About Pillar

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MISSION:

The mission of PILLAR is to provide readily accessible, quality mental health and substance abuse addiction care for men, women, youth, and families in an atmosphere that promotes compassion, respect and well being for all.

PILLAR was founded in 2010 to service the youth of the community of Laredo and surrounding areas who are victims of bullying, have attempted suicide, or are struggling with suicidal thoughts.

Today, PILLAR has grown into a behavior health center, outpatient substance abuse treatment center, STI testing and treatment clinic and drug testing facility. We service any person five years of age and above.

What We Do

Our professional volunteers at PILLAR are mentored by Texas State Licensed Practitioners. Our clinical team of mental health professional volunteers consist of licensed professional counselors, a clinical psychologist, a psychiatrist and Texas A & M International University and St. Mary’s University graduate students obtaining their advanced degrees in counseling psychology. PILLAR offers graduate students the opportunity to utilize their academic education in a clinical setting. After extensive didactic training in Counseling, Family Systems Theory, Psychopathology, Sexual Issues, and Professional Ethics, students apply their knowledge to their work with clients under intense supervision. While the length of therapeutic engagement varies from person to person, our counseling services are short term and a typical course of therapy consists of 7 sessions.

In addition to individual, couple or family therapy, PILLAR provides workshops and renders educational presentations throughout the community covering a multitude of specialty areas. Workshop topics vary according to ongoing interest levels. Typical workshops include such topics as bullying prevention, suicide prevention, parenting, caring for caregivers, divorce support, bereavement, depression, self-esteem issues, and teen talk. PILLAR also offers a 24 hour crisis helpline that is staffed by trained Laredo area citizens familiar with the local resources so as to help link people to programs designed to assist them with their needs including our own behavioral health services.

Research continues to demonstrate that counseling can be effective in alleviating the symptoms associated with mental health disorders; however, nearly two-thirds of all people with diagnosable mental health conditions do not seek treatment. Furthermore, stigma still surrounds both mental illness and substance abuse disorders and prompts many people to hide their symptoms and avoid treatment.

We hope that PILLAR can help you with your recovery journey or in your efforts to provide support to someone you care about.

We ask that you join our mission and STAND UP FOR PILLAR.

PILLAR and the University of Texas Health San Antonio (UTHSA) have joined forces to provide and link patients to care and treatment for HIV/HCV, substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health issues as part of the Targeted Access to Community Knowledge, Linkage to treatment and Education for HIV/HCV in people of color (TACKLE HIV/HCV in people of color) project. Additionally, we are working to prevent overdose and re-infection due to SUD by working collaboratively to increase capacity in the following areas:

1. Provide substance use screening and treatment.

2. Link people living with HIV and HCV to medical care.

3. Provide hands-on training to treat and prevent opioid overdose.

4. Provide opioid overdose reversal kits.

5. Provide referrals to community resources and programs including medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for SUD.