The staff of High Point Counseling were joined by members of the Green River Chamber and the Hole in the Wall Gang for a ribbon cutting for their new location.
Efforts to bring more and better mental health resources to Green River have taken a step forward with the opening of a new location for High Point Counseling.
A ribbon cutting ceremony for the new location at 541 E Flaming Gorge Way Suite E was hosted on Monday. The staff of High Point was joined by the Green River Chamber and Hole in the Wall Gang, City of Green River representatives, and friends and supporters. Everyone gathered to cut the ribbon, eat cupcakes, take part in giveaways, and watch as High Point Counseling received the First Dollar Award and Chamber Member Plaque from the Green River Chamber.
"As you embark on this new, exciting journey, we celebrate your commitment to serving our community," City Council Member and Hole in the Wall Gang President Mike Shutran said in a speech at the ribbon cutting. "Your service will offer a beacon of hope and healing to Green River. Your dedication to mental health and wellbeing is commendable, and we eagerly anticipate the positive impact you will make on the lives of our residents. Counseling is more than just a business. It's a sanctuary where an individual finds solace, resilience and growth. May your team of compassionate professionals guide clients toward brighter tomorrows, offering support, understanding, and evidence-based therapies."
Shutran continued by pointing out the tight knit community within Green River and encouraging High Point Counseling to connect with their neighbors and other local businesses and organizations.
"Let's build a bridge and strengthen the fabric of Green River," Shutran said. "High Point Counseling, your success story is intertwined with ours. And as you listen to your clients' stories, remember that you are shaping the community's narrative, one healing session at a time."
The new location for High Point Counseling is just the next step in their journey of growth that started eight years ago. Founder and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Carey Larson explained that he first started the company in 2016 as he was looking for opportunities to expand beyond the work he'd done with various community agencies.
"I always felt like I couldn't help some people the way I wanted to," Larson explained. "I felt there were sometimes limits on what I could do clinically."
After starting his own practice so he could focus on working with couples, individuals and adolescents, Larson began seeing the need and opportunity for more to be done.
"It got to the point where I was always as busy as I wanted to be and then it just kind of grew by accident, I feel like," he admitted.
As people began reaching out to Larson about opportunities to work together, he started forming a staff, eventually adding Licensed Psychologist Mark Gibson in 2021.
"And from then on we just kept getting more clinicians," Larson explained.
After starting out in Rock Springs, High Point expanded to a bigger space there about a year and a half ago. They had also started adding some services through an office in Green River, but saw that there was a need to keep offering more. They found their new space on E Flaming Gorge Way in the fall, took a few months to renovate it and get moved in, and have been getting settled there since the start of the year.
Working out of the new location is an important part of providing mental health services to a community that generally doesn't have an abundance of resources.
"There's a huge need, especially in Wyoming," Larson said. "We have one of the higher suicide rates in the country. And when you're in a rural area, you see there's a lot of need, and sometimes we just don't have the resources. So I feel like we're really lucky and privileged to be able to be a part of hopefully a solution of providing better care."
Having more resources available is important when it comes to mental health care, Larson explained, because lots of times finding help means finding the right fit, which requires having options to choose from.
"Even with the resources we have, we still are lacking and need even more resources," Larson said.
He pointed out that currently there is only one other clinician practicing in Green River.
"I just feel like there's a need to provide services here for the people of Green River as well, and just better care for all of Sweetwater County," he said.
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