EMS of Virginia provides skill building counseling services for adults age 18 and up in the community setting. Our Qualified Mental Health Professionals come to you, in a place that is convenient and allows you the opportunity to work on your goals. The focus of Mental Health Skill-building is to enhance the skills you need to live a fulfilling life, while also working with you on the mental health struggles that might be holding you back. In order to qualify for Mental Health Skill-building, you need to be experiencing symptoms of Major Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, or a similar mental health condition.

The focus of our services will be centered on assisting you with learning the skills needed to become independently stable. Our hope is that in the process you develop a more positive self-concept to enable you to explore your world in a healthier way.

It is our goal to help increase your overall independence and quality of life. While you are in services, you will learn skills that will include, but are not limited to:

• Maintaining stable housing
• Housekeeping 
• Personal hygiene
• Interpersonal skills
• Maintaining successful employment
• Developing or increasing the ability to handle finances
• Understanding medications and taking responsibility for personal medication management
• Learning to access appropriate transportation and other community resources
• Internalizing coping mechanisms that demonstrate an understanding of diagnoses
• Independently managing medical and mental health needs

In order to qualify for this service, you must meet the following criteria:

1. Have a current mental health concern (i.e. Depression, Anxiety, problems sleeping, substance abuse concerns, etc.)
2. Stayed overnight in a placement due to mental health concerns (i.e. hospital, incarceration, group home, etc.)
3. Been prescribed medication for your mental health concern in the last year

If you are interested in this service, please fill out our referral form, or call us at 804-332-5696 to speak with someone directly. Feel free to email us at info@emsofvirginia.com with any questions. 

Special Note: Telehealth Services are available during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mental Health Skill-building Services are covered by all Medicaid plans. We also accept private pay and CSA funding through FAPT.

For Community Partners

EMS of Virginia has been serving the greater Richmond, Virginia, area since 2005. During this time, we have established many community relationships that we truly value. We offer a high level of quality assurance and take pride in our desire to collaborate with you. Some partnering agencies include homeless prevention and re-entry councils, hospitals, crisis stabilization programs, as well as other service providers of mental health and substance abuse services. 

EMS provides an array of therapeutic services through a comprehensive community-based program for adults aged 18 and up, struggling with mental health issues. Mental health concerns may include psychiatric problems related to mood disorders, thought disorders, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders as well as disruptive behaviors that affect the individual’s ability to function socially and emotionally on a daily basis. The focus of our services will be centered on assisting the individual with the development of a more positive self-concept to enable our client to explore his or her world in a healthier way. This will be supported by staff interventions that promote a sense of acceptance, success, and ultimately, independence. Our clients will benefit from positive experiences designed to enhance personal understanding of their role in relationships, assist them in the development of adaptive responses to stress, increase their ability to successfully complete instrumental activities of daily living, and thus promote their potential for independence.

EMS Mental Health Skill-building Services were developed with the vision to assist mentally ill adults in achieving more independence and maintaining success in their homes and communities. Due to the intense level of this service, clients must meet the following criteria to be considered for the program:

• Have a need for individualized training in acquiring basic living skills such as symptom management; adherence to psychiatric and medication treatment plans; development and appropriate use of social skills and personal support system; personal hygiene; food preparation; or money management;
• Have a qualifying mental health diagnosis (psychotic disorder, major depressive disorder – recurrent, or bipolar disorder I or II). If an individual has another disorder (such as, but not limited to PTSD and anxiety disorders) they may meet eligibility requirements if a physician determines it is a significant mental illness that results in severe and recurrent disability that produces functional limitations in major life activities, and the individual requires individualized training in order to achieve or maintain independent living in the community (this must be documented by the physician);
• Have a prior history of qualifying mental health treatment (psychiatric hospitalization, residential treatment, residential crisis stabilization, PACT or ICT services, RTC-Level C placement, or TDO evaluation by a CSB/BHA due to mental health decompensation). This bullet must be met in order to be initially admitted to services, however not for subsequent authorizations;
• Have had a prescription for an anti-psychotic, mood stabilizing, or anti-depressant medication within the twelve months prior to the assessment date unless a physician documents that such medication is medically contraindicated. This bullet must be met in order to be initially admitted to services, however not for subsequent authorizations; and
• If an individual is under the age of 21, they must be in an independent living situation or transferring into one within six months.

If you are interested in this service, please fill out our referral form, or call us at (804) 332-5696 to speak with someone directly. Feel free to also email us at info@emsofvirginia.com with any questions.