three primary types of clients we see, but other types of clients may come and get our services”. “The students in the Professional Counseling program staff the clinic”. “Staffing the clinic is a part of the grad student’s training”, says Dr. Wright.
Only students trained in a CACREP accredited program can work with military clients and their families. CACREP is the highest standard of accreditation for counseling. It stands for the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Relating Educational Programs.
Services include ADHD testing, relationship, group, and one on one counseling, and Play Therapy. Play Therapy is an experiential therapy involving or based on experience and observation. “It looks like the child is playing, but they are going through a therapeutic process. Because sometimes they will play what they are thinking about or what bothers them”, says Dr. Jenene Alexander. This process does not require the children to sit and talk to an adult, which is more comfortable for them because kids are used to playing. While they play, they share things that nobody would have ever found out about them. Bibliotherapy is another type of therapy for kids to talk about situations that happen to them while using books.
The cost for counseling is $10 per session. ADHD testing is $40 for the public and $25 for Harding Students or Staff. These prices are a fraction of the cost of going to a doctor’s office. The tests there are around $330.
You can call the Compassion Clinic at 501-279-5926 to make an appointment.
“What makes this clinic unique is that we follow Harding’s mission. We serve our clients in Christian perspective”, says Dr. Wright. It does not mean that the clients have to be Christians to get their services. “We do try to look at everyone who comes in as a child of God. They use that guidance and compassion to reach out to touch their lives.”
