I spent most of the eighties getting my Master's degree in Community Mental Health Counseling. By the time the ink was dry on my diploma, in 1988, most of the community mental health centers in this country were closed. CMH centers in the 60's and 70's were great. Anyone could drop in and see a counselor almost immediately in many cases and treatment was usually very cheap, based on a sliding scale for what you could afford. Overhead was relatively low as most were staffed by a range of counselors with diverse backgrounds and educations from volunteers who did intake interviews to bachelor's level counselors running groups, Master's level counselor's for more serious, long-term counseling and usually a few local Ph.ds and Psychiatrists as consultants. They weren't usually fancy places but that was part of their appeal. They were accessible in every sense of the word and if a troubled person didn't find their way to one, a family member or friend often did and were given assistance on how to get help for their friend or loved one.
As another poster mentioned, many of the institutions that closed were a nightmare. If they had closed AND there had been increased funding for community based mental health treatment, it might have worked out in the long run. I always hear people talk about Reagan closing the institutions but I will always feel that the real crime, and biggest loss, was the closing of the CMH centers. Imagine a world where good, affordable counseling was available to almost every citizen within walking distance of their home. We almost had that in the late seventies and could have it now if not for Reagan. So yeah, I blame him, too. Just for different reasons.
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