History

The Pasadena Mental Health Center (PMHC) was founded in 1965 by a group of mental health professionals and concerned community members to provide high quality, accessible and affordable mental health services in the diverse Northwest Pasadena area and surrounding communities.  PMHC has built a successful track record of offering comprehensive, bilingual/bicultural programs at the Center and at community sites, serving individuals, couples, children and families. 

Working poor families and individuals in our service area face increasing difficulty in receiving mental health services. PMHC is the only provider of affordable, non-acute mental health services in the Pasadena area for low-income individuals and families who are uninsured and do not qualify for Medi-Cal. Seventy-percent of the families and individuals we service have an average annual income of below $19,000 and are uninsured or underinsured with limited resources for health care.  All consultations and services are provided on a sliding scale fee basis, depending on ability to pay, and no client requesting services is ever turned away for inability to pay.

Counseling to individuals, adults, couples, children and families is PMHC’s core service, with about 500 clients per year. PMHC’s “First Offender” program, in partnership with the Pasadena Police Department, works with juveniles who have committed a minor first criminal offense.  The provides individual, family and group therapy to the youth and their families, as well as parenting classes, and has been very successful in keeping youth out of the criminal justice system. 

In 2007, PMHC began providing mental health services as part of the Homeless Prevention Program, a collaboration of community agencies developed by Fuller Seminary and the City of Pasadena, designed to support individuals at risk of homelessness.  Finally, for the past three years, PMHC has partnered with Five Acres’ school based program at Pasadena Unified School district to provide counseling to students who otherwise would not have been eligible for services.

PMHC services are provided by master’s or doctorate level interns in psychology, marriage and family therapy and social work.  The interns receive comprehensive training and clinical supervision, providing them with the foundation to become quality practitioners in the field of community mental health.

On January 1, 2007, PMHC became an affiliate of Five Acres – The Boys’ and Girls’ Aid Society of Los Angeles County (www.FiveAcres.org).  The affiliation was an opportunity for PMHC to receive valuable administrative support while maintaining its mission to provide affordable and accessible mental health services for individuals and families in the diverse Pasadena area.  Five Acres is a child and family services agency that strengthens families and prevents child abuse through treatment and education in community-based and residential programs.  The complementary, yet distinct, services and clients served by the two agencies together mean that both PMHC and Five Acres are strengthened by this relationship.