The Outpatient Clinic delivers linguistically and culturally sensitive services to adults, children, couples and families living in Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee and beyond. Services are available in Spanish. We accept MassHealth and other health insurances. The Outpatient Clinic takes both referrals and walk-ins, tailoring services to each individual’s needs.

Substance Abuse

Our compassionate, patient staff is committed to a strong evidence-based substance abuse treatment plan. We believe recovery is a personal process that extends from the client to the family to the community. Gandara taps into the resources of the client’s family, community and treatment providers to enhance this culture of recovery.

Services include diagnostic assessment, individual, group, couples and family therapy. For those clients coming out of a more structured addiction treatment programs, the Outpatient Clinic offers the Structured Outpatient Addiction Program (SOAP). Clients attend 3.5-hour sessions five days a week. This program is designed to prevent relapses that can plague those leaving a structured setting.

Staff understand the cultural differences that make accessing care challenging. They create a culture of recovery based on the strengths of the client. Our bilingual, bicultural (Spanish) staff draws upon successful models such as NA, AA, and ALANON, as well as providing therapy and psycho-educational groups benefiting individuals and families.

Criminal Justice

The Outpatient Clinic has a liaison to the court and DSS, who is charged with handling referrals to the clinic’s array of substance abuse and mental health services. Clients are referred by the courts for services dealing with substance abuse treatment, anger management, sex offender treatment, domestic violence intervention, and driver alcohol education.

Driver Alcohol Education and Second Offender Services: The Outpatient Clinic provides a driver alcohol education program for court-referred DWI first offenders. Substance abuse counselors lead 16 to 21-week psycho-educational groups. Participants explore topics such as victimization, relapse prevention, physiology of addiction, and community resources. A more aggressive program is available for repeat DWI offenders, adding individual counseling to the mix.

Domestic violence: Gandara is committed to breaking the cycle of abuse and ensuring the safety of victims. Court-referred perpetrators of domestic violence meet with DPH-certified group facilitators in psycho-educational groups. These clients learn to address myths about domestic violence, understand definitions of abusive behavior and the cycles of abuse, and learn how to develop a self-control plan. Many of these individuals are in need of substance abuse, mental health or other services for which Gandara staff can provide referrals.

Mental Health Services

Gandara understands that treatment for mental health issues involves not only the client, but their family and the community. Often those with mental health issues are facing other challenges including addiction, court involvement, social service involvement, and difficulties with daily life skills. Our dedicated staff provides comprehensive assessment, treatment, and referrals to those with mental health issues.

People who come to the clinic for services are given a diagnostic assessment and work with clinic staff to develop a treatment plan. This plan may include individual, group and family therapy as well as psychiatric assessment, medication monitoring, psycho-educational groups, and psychological testing. Care is individualized by the needs of the client and their family. Services are provided by psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists and master’s level clinicians.

Anger management: For cases involving anger management which are clearly not domestic assault cases, Gandara offers co-ed anger management groups, for clients referred both from the courts and DSS. An anger management group for women dealing with anger issues arising from victimization such as domestic violence, is also available.

Children: The Outpatient Clinic provides child- focused, family centered, and community based treatment to children and families referred to the program. Counseling is provided in a manner relevant to the child’s language and culture, in a manner proven to assist children and families in achieving stability.

Assessments are done with children utilizing play therapy and other child-focused methods. Gandara also offers psychological testing and case consultation with school officials, family members and/or other caregivers. We provide counseling within the familiar environment of the child’s family, encouraging participation from all members when possible, assisted by our psychiatrists, psychologists and master’s level clinicians.

Parenting psycho-educational groups: Gandara provides counseling services for parents needing a boost up in parenting skills. We accept referrals from schools for parents of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This specially-geared psycho-educational group teaches parents skills and strategies to cope with the challenges and rewards of having a child with ADHD.