Long before mental health was something people talked about openly, a small group of community members in Jackson saw a need and decided to do something about it. In the late 1950s, they began meeting and asking a simple but important question: How can we better care for people who are struggling? That group became the Jackson Mental Health Center, one of the earliest organized efforts in this region to provide structured mental health services close to home.
In those early years, even the language around mental health was still evolving. The organization went through several names as both understanding and services grew, becoming the Jackson Counseling Center while remaining in the same location and continuing to serve the same community. As needs expanded, the center was eventually purchased by the hospital and merged with other programs, including Northwest Counseling. Those changes brought together multiple efforts under one umbrella, forming what is now known as Pathways Behavioral Health.
A major turning point came in the early 1960s, when mental health began to receive more national attention. Federal support for community-based mental health helped expand local services and allowed for the development of facilities on this campus. This shift helped move mental health care out of the shadows and into the heart of the community, where people could access help without having to leave West Tennessee.
From the very beginning, this organization didn’t wait for people to come knocking. Staff were active in the community, speaking to civic groups, sharing information through public service announcements, and helping people understand what mental health is, why it matters, and how to recognize when someone needs help. At a time when mental health often carried stigma or misunderstanding, that kind of outreach helped change attitudes and open doors for families who might otherwise have suffered in silence.
As the decades passed, the organization continued to grow alongside the communities it serves. What started as a local center gradually became a regional network of care. Today, Pathways serves every county in West Tennessee, with hundreds of employees and multiple outpatient offices across the region. While the Jackson campus remains the largest, the reach of Pathways now extends far beyond a single building.
The range of services has grown just as much as the footprint. Pathways provides outpatient counseling and medication management for conditions like depression and anxiety, along with case management and wraparound support that help people navigate everyday challenges. The organization works with children and adults experiencing homelessness, helps connect people to jobs, and has staff working in jails and courtrooms to support individuals as they move through and back into the community. Teams are also present in schools, offering counseling, support for students, and training for educators.
In moments of crisis, Pathways is often the front door to help. The organization supports long- term recovery teams in emergency departments, responds to crisis hotline calls, and provides mobile crisis services across the region. At the Jackson campus, Pathways operates a 24-hour walk-in crisis center, along with inpatient psychiatric services, detox and withdrawal management, and inpatient crisis stabilization. These services mean that, day or night, people in West Tennessee have a place to turn when they need help the most.
Over the years, Pathways has also played a role in expanding access to crisis care across the state, helping lead the way in building and supporting crisis stabilization services that are still relatively rare in many areas. This continued growth reflects both the increasing need for mental health care and the organization’s long-standing commitment to meeting that need close to home.
Throughout all these changes…new names, new buildings, new services…the heart of the organization has stayed the same. Pathways has always been about meeting people where they are, listening first, and walking alongside them toward something better. Along the way, many dedicated professionals helped shape that journey, including longtime providers like Dr. Richard Drewery, who was part of the organization’s story from its early days and helped guide its growth during key periods of change.
But the true story of Pathways Behavioral Health is bigger than any one person or any one
moment in time. It is the story of a community that decided mental health care matters and then kept building, expanding, and showing up for decades. Today, Pathways stands as a regional lifeline for West Tennessee, offering hope, stability, and care to thousands of individuals and families every year, just as it set out to do more than half a century ago.
And that mission continues. Whether someone is facing a crisis, looking for support, or simply needs a place to start, Pathways is here. For anyone in West Tennessee who needs help for themselves or someone they love, reaching out can be the first step toward something better…and Pathways is ready to walk that road with them. Learn more at www.wth.org.
