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Date: 12/26/2023
NORTHAMPTON — A comprehensive treatment center is on the verge of opening at 19R Hawley St. in Northampton in early 2024.
Empower Health Group, started by business partners Matthew O’Malley and Matty Powers, aims to fill a void for those who struggle with mental health and substance use disorder.
“When I moved to Western Massachusetts about a year and a half ago, I saw a huge lack of clinical services with the level of care that we offer,” said O’Malley, a Boston native and CEO of Empower. “So, me and Matty came together and said, ‘you know what,’ let’s try to make a difference in the community here.’”
The hope is to open in January, but the facility was still going through the finishing stages of construction when Reminder Publishing visited in mid-December. Despite this, O’Malley was still able to paint a vivid picture: therapists office here, a conference room for clinical meetings there; group rooms for cognitive behavioral and family therapy over here; a kitchen area where people have catered lunch; another group room with literature, a couch and a TV just up the stairs.
Every facet of the facility functions in its own way but they all link to one mission that O’Malley abides by, which is to create a holistic space for people to comfortably journey through their treatment path, whatever that may look like.
For O’Malley, the treatment process includes respecting everyone’s privacy and creating a place that feels as a warm and welcoming as a home.
“There’s a reason why there’s not a huge sign out front … we’re trying to protect everyone’s anonymity and privacy,” O’Malley said. “You should be able to feel comfortable, welcomed and not have to fear life on the outside while you’re focusing on what you need to focus on.”
The facility will have one floor for substance use disorder treatment and one floor for mental health treatment, which O’Malley said is important to note because not many facilities have licenses for both of those treatments.
For example, if a substance use disorder treatment plan is not working for someone, Empower can easily work with that person and guide them through a mental health plan instead, if that is deemed to be the better route for the individual.
“With our clinical team, we are actually able to provide true dual diagnosis treatment plans because of the two licenses that we hold,” O’Malley said.
A flip through Empower’s website yields a well-defined list of what they specifically offer, including treatment options for anxiety disorder, self-harm, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide, as well as treatment options for heroin addiction, cocaine addiction, alcohol addiction and many more.
The facility will also offer mindfulness-based therapy, yoga therapy, art therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy, according to the website.
But even with such an extensive selection of treatment options, a key aspect of Empower is their ability to meet their clients where they are.
“Everyone has their own treatment plan, so we pride ourselves on that,” O’Malley said. “It can be incredibly difficult to receive treatment when you still have to deal with the responsibilities of life, so that’s why we try to meet people where they’re at … let’s make it work for you.”
Regardless of who is receiving treatment, everyone who chooses Empower will go through a treatment plan of up to 90 days or more. According to O’Malley, the treatment plan is developed with a client after going through pre-assessment and intake steps, which include questions that range from clinical to medical to experience-based questions.
“We’ll make an accurate evidence-based, education driven, experience driven clinical and treatment plan,” O’Malley said.
As someone who is currently in long-term recovery after years of struggling with his own substance use disorder, O’Malley said a center with this level of intimate care is very close to his heart.
He has spent the last seven years working in the treatment field and has helped open five successful treatment facilities along the way. Between his own personal journey and his extensive experience helping others going through a similar path, O’Malley is prepped for this new adventure.
“I have data and clinical history and methods and modalities that I’ve implemented personally myself. That has been proven time and time again to help people,” O’Malley said.
The plan is to have 12 “dedicated and devoted individuals” working at the facility who know how to handle this treatment on an intimate level. O’Malley said he wants his staff to be “strong on the clinical side” and understand how important it is to personally connect with their clients.
“When we know what a person’s style is like, what they enjoy, what they don’t enjoy, when we know all of these things on an intimate level, we know how to treat and we know how to approach certain situations,” O’Malley said. “What happens here is true genuine therapy, deep intimate therapy, we’re getting to the core of the problem, the pit of the peach.”
One of those people working at the facility will be Adam Bartlett, who will oversee the daily operations as the program director, which includes things like making sure clients meet with their patients and making sure patients are getting the attention and help they need.
Bartlett, who is in recovery himself, has spent time as a executive director of operations for a nonprofit sober housing organization, where he has overseen operations for three sober living homes.
“I get a chance to help people that are just like me, that suffer from substance use disorder and that it’s so powerful for me to be able to actually go to work every day and feel like I make a difference in people’s lives that are just like me because I know the struggles and what it feels like,” Bartlett said.
In an interview with Reminder Publishing, Bartlett said that the individualized treatment aspect of the center is “very important.”
“Everybody has their different journeys in life and things they’ve been through. So we want to make sure it’s comfortable for everyone,” Bartlett said.
"I don’t want to be a guy that’s in his office and people are afraid to go to. I’m going to be teaching groups personally, one-on-one, getting to know everybody that comes through the doors. I want to know everyone’s names and know something about them so they don’t feel like it’s just a number.”
While considered a day center that is open from 9 a.m. to early evening, O’Malley said the facility is also offering nighttime treatment for students who are in school. O’Malley said the facility will be open for them from about 5:45-7 p.m.
“We want to make sure that we’re able to access that and make it so they can focus on their academics and get the help that they need as well,” he said.
Although the goal is to help individuals with a plan for up to 90 days, O’Malley said people are always welcome to come back. He said there will be alumni meetings where people are allowed to come and meet others in the program. In other words, the door will always be open.
“If you’re comfortable here and you are thriving and you’re part of your family and you want to continue to come here, we’re going to allow you to,” O’Malley said. “That’s the difference here, is the intimacy on the level that we treat people clinically; and the community and the culture and the modalities and the methods of doing what we do.”
For O’Malley, the journey does not end here, though. He said he is already working on forming major relationships in the city and also has major aspirations for Empower three years down the road.
“This is the first project, this is the baby,” O’Malley said. “In three years, we’re hoping to be able to cover all levels of care, all insurance major providers, and make it very difficult to deny anybody no matter what the circumstance is, whether it’s mental health or substance use disorder.
Readers can learn more about Empower Health Group by visiting their website: https://empowerhg.com/.