We were lucky to catch up with Eden Garcia-Balis M.S.,LMFT recently and have shared our conversation below.

Eden, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

A defining moment in my career was when I was working with the probation department, specifically with families whose youth were recently released from Juvenile Hall. Part of their requirements usually included participating in psychotherapy, but parents would often report that they could not find affordable therapy. In my pursuit to assist them, I found that they were right. That is when I decided to go back to graduate school and earn my degree in Counseling and then get my license as a Marriage and Family Therapist so I could provide affordable services to those who needed it the most. Another pivotal moment was when I realized that I could make more of an impact working for a community mental health center, ensuring that the entire center was providing affordable services, not just me. What is truly gratifying is that today, our clinic is on the leading edge of community mental health services and providing those services on a sliding fee scale that enables everyone to receive the services they need, regardless of their ability to pay.

Eden, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to tell us why you work for Airport Marina Counseling Service (AMCS)?

The mission of Airport Marina Counseling Services (AMCS) is two-fold: to provide accessible, community-based mental health services and provide quality training to therapists. The clinic’s mission aligns with my core values and beliefs. I believe in making services easily accessible and that everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic status should have access to quality mental health care at a fee they can afford. At AMCS, we provide individual and group therapy, family and couples, and even psychiatric services. Mental health services in the private sector are costly. An individual session on average is $200. At AMCS, all our services are on a sliding scale based on gross income. Our goal is to reduce barriers to psychotherapy, so clients pay what they can afford. We are open seven days a week and provide telehealth and in-person services. I am also proud of the fact that the community recognizes that AMCS is a valuable resource. I am working hard to destigmatize mental health and so is everyone on my team. I was recognized for my efforts by the Westchester Rotary in 2018 as their Citizen of the Year and was most recently honored by the Playa Venice Rotary and received the Sunrise Community Service Award. AMCS is my dream job.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I am the first person in my family to go to college, but I had difficulty adjusting to my classes and the workload. I was seriously contemplating dropping out of college. I really didn’t know what else to do. In one of my classes, I noticed a student who regularly participated in the class discussions and was doing well in the class, so I decided to befriend her. We became study partners, and I realized that there was a method to studying that included organization, using timelines, spreadsheets, flashcards and breaking larger projects into smaller ones. I applied this new skill set to all my classes and developed good study habits. I was able to manage my studies and was proud of myself because I was seriously considering dropping out of school just a few months before. I completed my bachelor’s and went on to obtain my master’s degree and my license as a marriage and family therapist. My life would have been very different had I dropped out of college. I showed resilience and perseverance by not giving up, sticking with it, and applying my new skills. I remember that lesson even today – that there are always new things to learn and that giving up just isn’t an option.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The way we did business at AMCS drastically shifted during the pandemic. For decades, AMCS provided on-site, in-person counseling services, but with the Stay-at-Home Order, we had no choice but to pivot and look for new ways to make sure our clients could receive the critical services they needed. We quickly researched telehealth platforms to ensure that we could continue providing services. Not only that, but we had to develop a new system for onboarding new clients and new therapists from scratch. We had to conduct all our business virtually in a matter of just a few weeks. Developing new systems and procedures seemed like a daunting task, but we did it. Our clients did not experience a lapse in services during the transition; and we had more therapists than ever interview with us and want to train at the clinic. In fact, because we were able to make the transition so seamlessly, we couldn’t schedule new clients fast enough. For us, there was a silver lining in the pandemic, and that was that we learned how to conduct our services virtually and utilize telehealth platforms that enabled us to reach more clients and provide services to people throughout the state. Telehealth was not on our radar before the pandemic, and now, because of telehealth, we can provide our services just about anyone in California from the comfort of their own home or office.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amcshelps.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amcshelps/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/airport-marina-counseling-service