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From "The Daily Pilot"

Published Monday, August 8, 2005 1:15 PM PDT
Analyzing the needy
Young Chang

For awhile there it seemed that only the affluent could afford therapy. Only the Ally McBeals of the world could shimmy off to a cushy couch and de-stress during lunch. But Marianna Thomas, director and one of the co-founders of the Living Success Center in Costa Mesa, recognized that low-income families and individuals needed to have access to therapy too. So in 1994, she and Cecile Dillon took over the Living Success Center on 17th Street and opened the doors to people who didn't have much money to spill into counseling.

Before 1994, the Center was an educational center teaching people about successful living through nutritional counseling, yoga and other holistic approaches. After Thomas, a marriage and family therapist who also runs a private practice, and Dillon stepped in, the small space on the second floor became a counseling center. Today Dillon is an advisory member of the board.

Thomas remembers getting calls as a private therapist almost a decade ago from people who wanted treatment but were not able to pay for it.

"And I was unable to provide those services," the 68-year-old said. "So the idea of forming a nonprofit group came up."

The fee is $10 a session, which runs an hour, and it doesn't matter whether the session involves one person or a family of four. Donations and proceeds from fund-raisers make up other incoming funds. On Sept. 15, a fund-raiser titled "Seasons by Design" will feature certified interior designer Barbara Gordon at the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach.

About 20% of the Center's clients can't afford the $10, but Thomas and her staff of 10 interns, who are all volunteers, treat them anyway.

"We never turn anybody away because of financial reasons," she said.

The interns are graduate students from Southern California universities who have completed their studies but need to fulfill their required hours toward a marriage or family therapy degree. Services include family therapy, couple counseling, child counseling, individual therapy, parenting classes and support groups for women. One project aims to bring mental health counseling into area preschools.

"It's a really big thing," said president of the Center's board Ann Guthrie. "People are really now seeing the need for preschool age children identifying problems in the family. Being able to get in and do something about it is a really big thing."

AT THE CENTER
The rooms are nice, but not too nice.

The white leather loveseat is cushy and luxurious, but not as white as it probably once was. A burgundy loveseat in another room is made of material mimicking suede. But it's rougher.

Worn-out throws and pillows rest on the sofas in each of the four counseling rooms. In the sole group room is a large conference table, behind which stands a bookshelf with books titled "If I Had My Life to Live Over, I Would Pick More Daisies."

In the one child therapy room are shelves of toys, a small sandbox, mini furniture pieces and dolls. Lots of them.

"Things come from people involved here," Guthrie said. "And people in the community have made donations later, when they're able to." Paintings along the wall were donated by area artists for the sake of providing original works in the cozy quarters. A large mural of a tree, which hugs two walls in the children's room, was painted by one of the interns.

At the roots of this two-dimensional tree are raggedy, three-dimensional teddy bears. They're heaped on the ground in a way that proves more really is merrier. In this room, children can play with things like sand and toys to nonverbally communicate whatever it is they need to say.

Thomas and her staff study the way children build scenes on the sand. Whether they make boundaries with miniature fences, whether all the little army figurines end up dead in the end, whether everything gets buried in the sand and even whether the general look of the scene is more chaotic instead of calm. "But you have to be careful about jumping to conclusions," Thomas said.

Clients visiting the Center often struggle with issues like physical abuse, sexual abuse, depression, anxiety and sometimes suicidal tendencies. About 40 clients get seen a week. When the Center first opened eight years ago, the number was closer to 10 weekly. Now the staff uses a waiting list to control the number of people they can see. Thomas, who still runs her private practice, will often work from early in the morning until late at night, six days a week, to treat her growing clientele.

"It's extremely intense and hectic sometimes," she said.

IN THE COMMUNITY
Word-of-mouth is what attracts most the clients here, but doctors and therapists in the county also make referrals. When the Center does its own advertisement in the form of printed fliers and invitations, Susan Neas at Thomas Printers in Costa Mesa helps them out. She does most of their printing jobs for free. Five years ago, she even joined the Center's board.

"I just thought this was such a neat thing they were doing," Neas said. "And I thought printing helps them grow. A good look helps a company grow."

A recent pilot program allowed the Center to grow outwardly, to literally trickle into the community. An intern served for about six months at Harbor Trinity Preschool in Costa Mesa, where she worked with children using play therapy and also taught the teachers new ideas and techniques to help children not having an easy time. The intern also gave therapy to specific families.

"For us, it would have been impossible to do it without it being free," said preschool director Jan Balough. "And for some of the families involved, it would have been difficult." Guthrie said it's the helping spirit that keeps the staff committed.

"It's hard not to feel it, to not be touched by what happens to the people," the president said. "It's amazing how many people, their lives are changed... It's just a little center."

The space was so little, in fact, that a recent expansion project tripled the square footage from 500 sq. feet to 1,500 sq. feet. "We had to take over the suite just to meet the needs of the clients," Thomas said, gesturing to the wing of the suite she was sitting in.

The expansion also included a renovation of the children's room. Thomas said part of her goal for the Center is to grow not only the space, but the services offered. She would like to start a group for girls with eating disorders, to bring in multi-lingual counselors (mainly Spanish) and to increase the number of clients in general. "We put our lives into the Living Success Center," Guthrie said. "That's what we're here for and what we want to do."

* YOUNG CHANG writes features. She may be reached at (949) 574-4268 or by e-mail at young.chang@latimes.com.