Smaller
is better A personalized approach to helping clients
In the addiction treatment field, bigger isn’t necessarily better. Before she joined the All Joshua staff in March as a therapist, Paige Fulton worked at a larger addiction treatment facility, which seemed to be “more of a system, a mill to push clients through,” she says. That’s not the case at All Joshua, Fulton says, noting that one advantage of a smaller agency is the lower client-to-staff ratio, and the ability to provide more personalized care. “Even as we grow, our primary focus is still how is the client going to get well?” A native of California, Fulton spent years working as a horse trainer, a career which came with a side-benefit that would prove useful later in her career: “There was a lot of sports psychology involved, teaching people to ride and figuring out how to interact with them.”
“Our primary focus is, how is the client going to get well?” – Paige FuLTON, therapist, All Joshua
Fulton also had a longstanding interest in mental illness, which led to her returning to school to earn a master’s degree in psychotherapy from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, Calif. Later moving to Annapolis with her husband and step-daughter, she earned certification as a drug and alcohol counselor at Anne Arundel Community College. At All Joshua, Fulton provides both individual and group counseling. “Many of these people have been through other (treatment) systems over and over, and they need a more personal approach.They need someone to actually care, not just go through the motions.That is the purpose of psychotherapy – we really want to help people heal.”
Treating co-occurring disorders Fulton appreciates the client-centered approach to care at All Joshua. What that means is “asking them what they need, and how I can help them.” she says. Rather than acting as an all-knowing, authority figure, the counselor or therapist seeks input from the client. “People usually know what can help them, so we need to give them a chance to talk and listen to them. When they come to us, they are typically in a lot of pain and trauma, and have had no one to talk to about it.”
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