LRC Adds To Its Team

Located off Island Avenue across from Dutch Bros. Coffee, Life Reformation Counseling wants to help people with their mental health needs. Luke and Jamie Matteucci opened their practice in La Grande in 2013 and have grown since then, with the recent addition of Catie Johnson as the clinic's newest counselor.

"There is a huge need in numbers for mental health assistance, but not enough resources," Jamie Matteucci, the office manager for the center, said.

Luke Matteucci and Johnson serve as counselors, helping in treating a variety of mental illnesses including depression, anxiety, trauma/PTSD, addiction, traumatic brain injury, bipolar disorder, life transitions, grief and family and couples counseling. They are licensed professional counselors with years of experience. Luke Matteucci focuses on cognitive behavioral therapy treatments, while Johnson specializes in

dialectical behavior therapy -- however, they are both fully equipped to treat a variety of mental issues.

The newest member of the team, Johnson has training in crisis counseling and brings a complementary set of skills and experience to the center. Also, some clients feel more comfortable working with a female

therapist.

"Catie approached us, and she fit a need that we had," Jamie Matteucci said.

It is Life Reformation Counseling's belief that everyone can benefit from seeing a counselor, someone to listen to them without judgement.

"I think there is a big stigma about mental illness," Luke Matteucci said. "It's someone else, it's not me. Or if I have that issue, I'm somehow a weaker person. (But everyone) experiences emotional strain."

The clinic, which takes all major insurance except for Medicare and Medicaid, offers privacy and confidentiality, with an entrance in the front and an exit out the back and no waiting room.

"Because we live in such a small community where everybody kind of knows everybody's business, we want to really offer that safe place, where you can dump your business here and it's not going to leave this room," Jamie Matteucci said.

Life Reformation Counseling's goal is to empower clients in their treatment decisions.

"We are here to walk with them and provide a safe place," Luke Matteucci said.

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