Gilead Mental Health
Gilead Mental Health Consultants was born as a result of organic growth of mental health service delivery over the years.
The initial clinic came to be when Dr. J. K. Mutiso, the lead consultant, established a consultancy office in April 1990. The focus those days was psychiatric consultancy to those with mental health challenges, teaching psychology in several institutions including, United States International University, Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology now Africa International University and psycho education to the general public especially through seminars and conferences in collaboration with the very few service providers in mental health that were in existence at that time.
The original clinic was at Madaraka shopping centre for five years. Later on, it relocated to Golf Course Commercial Centre off Mbagathi Road for another five years, before moving to the present site at Menelik Medical Centre, Menelik Road, in 2004.
Over the years the clinic grew from one psychiatrist, Dr. J. K. Mutiso initially Dr. B. W. Kilonzo, then a general practitioner came on board as work load grew. She was to later leave to specialize in epidemiology.
The clinic has and continues to collaborate closely with counselors, counseling psychologists and clinical psychologists who operate on their own, or are based in counseling institutions for provision of counseling and psychotherapy. This collaboration has and continues to serve our patients and clients well. The counselors and psychotherapists refer their clients for psychiatric evaluation and advise whether they will benefit from counseling and psychotherapy or whether psychiatric intervention is required. The clients who need psychiatric treatment are provided with the same and when they improve, they are referred back to continue with their counselor, psychotherapist or counseling institution.
In some instances, the psychiatrist will refer a patient to a counselor or psychotherapist for concurrent psychological support as he or she continues with psychiatric treatment. This collaboration with counselors and psychotherapists is an integral and crucial part of our operations and we will seek to enhance it in the years to come.
With time, it became clear to the clinic that a significant number of the patients referred for counseling or psychotherapy were not following through. They just do not want to start all over again with a new service provider. Dr. J. K. Mutiso therefore invited Mumbi Njoroge, Ph. D. candidate, and a Consultant Psychologist to join hands in providing psychological care at the clinic. She joined the clinic in 2008. This has been a strategic move for the patients in psychiatric treatment who require concurrent psychological support. They have been able to receive both psychiatric treatment and psychotherapy under the same roof. Those who have been referred by other counselors or psychotherapists are always referred back to their counselors and psychotherapists as required in the best practices of mental health service delivery.
Dr. Mutheu Talitwala, Psy. D., Consultant Psychologist, joined the clinic in 2013 to booster provision of psychotherapy. Dr. Talitwala brought a vast experience having worked in nursing for many years as a senior trainer and teaching counseling psychology at Daystar University and Africa International University amongst other institutions.
Dr. Jacqueline Ochieng, a Consultant Psychiatrist also joined the clinic in 2013. She brings on board her expertise in psychiatry. She currently serves in the Executive Committee of Kenya Psychiatric Association where she is the Deputy Honorary Secretary. Her energy, enthusiasm and youth are a fresh breath in the team.
Gilead Mental Health Consultants was born from the reality that Dr. J. K. Mutiso’s clinic had four consultants working under the same roof. It was also collaborating with a plethora of other mental health service providers. Therefore, a need to establish an entity that would serve as an overarching vehicle in mental health service provision led to the birth of Gilead Mental Health Consultants.
Gilead Mental Health Consultants operates with a biopsychosocial model that is underguarded by a Christian world view. We view every individual we encounter as unique in their biological (genetic) make up. Every person is a psychological being that has been shaped variously by the social environment he or she has lived in. Spirituality is becoming increasingly important in mental health and we as Gilead Mental Health Consultants take spirituality seriously in service delivery and in our role as mental health educators.
In summary, Gilead Mental Health Consultants was established as a result of organic growth of a clinic that integrates psychiatry psychological, physical and social dimensions of every individual, underguaded by a Christian world view thus serving the whole person.