Outpatient Mental Health Clinic

                                                               Northland Community Services, Inc.
                                                               161 Spring St., P.O. Box 248
                                                               Westfield, WI  53964
                                                               Phone: 608-296-2139     Fax: 608-296-1590

The main office is located in Westfield at 161 Spring St.  We also have a branch office located in Adams, at 139 S. Main St.  Northland Community Services provides psychotherapy and psychiatric services.   These services are offered to all ages, children, adults and elderly.  We often see families together.  Parents must participate in treatment services provided to children.

To apply for services call the main office at Northland.  You will go through an initial screening interview by phone to identify the basic issues for which you are seeking treatment and to facilitate the conversation you will be having with the mental health professional.  All persons seeking to see the psychiatrist must also be screened by a mental health therapist.

At the end of the first meeting you and your therapist will have a conversation about the primary areas of focus and what needs to happen to address these issues.  The therapist may have specific recommendations for you, or simply help you to bring out your story, the story about living your life.  After you and the therapist agree on the next steps, you will sign consent for treatment and services form.

Not all people who apply for mental health services need therapy or need medications.  You and your therapist will have a conversation establishing the directions you can go.  Often however, you will be coming back for additional appointments and your therapist will help you schedule a follow-up.

Appointments at the clinic are billed to you or to your insurance company, including Medicaid and Medicare.  We accept a variety of private HMO plans.  Your plan may involve a co-payment which we would like you to pay at the time of treatment.  When you call for your first appointment, you will discuss payment with the receptionist doing the initial screening.  At the time of the first appointment you will sign a financial agreement form which outlines the method of payment and the amount of the co-pay, etc.

People living in the Adams area may prefer seeing a therapist at the Adams office.  You will have an option of going to the office there or to the office in Westfield.

People who apply for services at the clinic must identify a mental health problem for which they are seeking treatment.  Legal problems, employment problems, or financial problems are not cause for being seen in the clinic unless you have a bona fide mental health problem.  Some insurance companies will not cover “couples counseling” or any form of “education” and “training”.  Thus, we have to make sure that the services you want relate to a diagnosable mental health problem, and will be covered by you insurance. 

It is important to coordinate mental health services with your family physician.  At your intake appointment you will be asked to sign a release to your physician.  If you have been in treatment before it is important to have that information sent to Northland.  We will ask you to sign releases to previous treatment providers to get the information they have.  You will also be asked to sign a privacy notice which describes circumstances in which information about your treatment can be released to someone else.  Ordinarily information is kept confidential and cannot be released to anyone without your permission, but there are exceptions to this rule and the privacy statement that you sign will explain these exceptions.

Our outpatient clinic has evening hours four days a week for your convenience.  When you call for your first appointment you can discuss with the receptionist what time of day works best for you to be seen.