Dr. Lakeia Jones

Facing the Problem of Providing Mental Health in the Central City

by

One of the major issues of dysfunction in the Black central city is lack of focus on mental health issues and lack of mental healthcare. Dr. Lakeia Jones, the founder of AMRI Counseling Services, is a licensed psychotherapist, substance abuse counselor, leader and speaker specializing in trauma as well as other related mental health and substance abuse needs. 

She believes that to solve the behavior problems of inner-city residents, the need to expand mental health services is critical. We met in her branch office at the Sherman Phoenix in the heart of the inner city. If you were in need of counseling, Jones would be the ideal confidante. She has a genuine quality, sincere and dedicated. She could be that senior portrait under which is written “Most likely to succeed.”

You are the founder of the non-profit AMRI Counseling Services in Milwaukee and Kenosha. What exactly are the services that AMRI Counseling provides?

We provide mental health assessments and counseling, substance abuse assessments and counseling. We also provide supportive services to children, adolescents, individuals, groups, families, and adult couples. Most of our clients are in the Milwaukee area but we also provide counseling for Kenosha, Racine residents and other counties in Wisconsin.

That is a lot of work for you and your staff. How do your clients pay for the AMRI Counseling Services? 

We accept most health insurances, and partner with many of the Milwaukee County funding programs who assist in paying for some services. We try our hardest not to turn people away. 

Tell me about your background, where you grew up, neighborhood, family, schooling, In other words, how did you become founder and head of this sizable clinic?

Grew up in Milwaukee on Seventh and Burleigh deep in what we called “the Hood” back then. Lived in that house for 25 years. I had a single mom who raised myself and my sister. She worked at U.S. Bank until she retired, and now she works for me at AMRI Counseling Services. Unfortunately, my father did not play an active role in my life at that time. I went to Wilbur Wright Middle School and then Milwaukee Tech for High School on the south side. Took the 19 bus everyday. 

Did your neighborhood experience gangs, crime and violence?

Yes, many people struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. There were gangs, and we often heard gunshots, and saw some criminal activity. But the families in our neighborhood were close and looked out for one another. My mom was very strict. For example, if I wanted to play outside, I had to stay in front of our house. There were days when we heard gunshots and our mom would say, “Get to the floor!” Some nights we slept on the floor for safety. 

What was that like, attending high school at Milwaukee Tech? That is an MPS school. Was the school integrated?

I loved my experience at Milwaukee Tech. The student body was diverse, mostly African American and Latino students but still very mixed. I majored in chemistry and in my senior year, I got an internship at Rockwell Automation, worked side by side with a woman chemist. I originally wanted to be a medical doctor, then thought about teaching. I decided to major in psychology and minored in dance. After college I began working as a therapist while also teaching as an adjunct professor at two local universities. 

Doctor? Chemist? How did you end up as a psychotherapist running a AMRI Counseling Services?

I went to the University of Wisconsin Whitewater for college. I really wanted to be a true change agent, change the neighborhood, change the community, change how people think and behave. By my second year, I decided to major in psychology. That turned out to be the best decision because I was the kind of person who listened to friends when they needed someone.

I went on to get my master’s degree in mental health counseling at Springfield College in Milwaukee. At that point, I was married with children. Eventually, I got my license to practice as a psychotherapist and did my training at Acacia Clinic. I then went on to open up my own clinic, AMRI Counseling Services originally located in the YWCA Building on MLK Drive. We were servicing many of the W2 clients who were below poverty levels along with others within the inner city. After a few years, I opened up another branch on Brown Deer Road due to increased need for mental health services in that area. 

How did you end up in your large space at your present location on Capital Drive? You are managing sizable staff.

God showed up. God always shows up right on time. In 2010, I found a vacant gutted building on 4001 Capitol Drive owned by U.S. Bank. After months of persistence, I purchased the building and did all the infrastructure work including obtaining permits, designing, and much more. Later on opening a third location. 

We now have approximately 55 people working at AMRI Counseling Services throughout our three locations. Some are employees and some are independent contractors. We also work with seven colleges to provide internship programs and practicum opportunities to master and doctoral level students. We provide services in office and Telehealth. That’s counseling via video or phone.

Your clinics are located in primarily Black urban areas. In my experience in talking with residents, street leaders and cops, I’ve discovered that many crimes are committed by the mentally ill. If you go way back to the 1950s and ‘60s, there were state institutions who could care for the mentally ill who had committed crimes.

Too often into today’s world, a mentally ill person who commits a crime is let back out on the streets without proper health care. Sadly, the victims of their crimes are the ones who suffer because the released criminals commit crimes again. You once said, “If we do not find ways to ensure mental health needs are met, we will continue to see a significant rise in suicide, homicide and overall decrease in quality life for all.” What do you see as the general problems, and what might be some solutions?

The issue is that people who are mentally ill, commit crimes and are released from prison, are placed back into society without proper mental health care and healthcare resources. Society needs to take mental healthcare more seriously on the preventative end. If criminals are in jail or prison and suffer with mental illness, why are they not getting treatment in prison? Or is prison the right place for them to be? No, they need intensive mental health services before they are released. That could help them from possibly committing more crimes.  

Would you say there is a commonality among people who come from dysfunctional families or neighborhoods?

Yes, it’s called trauma. People with traumatic backgrounds often have unresolved issues. These issues can lead into how people communicate with others, with their families, how they raise their children. Without treatment, these issues never get resolved. In the Black community when we grow up, we are told not to talk about our problems outside the home. What goes on in the home stays in the home. 

When you work with people you describe here, are their issues solvable?

I think they are solvable with the right help. But in the Black community, resources are very limited. Better to say that overall funds may not be limited but it’s the decisions as to where those funds are allocated. That can be a big problem. Mental health funds go from the federal to the state and then to the county, and then the county disperses the funds. Recently because of COVID, billions of dollars have been allocated for mental health. The reality is that the Black agencies who are on the ground serving the Black inner city are not the agencies getting the funds. 

Who are getting the funds in the Milwaukee area?

 Milwaukee County is used to giving funds to the large, commercialized agencies who have been around for 30, 40 years. Some get maybe $5 million or more. But the small agencies are the ones walking the streets and are present day in and day out, taking calls 24 hours a day to prevent suicides, homicides, domestic violence. These smaller agencies get overlooked when it comes to funding from Milwaukee County.

Let’s say a mentally ill person has little or no insurance. That makes it difficult for them and also for the providers like us who are serving them. The small agencies struggle with turnover, with keeping staff, even lose qualified staff to the big boys, the Wheatons, the Auroras, the hospitals. For example, Children’s Hospital just received $2 million to provide additional services for mental health. Some of these large hospitals and big agencies never even had a mental health components, but they are getting money to create them. Yet, we have small Black agencies that are doing the true groundwork. 

One of the subjects I’ve written about is domestic violence. I’ve profiled women who have been victims of domestic violence including a tragic story where two Black women cousins lost their adult daughters to murder by the daughters’ partners. One family. Two domestic violence murders. Just one example of domestic violence incidents I’ve found out about in the central city. 

We deal with this issue often. By the time a violent crime hits the news, it is over. But we deal the front end of the stories. And not just domestic violence against women but some incidents of women against men. Not all domestic violence is physical. There is verbal and emotional abuse, even financial abuse. Domestic violence affects the family and the children. There are many people who are abused but may choose not to leave, make it work with the goal that things will get better.

Can you explain the purpose of counseling as it relates to the client? 

The goal of counseling is to focus on how we think and how we behave. If we can change our thinking, we change our behavior. But the client has to want to change. Maybe some victims in domestic violence situations are in them because they’ve seen that negative behavior throughout their whole lives. They might have grown up seeing domestic violence in their homes. 

In talking to some Black women who have recovered, I hear them say they once actually thought they deserved to be abused. 

When you’ve been around certain behaviors whether it is abuse, alcohol, drugs, and violence, it becomes normalized. Like crime in the central city. Crime on those streets has become normalized. I love the inner city, my businesses are in the inner city, and I live there. But I’ve recently decided I need to move out of my home. There have been shootings often near where I live. It is scary and unfortunately, it’s not getting better. 

Some of the street leaders tell me they aren’t getting much help with these issues from the politicians.

I think the local politicians and those in power don’t know how to come together with professionals in the field to make real change as it relates to crime and mental health issues. Some leaders seem unwilling to work with the very people who are on the ground doing the work every single day.

In 2019, You wrote a book called U R It.  What is that about and what is the U R It movement?

U R It is to empower people to have a strong sense of wellbeing. The acronym stand for You Are It. OWN YOUR THOUGHTS, BECOME YOUR TRUTH! When you can think differently, more positively, you can react and behave differently. There are things you can control and things you cannot. Don’t worry about the things you can’t control. Focus on the things you can. The U R It movement is a group of people from all over the United States who want to think positive, feel good, uplift themselves, and uplift others. I’m a big fan of positive psychology. 

One word that crops up when you are talking is stigma. What do you mean by stigma?

An example of stigma as it relates to mental health might be if you are receiving mental health, you are "crazy." There is also stigma around the cost of mental health services and people not being able to pay. Stigma pervades all the barriers that exist for inner city Blacks, such as lack of money, lack of transportation, lack of community resources, childcare issues, and more. All these stigmas are barriers for people who need mental healthcare service. My goal is to do all I can help end the stigma and decrease barriers that prevent people from getting the mental health care they need. The challenge is how we eliminate those barriers to ensure that everyone gets equal access. I’ve been trying to work with Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services to help break through these barriers. My recommendation is that Milwaukee County truly work closely with Black owned mental health and substance abuse clinics that are doing the work to help create real change within our community.

You told me that that mental health is the key to everything. Isn’t that a stretch?

If you think about life, everything starts with the mind, how we think, how we process mentally and how we conceptualize our thoughts. If we have healthier minds, we have healthier individuals resulting in healthy businesses, communities, families. Healthier minds lessen crime rates, increase family harmony, increase jobs, and of course, self image. Let's work together to help people become mentally well.

Dr Jones’ book U R iT is available on Amazon and on her website www.lakeiajones.com/