Greenbelter Teresa Maxwell struggled to find help for her son Michael’s depression. Now Maxwell hopes a new therapy practice in College Park can help people suffering from mental health issues, like depression, before they commit suicide, like Maxwell’s son, who died in 2016. “From Silver Spring to Annapolis, I called approximately 40 doctors offices to get him an appointment and not one person would see him,” Maxwell said. One doctor eventually told her to take her son to the University of Maryland’s Urgent Care center. Maxwell’s eyes glistened as she recounted her son’s pain at the open house for Clinical Choice Services third office, which is located on Baltimore Avenue in College Park. The Baltimore Avenue office opened in August, and Maxwell was invited to speak at an open house on Tuesday September 17, where about 30 clinicians, mental health advocates and community members gathered to celebrate the opening. Clinical Choice Services started in Greenbelt as the practice of Greenbelt native Taylor Cole. Cole says her practices now have 20 clinicians and she plans to hire more. “I didn’t like the idea of ever going on a waitlist or ever saying ‘I’m sorry, we can’t serve you,’ so we just kept going with it,” Cole said. Cole’s clinicians offer a wide range of care, but all are trained in Choice Theory. “We don’t choose mental illness, we don’t choose needing help, but we do get to choose embracing support, or reaching out for some help,” Cole said. She feels Choice Theory empowers patients. Jackie Fournier, the Baltimore Avenue office’s clinical director, said young people and college students are more likely to seek help. “I feel like the stigma or taboo around mental health issues is slowly going away with younger generations. They are much more open to talking about things,” Fournier said. Maxwell and Lisa Ealley, who run the Michael Maxwell Jr. Foundation for Mental Awareness, said that Choice Clinical Services has been a valuable partner in raising awareness. The Michael Maxwell Foundation, according to Ealley, helped students at Eleanor Roosevelt High School get a safe room at the school, where students can go if they’re feeling overwhelmed. Ealley also said the Maxwell Foundation helps fund treatment for people who can’t afford it. “We take it a day at a time and we try to help others, because we don’t want anyone else to have to go through this,” Ealley said. Though, it’s not always easy to raise awareness or find partners, according to Ealley. “To me, we were a typical family. We own our house, we both work, we have three kids, my two daughters are both nurses,” Maxwell said. “It doesn’t make a difference.” Darnise Bailey, one of the clinicians at Clinical Choice Services, said that she felt fulfilled working there and that the office could have a positive impact for many people. “We all worry about not being productive as humans, so knowing you’ve made a little dent in some of the craziness of the world is pretty cool,” Bailey said. The Michael Maxwell Foundation is sponsoring a showing of the documentary “The S Word” for students at the University of Maryland on October 2.
