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Mental Health Services for Deaf Patients

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Overview

The Deaf Wellness Center (DWC) provides mental health evaluation and counseling services to deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind, deaf disabled, late-deafened, and CODA adults (17 years or older) in New York state. Counseling services are available for:

  • Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, trauma, bipolar disorder, or others
  • Domestic violence
  • Marriage, family, or relationship problems
  • Grief/loss
  • Difficult life transitions
  • Deaf identity issues
  • Sexual or gender identity issues
  • Cultural conflicts
  • Communication problems
  • Adjustment problems

Services may be provided in-person or remotely through Video Phone or Zoom. All counseling services are provided in American Sign Language (ASL) by deaf and ASL-fluent providers. We offer interpreting services (including deaf interpreters), live captioning, and other accommodations as needed.

Video Phone Number: (585)-286-5041

Complete our form to request an appointment today.

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UR Medicine's Approach

All counseling services are provided in American Sign Language (ASL) by deaf and ASL-fluent providers. We offer:

Individual Counseling

We provide individual counseling for adults. We offer care for those who have a mental health disorder, are experiencing grief, stress, cultural or identity conflicts, a difficult change or life situation, or who simply need space to process something. Counseling is available both virtually and in person.

Couples Counseling

We provide couples counseling for you and a significant person in your life. Couples counseling focuses on improving your communication and problem-solving skills as a couple, co-parenting, processing difficult situations together, and improving the quality of your relationship. Counseling is available both virtually and in person.

Family Therapy

We provide family therapy to immediate and extended family members. We help families build stronger relationships, improve communication, and manage conflicts. Family therapy is available both virtually and in person.

Group Therapy

Group therapy brings people together to learn skills and receive support from each other through shared experiences. We provide different opportunities for group therapy depending on current interests. Group therapy is available both virtually and in person. 

Medication Management

We provide medication consultations and ongoing medication management. Medications and alternative options, such as light therapy or supplements, may be helpful in reducing the symptoms of a mental health disorder. Our psychiatric nurse practitioners and psychiatrists do not sign so we utilize ASL and Deaf interpreters or captioning for your sessions.

What Sets Us Apart?

Our Deaf Wellness Center:

  • Provides direct psychiatric, psychological, and social services to improve quality of life, using a linguistically accessible and culturally affirmative approach.
  • Provides consultation and advocacy to improve systems relevant to deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
  • Prioritizes the development, application, and evaluation of innovative clinical service approaches, provision of services that support our research and training missions, and programs that address local and regional service inadequacies.
  • Pursues cooperative ventures with public and private entities that can assist in achieving these clinical service goals.
  • Seeks to play a leading role in advancing scholarship in the identification and treatment of psychological and medical disorders that affect deaf and hard-of-hearing people
  • Advances innovative, useful, and timely with local, national, or international relevance.

Our Program for Deaf Trainees is well known throughout the United States and in other countries, too, because we recruit deaf interns and also because our deaf interns work frequently with hearing patients (in partnership with sign language interpreters as necessary) at Strong Behavioral Health and Rochester Psychiatric Center.

We’re one of the leading research sites in the country on deaf people and mental health, sign-language interpreting, and public health issues affecting the Deaf community.

Locations

We serve you in the Rochester metropolitan area and surrounding region.

1 location

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