Earlier this year, The Bridge: A Center for Hope and Healing introduced four licensed counselors to provide one-on-one therapy at a discounted price, and since then has continued growing its mental health support.

Launched in November 2015, The Bridge—located at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church—now serves 20 to 30 people with individual counseling and 80 to 90 attendees with grief counseling groups.

“There’s always room for more,” said Reverend Scott Ciosek.

The counselors offer a multitude of specialties, including substance addiction services and grief counseling for children, while the free, public, seven-week grief support includes assistance for partners, adult children, and parents.

The Bridge began its counseling services with sessions at Christmastime, held annually by the church for the past three years. The sessions were so well-received that attendees began voicing their desire for counseling groups on a more consistent basis.

Ciosek said The Bridge has begun receiving referrals for people being waitlisted for appointments with counselors and mental health professionals.

“People… they just can’t wait for how long it takes for them to get that appointment,” Ciosek said.

Individual counseling costs $70 an hour. However, a sliding scale system is in place to accommodate people with various “financial circumstances” because “we don’t want to turn anyone away,” executive director Bruce Palmer said.

Palmer said he believes it to be the lowest rate in the area, where counseling sessions tend to run anywhere from $150 to $200 an hour. The Bridge is also in the process of becoming credentialed so it can begin accepting payments via insurance.

As The Bridge continues to grow, Ciosek and Palmer hope to soon introduce grief counseling groups for children.

“So many kids are grieving and there’s nowhere to turn for the most part,” Ciosek said.

Ciosek and Palmer stressed that, as a ministry and a non-profit, their mission is to provide the South Coast with the best and most affordable mental health care.

The Bridge: A Center for Hope and Healing is located at 351 Elm St.