Below are just a few of the people whose lives we’ve touched.
Scroll down or click on a photo below to read more.
If you think we can help you or someone you love, please contact us.
Meet Jastina
My name is Jastina Velasquez and I live in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. In 2019, I was a passenger in a head-on collison that resulted in a c5 incomplete spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury. In addition to the physical challenges that accompany paralysis, my mental health had become severely impacted. Being a highly independent-minded individual, navigating a new life in a wheelchair with extreme physical limitations, and becoming completely dependent on others for my care, all while dealing with TBI symptoms was taking its toll. I was overwhelmed, lost in life, felt like I no longer wanted to exist, and started thinking about death everyday. Fortunately, I finally made the decision that this isn’t who I was and reached out for help. Four years later, after attending individual and group counseling at Southwest Behavioral & Health Services, I felt like me again. I learned healthy coping skills for my depression and PTSD to maintain a positive mindset, and found an appreciation and immense gratitude for what I had and what I could still do. SB&H enabled my new lease in life, and I have since gone back to school, started learning how to drive again, and regained a lot of my independence. The support from SB&H has been insurmountable and continues to be essential to my recovery and my journey. I still consider it to be the best decision I’ve ever made because I don’t know where I would be if I hadn’t reached out. Thank you Southwest for helping me through some of my darkest times and reminding me that there is light on the other side. Never Give Up!
Meet Noah
My journey didn’t start with success; it started with loss, instability, and a deep desire to belong. I grew up between North Carolina and Tennessee, experienced my parents’ divorce at a young age, and later went through a painful divorce of my own that left me feeling broken and alone. In an attempt to escape the emotional pain, I moved to Arizona and eventually fell into addiction and severe mental health struggles. At my lowest point, I was lost, untreated, and disconnected from reality. Through multiple inpatient and residential stays, I was introduced to SB&H and its residential and outpatient programs, including the Community Resilience Center. At first, progress was slow; but once I truly engaged in treatment, took my medication, and learned coping skills like DBT, everything began to change.
SB&H didn’t just help me stabilize, they helped me rebuild a life. Through the CRC vocational program, I explored different jobs and eventually found confidence and purpose working at the café. For the first time, I felt like a productive member of society again. I learned how to manage my mental health independently, eventually no longer needing medication or disability support. Today, I work full-time, I’m married, and I’m the proud parent of two children. When I look back at where I was compared to where I am now, the difference is incredible, and it wouldn’t have been possible without SB&H. Their mission, values, and staff genuinely come from the heart. They don’t just provide services; they change lives. I will always be grateful, and I would choose SB&H again without hesitation.
Meet DJ
My name is DJ Vinsant. I am twenty-eight years old and live in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. I’ve been a heroin addict for about eleven years. During that time, I went beyond rock bottom. I went to prison, spending years in and out of county jails, and was homeless living under bridges and in park bathrooms with only one thought…how can I get more heroin? I never thought there was any hope for me. I always believed I would die an addict until one day a judge grew tired of seeing me and presented me with the option to either serve more time in jail or go to rehab. While in jail, someone from Southwest Behavioral & Health Services (SB&H) came to see me, and together we completed an intake packet for a rehab program at Marina Point. It was then that my whole life changed. Marina Pointe used evidence-based therapy to correct my negative thinking patterns and gave me the coping skills to maintain sobriety. Once I left Marina Pointe, I was a different person. When I got home, I continued with treatment at SB&H’s outpatient clinic in Lake Havasu City. Things only got better from there. I now own my own addiction outreach program called Fight 4 Recovery AZ, and have been clean and sober for one year and one month. I am also now employed at SB&H, where I facilitate the same groups that I previously participated in as a client. I only see things continuing to progress in the right direction from here, but as of now, my life is close to perfect. Thank you, Southwest Behavioral & Health Services.