BANGOR – Think of everything you know or imagine professional counseling is – and forget it. The new Manna Outpatient Services: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Counseling aims to break that mold.

Bill Rae and his wife, Karen, established Manna in 1991 as a faith-based ministry for the Greater Bangor working poor.

More recently moving into a brick building formerly home to Beal College, the organization has opened its soup kitchen and food pantry in larger quarters.

Today, Manna has expanded to include a health clinic, a daycare, the Derek House – a residential substance abuse treatment program – and recently the outpatient services. All are part of Bill Rae’s vision: a continuum of services, said Jim LaPierre, director of outpatient services.

The counseling services began operating Oct. 2, 2006, with three fulltime clinicians: Dave Presutte, Kate Mills and LaPierre – all licensed as mental health counselors and as substance abuse counselors.

“[Working at Manna], it’s a passion of ours because a lot of the time these people fall through the cracks, and they don’t get the help they need,” said Mills.

The outpatient services offers “holistic assessment and treatment of the biological, psychological, social and spiritual needs of people and their families,” according to an information pamphlet.

Consultations; individual, couples, family and group counseling; and educational services are available to people with Medicare, MaineCare or Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. A sliding-fee scale is available for those without health insurance.

LaPierre is adamant about stripping away all the misconceptions and cliches people have about counseling – “the touchy-feely crap, people telling you how to live or that counseling is like renting a friend for an hour” – and he wants to demystify the process.

Though he can rattle off technical jargon like “cognitive and rational emotive behavioral therapy” in the blink of an eye, for LaPierre, “the point is what helps a person.”

“We’re very down-to-earth. No clinical speak,” he said. “I like stuff that works.”

LaPierre says that Manna’s clinicians don’t have an agenda for anyone and they don’t judge. “I ask [the clients], what do you want to be different in your life, and what is in your way?”

“What makes us different is that we’re very pragmatic and [patient’s] skills based,” he said.

The counseling offices smack of being “down-to-earth,” and LaPierre says that the humble environment helps make people more comfortable. Surrounded by simple furnishings and the occasional rattle of the heating system in the background, clients feel that this is a place where they can find somebody to relate to.

And finding the right person isn’t too difficult a task given the distinct personalities found among Presutte, Mills and LaPierre.

“Therapists are like shoes, and you have to try on a few to see what fits,” said LaPierre. “We are a diverse group.”

Each clinician has his or her own niche. Mills is great with making everyone feel comfortable, said LaPierre, who loves working with families. Often when dealing with children, parents just want their kids “fixed,” but Lapierre said the best path to healing is about involving the whole family.

Presutte’s energy and empathy make him a natural for counseling children. Drawings of SpongeBob SquarePants, animals and flowers add a vibrant flare to his office decor. Presutte says he has toys for construction and skateboarding fans, an easel for the artists, and he recently bought a laptop so he could work with a patient on stop-time animation.

The therapists try to create something out of the pain, said Lapierre.

Currently the clinicians serve 80 individuals and families – people of all ages from 4 to 63 for short- and long-term counseling. Some patients come on court referral, but many come to the outpatient services because they have reached a point where they really want to change, said Lapierre.

A high percentage of the clients have suffered trauma and lived through emotional, physical or sexual abuse – things in the past that affect their lives today. So they turn to outpatient services for help with depression or anxiety.

Eventually the goal for outpatient services is to expand, finding extremely passionate clinicians who are dedicated to serving poor working-class families in Maine. Recently they’ve kicked off DEEP – their Driver Education and Evaluation Program for persons convicted of motor vehicle crimes committed under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

“I want this [place] to be something that grows,” said LaPierre

The hours for outpatient services are 8 a.m. to 6 or 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, with a number of openings to accommodate most schedules. And they don’t have waiting lists because they are so new, said Mills.

Manna Outpatient Services is located at 629 Main St. To obtain information or make an appointment, call 942-6387, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.