This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Mental Health Matters, sponsored by SAM—Longmont Supporting Action for Mental Health-- Written by Janaki Jane
Longmont residents with bipolar disorder who are uninsured or underinsured have been getting help with therapy and their lives since 2002 from The Sutherland Bipolar Center. The Center is a non-profit clinic that is located at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and about one quarter of the people they serve live in the Longmont area. This past spring, residents from Boulder County and beyond went to the Longmont Church of Christ, where they attended the Sutherland Seminar Series, an eight-week lecture series offered twice a year. The Series provides information on all aspects of bipolar disorder, including diagnosis, lifestyle choices that can help manage symptoms, medications, psychotherapy, relationships, relapse prevention, and more. If you missed it, the Seminar Series is available online for a donation to the Sutherland Memorial Foundation.
The Center provides the twice-yearly seminar series, but its main mission is to provide diagnoses and customized treatment plans for each person who enters the program as a patient. Therapies can include individual, family, and/or group therapy, with an option to accept healthy lifestyle mentoring and assistance with medication management by partnering psychiatrists. Patients participate in a thorough diagnostic process which leads to an individualized program for them (sometimes with their families) and sign a six-month contract for services offered on a sliding scale fee. Depending on their financial situation, some clients pay $20 per session; some nothing at all. At the end of six months they evaluate their progress with the therapists and either sign up for another contract, or not. Because the Center is located in Boulder County patients tend to live locally, with about one quarter of their clients coming from Longmont. The Center is open to anyone who is willing to make the six-month commitment to be present at appointments and has welcomed people from out-of-state as well as all over Colorado.
This is the only sliding-scale program specifically helping individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder available for Longmont residents. Although there are several support groups and private therapists that provide assistance and therapy, the Sutherland Center offers a comprehensive, evidence-based program specifically for bipolar disorder that is available mostly to uninsured and underinsured residents in the area.
The Sutherland Bipolar Center was started in memory of Robert D. Sutherland, a member of the family that owns the Sutherland Lumber stores--there is still one in Fort Collins, and stores in many other states. Many folks will remember that until 2011 there was a Sutherlands Lumber store in Boulder. R.D. Sutherland, as well as being a managing partner of the lumber stores, a philanthropist and car enthusiast, had bipolar disorder. He was fortunate to be able to afford proper treatment. When he passed away, his family and friends wanted to honor him, so they decided to help others with bipolar disorder who didn’t have the means to get the right treatment. They entered into an agreement with CU Boulder to house the Sutherland Bipolar Center at the Raimi Clinic on campus. The Robert D. Sutherland Memorial Foundation funds the Center through donations to the University of Colorado Foundation. On March 30, 2019, the Sutherland Bipolar Center and Foundation will be presented an award by CU President Bruce Benson at the CU Foundation’s Benson Gala for having donated over $1 million since 2001 to the CU Foundation.
That funding has helped over 1700 people since 2002. "The Sutherland Center saved my life, my marriage, my relationships with my kids and the rest of my family. They helped me discover the tools that work for me to maintain a healthy lifestyle living with my illness. They are the only place where I finally felt understood." This is a quote from a former patient, in a report made in 2017. In that same report, patients reported feeling more stable, having greater understanding of their bipolar disorder, and feeling more and better prepared to deal with both the depressive and the activated, or manic, states that come with the disorder.
An annual average of seventy per cent of the monies that fund the Sutherland Bipolar Center come from individual donors. According to R. Rachel Cruz, Executive Director for the Sutherland Bipolar Center & Foundation, “sadly often families find (the Sutherland Bipolar Center) because a loved one died by suicide, and they give to (the Sutherland Memorial Foundation) after the fact.” About $0.90 of each dollar donated goes directly to client services. The Clinic itself is managed by Dr. Alisha L. Brosse, who runs the program and supervises Ph.D. level students in psychology who are trained in the specialized treatments for bipolar disorder.
Cruz has been involved with Longmont’s Supporting Action for Mental Healthsince2017. The Sutherland Bipolar Center is committed to helping all the residents of Longmont who have been impacted by bipolar disorder receive treatment or find resources appropriate for managing the illness.
If you or someone you know needs services for bipolar disorder, you can contact the Sutherland Bipolar Center at (303) 492-5680. If you would like to get involved, contact R. Rachel Cruz at the Foundation at (720) 635-6563.
