Experience, empathy, expertise

"Skate to where the puck is heading."

Sage advice for a hockey player.

Even more so for Lake City Counseling Center's new clinical supervisor, Clark Guest.

"With mental health and substance use issues, you can’t be stuck where you’re at," Guest said, seated in his office in the Post Falls center.

"If you’re not part of the solution, you might get left behind," he said. "I’ve learned that."

A newcomer who moved to North Idaho in November with his wife of 22 years, Debbie, Guest is no stranger to the world of mental health. He has been in the field for two decades, with previous personal experiences that provide humility and valuable insight as he works to help others on their life paths.

Guest struggled with trauma and substance abuse for years, squandering opportunities in college basketball and later firefighting. The death of a close friend and time behind bars were wake-up calls that led him to help others.

"Somebody cared enough about me," he said. "Instead of throwing me away in jail and putting the key away, they gave me a chance at life. They explained to me I wasn’t that bad guy.”

He's been sober for 22 years, but he'll never forget the experiences that allow him to tell his clients, "I've been exactly where you are."

"Substance use will put you on an island and try and defeat you," he said. "Same with mental illness. We have resources for people trying to get help, to pull them back from the island. We’ll go swimming and pull them out ourselves."

Guest plans to expand the number of professionals working at Lake City Counseling, which has locations in Post Falls and Hayden, and chip away at the long waiting lists that can be discouraging to people who need support.

"It’s tough to find resources in North Idaho where waitlists are full," Guest said.

Guest comes to North Idaho after more than 18 years of working for San Luis Obispo County in California. He began in DUI programming and worked his way up to clinical supervisor.

He loved the work, but the Golden State became oppressive, he said.

"Being a supervisor for the county, I was being asked to follow certain things that were tough for me," he said.

Looking ahead to retirement, Guest and his wife decided on North Idaho after discovering it on vacation.

"It’s like somebody had put me back into the ’70s, people were so nice,” he said. “It’s a quality of life I didn’t think existed anywhere anymore."

Guest is contributing his skillset where it's needed as the supply of mental health services struggles to keep up with the demand.

"I felt like with my experience, I could do some good up here,” he said. "There’s a growing need for mental health and substance use (help). It’s just booming with the brokenness that’s in the community right now.”

Lake City Counseling offers support for people experiencing a number of difficulties, from addictions and anxiety to relationships and stress management.

As of Jan. 3, the center partnered with Dr. Michael Whiting at Restored Horizons and Medicine Man West Pharmacy to start a medication-assisted treatment program, which falls within the confines of level II intensive outpatient programming.

The program will provide medication-assisted treatment for those suffering from opiate use disorders. This includes most opiates, including heroin, fentanyl, morphine, oxycontin and other narcotic pain killers. Treatment involves the use of medications to decrease cravings and withdrawal symptoms and to provide improved motivation to abstain from substances.

"Fentanyl is really starting to hit up here,” he said, adding that it hit in San Luis Obispo County about five years ago, "and it was disastrous."

One of Guest's goals is to collaborate with other entities in the community to solve the substance use and mental health issues rampant in the area. He has already been making connections and building bridges to accomplish this feat.

"It’s not one person who is going to help solve this,” he said. "The agencies in this area are amazing, and we have to try to help dig out of this.”

Info: 208-625-9981 or www.lakecitycounselingcenter.com.