May 4, 2023 // Diocese

Catholic Charities of Fort Wayne-South Bend Opens New Counseling Office

Nicole Kurut

On Thursday, April 27, Catholic Charities held an open house at their new Fort Wayne Counseling Services office. Donors, priests, and diocesan principals were invited to meet the staff and learn more about the mental health service the agency provides. Currently, Catholic Charities serves 12 diocesan schools. Since July of 2022, the agency has provided an average of 4,700+ sessions to school children and individuals in our diocese.

Photos by Nicole Kurut
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend holds an open house on Thursday, April 27, at their new counseling office at 10102 Woodland Plaza Cove in Fort Wayne.

Located at Dupont and Coldwater Road in the Woodland Plaza, the new office offers an intentionally peaceful atmosphere. The new space also allows counselors to include play as a therapy tool in the new play therapy room. Currently in training, Duke the therapy dog will soon be certified to bring extra comfort to those served in the Fort Wayne office.

Staff members and Duke the therapy dog are excited to offer counseling services at the new office of Catholic Charities in Fort Wayne.

Here are a few quick facts about counseling at Catholic Charities throughout the diocese:

Staffing:

We have five clinicians in Fort Wayne. Two of them can speak more than one language, which aids many parishioners and refugee clients.

We have one full-time school counselor in Fort Wayne, but plan to add another by the end of summer.

In South Bend, we have one full-time counselor, three part-time school counselors, one part-time addictions counselor, and one part-time intern.

We are currently serving 12 diocesan schools.

Toys, games, an art table, and much more welcome children into a comforting environment at the new counseling office of Catholic Charities in Fort Wayne.

A chalkboard is one of many things that children can play with in the Play Therapy room of the new counseling office of Catholic Charities in Fort Wayne.

Therapy Services Offered:

We offer individual, family, marital, addiction (South Bend only), play, and teletherapy.

Modalities/Approaches (Forms of therapy used):

We offer Christian/Faith-Based, CBT (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy), Play Therapy, which allows children to play out what they are feeling or what has happened to them and talk while they are in their element (Fort Wayne only), Solution-Focused, and EMDR for Trauma (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).

Duke the therapy dog has his own area of one of the offices in the new counseling office of Catholic Charities in Fort Wayne.

Payment:

Catholic Charities is credentialed with most major commercial insurance companies and Medicaid. We also offer a sliding scale of payment.