St. James Hospital recently held an open house to introduce the public to its Center for Psychological Wellness in Matteson.
The new center is an outreach facility of St. James Hospital and Health Centers that concentrates on the relationship between mental and physical health.
The center is housed in the Southwick Office Center at 4747 Lincoln Mall Drive. It has two focuses, according to Dr. Lori Vallelunga, the clinical director.
One is providing traditional psychiatric services. The other is promoting wellness and prevention for people who don’t have psychological problems but need some help with their coping skills.
Maintaining presence in the community and increasing access to health services are among the hospital’s goals. The new center’s location near Cicero Avenue and U.S. Highway 30 is closer to Interstate Highway 57 than are the St. James Hospital campuses in Chicago Heights and Olympia Fields and it can be reached by public transportation.
Surveys showed a strong interest in community-based health care that emphasizes maintaining health, said Elizabeth Jaekle, administrative director for business development at St. James.
The location has another advantage, according to Vallelunga: “There’s not the stigma of illness. There are folks that just don’t like to go to the hospital.”
Studies indicate that 80 percent of people diagnosed with mental illness first sought help for a physical condition, Vallelunga said.
Other research shows that psychological support for those who are seriously ill boosts their chances of recovery, she noted.
Stress may be a hallmark of contemporary life, but that doesn’t make it normal.
“Much of what we accept is not necessarily healthy,” she said. “The human body kind of likes everything stable, and modern life is anything but.”
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In addition to the clinical director, the staff includes two additional clinical psychologists, three psychiatrists, a medical director, a social worker, a psychiatric nurse and a medical assistant.
Besides individual and group therapy, the center will have a strong educational component, offering seminars on family relationships, anxiety and stress management.
Other programs will address such issues as coping with traumatic life events, such as divorce, and illnesses, such as cancer or heart disease. The center’s mission is “not just to treat the symptoms, but to get you to the point of wellness,” Vallelunga said.