Cherokee Etowah Dekalb CMHC

About Cherokee Etowah Dekalb CMHC

Cherokee Etowah Dekalb CMHC, known as CED Mental Health Center, is a community mental health center that has served northeast Alabama since 1974, with substance abuse services available to residents of Cherokee, Etowah, and DeKalb Counties. They offer both publicly and privately funded mental health and substance abuse treatment, along with prevention services, and they emphasize treating every person with dignity and respect. For addiction, their care centers on individual outpatient counseling and intensive outpatient (IOP) groups, and new clients are assessed first so services can be matched to their needs. They view addiction as a treatable brain condition, and they stress that recovery can begin at any stage and that relapse is a reason to adjust treatment rather than give up.

IOP groups meet in Etowah and Cherokee Counties, and standard outpatient services are offered in all three counties. Because CED is a full mental health center, they can treat co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, and they provide case management, prevention programming, and HIV and TB education. They also offer dedicated assessments for pregnant women and people who inject drugs, and walk-in clients are seen by qualified staff for evaluation. A 24-hour crisis line provides phone counseling and intervention outside regular weekday office hours, and the center’s broader services include psychiatric evaluation, medication management, family therapy, and support for adults with serious mental illness.