Behavioral Health Services

Counseling & Recovery Center Intake Forms

If you are experiencing an emergency or crisis please call 911 (or your local emergency number) or go to the nearest emergency room.

Forms may be returned by emailing BHS@maniilaq.org or via mail to PO Box 256 Kotzebue, AK 99752.

For any questions you may have, please call the Maniilaq Counseling and Recovery Center at 907-442-7640

Forms: Intake Form, Release of Information, Clients Rights & Privacy Practices, Substance Use Services Client Treatment Contract, MCRC Client Handbook

Maniilaq Association’s Behavioral Health Services (BHS) department offers various programs and services designed to support wellness and mental well-being. We promote individuals becoming managers of their own healing and believe in the importance of holistic health and recovery for the individual, the family, and the community.

Counseling and Recovery Center (CRC) – 907-442-7640

Counseling and Recovery Services (CRC) provides culturally relevant mental health and substance abuse treatment to the Northwest Arctic Borough and  Point Hope. We accept individuals of all ages from various lifestyles and backgrounds. Services are family-centered and include individual and family therapy, play therapy, crisis counseling, and other modalities as necessary. We use comprehensive assessments with recommendations for treatment tailored to the individual’s or family’s strengths and needs. Our agency intends to engage and support our consumers for successful outcomes. If a person’s needs cannot be met, we will refer the individual for the appropriate level of care. We provide a Level I Outpatient Treatment facility with early intervention, outpatient, and continuing care services. This assists consumers in transitioning to a residential facility, if appropriate.

MCRC provides the following services:

  1. Mental Health – with a Master’s level or above Itinerant Therapist provides a broad range of mental services including assessments, psychotherapy, and outpatient counseling for adults and adolescents, marital and family therapy, anger management, and 24-hour on-call services for mental health crises.
  2. Outpatient (OP) and enhanced OP alcohol/drug treatment – with Chemical Dependency Counselors (CDCs) at various levels of training and Behavioral Health Aides (BHAs)
  3. Juvenile/Adult Safety Action Program (J/ASAP) –provides services for Adults and Youth referred by the Alaska court system for alcohol-related criminal violations. Services include screening and referrals to appropriate treatment services.
  4. Tele-psychiatry care with contracted Adult and Youth Psychiatrists. If you are requesting to be seen for medication, you can expect the following to occur:
  • Every client who receives medication management will be assigned a Mental Health Itinerant Therapist.
  • There is a monthly check-up to see how you are doing.
  • This is a normal aspect of how we provide services here at CRC
  • It is our way of increasing our effectiveness in serving you!
  • So, whether you are NEW to medication management care or if you have already been seeing the API Psychiatrist, this is a necessary requirement.

Outpatient – OP and OP Enhanced Treatment Philosophy

Outpatient treatment is the next level of treatment MCRC offers.  Outpatient services include educational, group work sessions, and individual counseling.  The focus of treatment concerns the effects of alcohol and other drugs on the individual and their surroundings.  The Mental Health Itinerant Therapists, Chemical Dependency Counselors – T/I/II, and Behavioral Health Aides T/I/II/III assist each client in establishing a recovery program designed to prevent relapse.

Putyuk Children’s Home – 907-442-7582

Putyuk Children’s Home serves the twelve communities of Northwest Arctic region, including the Native Village of Pt. Hope. Our vision is to offer an environment of hope and an experience of love and nurturing in a therapeutic setting. This home is comprised of nine beds, with one bed dedicated to respite services through Maniilaq Association. We operate as a Level Two: Emergency Stabilization and Assessment Center (ESA), which offers a 1:5 ratio. The services we offer are given to children ages 0 to 18 years, both male and female. Most of our referrals are generated from the Office of Children’s Services (OCS), Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ)

Rural Alcohol Prevention (RAP) – 907-442-7691

RAP is an ANTHC/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) funding program to address alcohol and marijuana prevention for rural Alaskan youth ages 9-20 years old. RAP works in collaboration with ANTHC, Northwest Arctic Borough School District, and other regional entities to engage and educate youth, using evidence-based prevention methods to encourage a reduction in the use of alcohol and marijuana.

Social Medicine – 907-442-7603

The Maniilaq Social Medicine Program (SMP) started in January 2017 to integrate behavioral health care as a part of all regional client primary healthcare. SMP formed a behavioral health integration committee tasked with authoring policies and protocols to support integration, established a training program with partners at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital to support primary care providers in delivering best practice psychiatric and addictions care, began a community needs assessment to identify priorities and values for behavioral health care, and completed job descriptions for the addition of clinical staff, including two clinical social workers and one psychiatric nurse practitioner, in outpatient and women’s health clinics when funding becomes available. Also, SMP has incorporated the Circles/Systems of Care program to provide supportive social services to regional youth, families, and the community utilizing Iñupiat Ilitqusiat values and teaching methods. Under this application, Maniilaq proposes to use BH2I funding to support this staff as a bridge to developing a financially sustainable program.

Wellness Program – 907-442-7640 ext. 6150

The Maniilaq Wellness Program encompasses a community outreach approach to assist, support, and engage natural leaders in the Northwest Arctic Borough to promote healthy communities, families, and individuals. This includes encouraging these leaders to be involved in wellness committees, which may develop, nurture, and promote healthy community activities to make their communities a healthier place. Suicide prevention plays a key role in our Wellness program. The program’s main focus is learning about unique triggers for suicide in our region and researching our unique facets of resiliency and strength. Recovery Support Leaders (RSLs) assist in making connections between formal (BHAs and therapists) and informal (friends, uncles, aunties, pastors, taatas, etc.) supporters of recovery. It is the vision of RSLs to provide ongoing recovery support activities for those thinking about, or committed to, recovery. Activities may include talking circles, regular sober gatherings, and others.

Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation – 907-475-2291

The Maniilaq Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation (TVR) program is designed to assist individuals diagnosed with a disability to the workforce and/or subsistence actively.  Services include vocational counseling and guidance, referral services, assistive devices, training support, job support, and follow-up services.  Assistance through this program begins with the application process.  Those who apply must have proof of Alaska Native or American Indian descent.  Referral services are available for non-native individuals.

Maniilaq Association participates in and contributes to the joint PC CARES project. Learn more here.