Austin, TX – May 5, 2005
Austin Child Guidance Center is celebrating May is Mental Health Month by unveiling its newly redesigned website at www.austinchildguidance.org and by allowing the community to tour the Center at two specially scheduled open houses on Wednesdays, May 11 and 25 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at 810 W. 45th Street.
Open houses are free and open to anyone in the community who is interested in learning more about children’s mental health and how Austin Child Guidance Center makes a difference.
Austin Child Guidance Center ’s new website at www.austinchildguidance.org features helpful information for families to better understand mental health and how to promote positive mental health in children and adolescents. The user-friendly website also explains the various services it provides to families, continuing education opportunities for mental health professionals, and ways to support Austin Child Guidance Center.
Mental health is how we think, feel, and act in order to face life’s situation. Like physical health, mental health is important at every stage of life and applies to everyone. Families can seek help at Austin Child Guidance Center when they are worried about their child.
In 2005, it is estimated that 42,450 children and adolescents in Travis County are with or at-risk of a mental health disorder (e.g. depression, anxiety); this is 20% of the under 18 population (Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation).
Established in 1951, Austin Child Guidance Center has the longest history of any mental health agency in Austin and is the only nonprofit organization in the Austin area whose sole focus is children’s mental health. Since its inception, Austin Child Guidance Center has provided mental health services to more than 100,000 children up to age 17 and their family members in Travis County and surrounding areas. Austin Child Guidance Center has trained more than 500 mental health professionals pursuing master and doctorate degrees in the mental health field.
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