Walden Sierra (Walden Behavioral Health) is a local, community based behavioral health 501c3 not-for-profit organization serving the communities and counties of Southern Maryland, including St. Mary’s County, Charles County, Calvert County and Prince George’s County. We are known in the communities we serve as Walden. St. Mary’s County has been home to Walden since 1973. Our organization has evolved with community growth and changing community needs into a first-class organization with a comprehensive continuum of substance abuse (drug and alcohol) treatment, mental health, recovery support and trauma services. Central to our programming is our 24 hour local crisis hotline, 301-863-6661. This hotline is one of the oldest local, professionally staffed hotlines in operation in the United States.
Our programming currently includes a range of crisis intervention, general and family counseling, mental health therapy and psychiatric services, trauma counseling and support services, and a range of outpatient drug and alcohol prevention, education and treatment services for children, adolescents and adults. We also provide residential drug and alcohol treatment programs for adults at our state-of-the-art Anchor Treatment Center and at Compass House. Residential drug and alcohol (substance abuse) treatment services at Anchor include medically managed detoxification services as well as access to medication assisted therapy.
Our services are delivered at six Walden sites: in Lexington Park (Hope Place of Walden and Beacon of Hope Recovery Community Center), Charlotte Hall (Anchor and North Star of Walden), California (Compass and The Cove/D.F.Z. Youth Recovery Center) and Waldorf; our outpatient assessment and counseling services are also out-stationed in the community with partners such as the St. Mary’s County Detention Center, St. Mary’s County Public Schools, the St. Mary’s County Department of Social Services, the St. Mary’s County Adult and Adolescent Drug Courts, local elementary schools, Three Oaks Center, and Greater Baden.
Walden’s primary name comes from the inspiration the agency’s founders derived from the work of Henry David Thoreau. The second part of our original name, Sierra, comes from our history in providing a halfway house for girls. After 23 years, Sierra House closed. The space was then dedicated to meeting urgent needs of mothers in recovery via a program called Compass House. Walden currently operates two long-term residential care, or half-way house, options at Compass House and at North Star; these facilities now serve adults seeking transitional treatment and residential services.
Our emerging role as the leading provider of comprehensive behavioral health care in the Southern Maryland region, combined with the closing of Sierra House, has led to Walden Sierra also being known by the trade name Walden Behavioral Health.
