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Hi
My name is Linda - I am Rick's partner. As you know from Rick we are interested in leaving the mainland and looking at VI as a possible place to settle down. Rick has extreme sensitivity to cold so living in Ohio in the snowbelt is just not working for us any longer. I am licensed as a clinical counselor here and am the director of a small mental health center in a rural area. However, my career spans nearly 30 years and I have worked in big cities as well. I contacted the VI licensing board to find out what, if any, licensure is needed several weeks ago but haven't gotten a reply. It looked to me as though social workers are required to be certified but I could find nothing about my professional discipline. Does anyone have any information on this? Also, any information on mental health treatment in VI? Is there public mental health there or private practice? What is the demand like there?
Posted : December 16, 2004 3:09 pm
Linda: There is also licensure for psychologists. The mental health treatment facilities are woefully overpopulated and understaffed. You might make a search on The Source (onepaper.com or stthomassource.com) or Virgin Islands Daily News (virginislandsdailynews.com) as there were recent headlines about the long term care program here on St Thomas. The demand is great, the funding not so great. Yes, there is private practice also.
You will have to be persistent to get information from most government agencies. Return calls and letters are not the norm.
Posted : December 16, 2004 8:27 pm
Hello Linda and welcome,
If you contacted the licensing board by e-mail, call them instead. If you called and left a message - call again. If you didn't already try the Commissioner of Health's Office, give them a call and ask them: (340)774-0117
Social Wokers are required to be board certified. That information is available through the Dept. of Licensing and Consumer Affairs.
http://www.dlca.gov.vi/boardcertifications.htm
The STT hospital has a mental health section: http://www.rlshospital.org/
and there are other programs, try the Mental Health dept. for information (340)774-7700. And there are private practices. You can look through the yellow pages at. www.viphonebook.com for a list of private practioners.
--Islander
Here is a recent post concering mental health on St. Croix by Jane. It reflects the USVI in general and not just St. Croix.
"mental health facilities on st croix - abysmal. We have a few good psychiatrists - if you have money or good health insurance - no residential facilities and our considerable number of indigent mentally ill wander the streets unmedicated due to lack of budget and resources. Our mental health workers are hopelessly overstretched.
we have one drug rehab unit, 2 public clinics (heartbreak city) and 3 or 4 private counsellors (ranging in ability and sanity!)public mental health here is desperate - no funding and support - so I guess they need you the most - how tough are you?
i think we have a small crisis unit and the local hospital, but again funding etc makes life there a challenge."
Posted : December 16, 2004 8:47 pm
