Airport Marina Counseling Service

01/02/2026

Struggling with stress, anxiety, or just need someone to talk to?

Airport Marina Counseling Service (AMCS) is here for YOU — offering low-cost therapy sessions to anyone in California with NO waiting list.

• Affordable. Accessible. Compassionate.
• Get support when you need it — not months from now.
• Schedule your first session today by calling (310) 670-1410

The mission of AMCS is to provide affordable, community-based mental health services for people of al

12/23/2025

As we celebrate the season of giving, we invite you to consider a different kind of gift — one that grows, strengthens and supports our community long after the holidays.

Your donation to Airport Marina Counseling Service fuels mental health care for our entire community. Two important groups are relying on your support this season:

AMCS Clients in Need – Access to help dealing with stress, trauma, hopelessness, depression, or loss of a loved one should not depend on how much money you make. Your gift allows AMCS to offer services on a sliding scale, enabling everyone to get the help they need.

Therapists Training at AMCS – The U.S. is experiencing a critical, growing shortage of mental health therapists, especially in under-served areas. AMCS is renowned for excellent supervision and training, providing a variety of specialized training programs, including work with children, couples, families, adolescents and immediate intervention. Your gift enables us to train the next generation of therapists.

Any amount helps!

Your holiday gift becomes a legacy.

Whether you’re helping people access vital mental health services they couldn’t otherwise receive or supporting the training of new therapists to address a critical shortage, your generosity strengthens the well-being of our entire community, both today and for years to come.

Thank you for investing in a healthier tomorrow.

GIVE TODAY: https://www.amcshelps.com/donate

12/20/2025

Tickets are still available for the Westchester Mental Health Guild’s Sixth Annual Holiday Lights Tour & Contest! Gather your family, hop in the car, and enjoy a festive drive featuring the most dazzling holiday displays in Westchester and Playa del Rey.

The self-guided tour can be enjoyed any evening between 5 and 9 p.m. through December 28. Be sure to vote for your favorite home before December 28. One Fan Favorite and two runners-up will receive fantastic prizes. Winners will be announced after the contest concludes.

With a single registration, you’ll receive a complete list of participating homes, maps, and instructions on how to vote emailed directly to ticket holders.

Register here: https://2025holidaylightstour.eventbrite.com

The self-driving tour costs $15 per registration, plus a small service fee. Maps and ballots will be sent to you before the tour begins.

All proceeds support AMCS, helping provide low-cost community mental health services to individuals and families who might not otherwise have access to care. Your participation supports better mental health in our community.

For questions, contact info@westchestermhg.org

12/11/2025

Need help setting boundaries during the holidays? AMCS CEO Eden Garcia-Balis, a licensed marriage and family therapist, recently joined NBCTV's California Live to give viewers strategies on setting boundaries with friends and family during the holidays to preserve their peace and sanity. Check out the entire interview here:

Licensed marriage and family therapist, Eden Garcia-Balis, from Airport Marina Counseling Service joins California Live to give strategies to set boundaries with friends and family during the holidays to preserve your peace and sanity.

12/09/2025

Feeling overwhelmed? You’re not alone! At AMCS, we offer group therapy and classes where real people come together to heal, process, and grow. Whether you’re dealing with stress, loss, relationships, identity, depression, or major life changes, there’s a place for you.

12/04/2025

Tickets are now on sale for the Westchester Mental Health Guild's Sixth Annual Holiday Lights Tour & Contest! Once again, you will be able to gather your family in the car and get out to see the best decorations in the neighborhood.

You can drive the Tour – all in Westchester and Playa del Rey – any evening between 5 - 9 p.m. from December 12 through December 28.

Vote for your favorite house before December 28. The Fan Favorite and the two runners-up will win terrific prizes. The Fan Favorites will be announced after the contest concludes.

One registration will give you a list and maps of the houses and will tell you how to cast your vote. That information will be available shortly before the tour begins on December 12, when you will receive an email with all the details.

To get a ticket, register at https://2025holidaylightstour.eventbrite.com.

It costs just $15 to register for the self-driving tour, plus a small service fee. Maps and ballots will be sent to ticket holders shortly before the tour begins.

Once again, the Guild is also offering its VIP Experience, where you leave the driving to them. Our VIP Experience will include a comfortable bus to see the homes with a tour guide, gourmet snacks, wine, water, and pre-tour festivities. The VIP Experience will be offered twice: first, on Friday, December 19, and again on Sunday, December 21. VIP tickets are $50, with only 26 tickets available for each bus.

All proceeds support AMCS and will help the clinic fulfill its mission to provide low-cost community mental health services to those who might otherwise not get the help they need. You will be supporting good mental health in our community.

For questions, contact info@westchestermhg.org

12/04/2025

We had an amazing time celebrating our incredible team at AMCS's Holiday Appreciation Luncheon at The Cheesecake Factory — because nothing says “thank you” like good food, good laughs, and and chance to connect with each other outside of work.

To all of our dedicated therapists: THANK YOU for an outstanding year of providing compassionate, community-centered mental health services. Your work changes lives every single day, and we’re so grateful for everything you do. 💙💚

12/02/2025

Can AMCS Count on You to Put Community Mental Health First?

We need you today!

Airport Marina Counseling Service (AMCS) has offered community-based, accessible mental health services since 1962 and has played a key role in addressing mental health needs during the pandemic.

The clinic is forging ahead with strategic planning and an expansion of much-needed new programming.

The best part of everything that AMCS does is that all of its services are provided on a sliding-scale basis, so the hundreds of individuals, children, families and couples the clinic serves every week can get help regardless of their socio-economic situation.

But this only happens with YOUR help!

You can make a difference today by giving now and sharing about your support for AMCS on your social media accounts.

Thank you,

Eden Garcia-Balis
AMCS, CEO

DONATE TODAY: https://www.amcshelps.com/donate

11/25/2025

Giving Tuesday is Around the Corner ... Can AMCS Count on You?

Here are a few important items to remember as we move into the holiday season:

• Giving Tuesday, a worldwide day of supporting nonprofits of all shapes and sizes, is coming up on Tuesday, December 2, 2025.
• 23% of adults experienced a mental illness in the past year, equivalent to nearly 60 million Americans
• Thousands of local individuals, families and children count on the mental health services our clinic provides.

We hope we can count on you on Giving Tuesday.

Your investment helps us deliver services to those who otherwise would not get the therapy they need to become better parents, to deal with feelings of grief, to address depression and suicidal thoughts and so much more! Together, we can continue to expand our reach and provide critical mental health resources for all.

Can we count on you this upcoming Giving Tuesday?

Please donate here https://www.amcshelps.com/donate or by sending a check to AMCS, Attn: Giving Tuesday at Airport Marina Counseling Service, 7891 La Tijera Boulevard, Westchester, CA 90045.

On behalf of AMCS employees and those we serve, our heartfelt thanks for your ongoing support!

11/21/2025

Love to decorate for the holidays? Feel like Clark W. Griswold's light display has nothing on yours? Have more inflatables outside than you can count? Well, get out all your bulbs, bows, deer and inflatable snow-globes, because the Westchester Mental Health Guild Holiday Light Tour and Contest will happen again this December.

Westchester and Playa del Rey homeowners that are interested in participating will have their location shared on a map and voting ballot. Registered tour-goers will drive by and vote for their favorite home, creating a community-wide Westchester / Playa Holiday Lights Tour. As an added bonus, prizes worth hundreds of dollars are awarded to those voted first, second and third place “Fan Favorites.”

• Participation is open to all residents within the Westchester and Playa del Rey area.
• To enter the contest, you must sign the homeowners’ Guidelines & Agreement and make a donation of at least $40. (Your entry also entitles you to a participation gift and a voting ballot.)
• To receive the homeowners’ Guidelines & Agreement, please email info@westchestermhg.org to express your interest in participating in the contest. Signed agreements must be received no later than 5 p.m. on December 5. Sign up soon – the Guild is limiting the number of participants this year.
• The contest is for exterior decorations only, including decorations in windows that are visible from the exterior.
• Displays must include lights so that the display is visible after dark. Displays should be full, colorful and have a lot of holiday lights.
• Participants should ensure that all lights, animations, and decorations are in place and activated by Friday, December 12.

Donations of at least $40 can be made by Zelle, Venmo, through the Guild's website, www.westchestermhg.org with PayPal or credit card, or by mailing a check payable to WMHG to Westchester Mental Health Guild, 7891 La Tijera Boulevard, Westchester, CA 90045. Please be sure it arrives by December 5, and make a notation “participating in the Holiday Lights Tour & Contest” on your payment and provide your email address.

For any questions please email info@westchestermhg.org.

All proceeds benefit Airport Marina Counseling Service.

11/20/2025

St Jerome Parish will hold its Annual Holiday Craft Faire on the weekend of November 22 (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and November 23 (8 a.m. to 2 p.m.).

Various artisans from the parish and surrounding communities rent space inside the parish hall and outdoors to sell handmade holiday gifts, home baked treats and other unique wares. On sale will be everything form quilted table runners and microwave cozies to crocheted hanging dishtowels, jewelry and decorative items. It's the perfect spot to pick up all those special holiday gifts!

The event will also feature numerous raffles and drawings, including raffles of large gift baskets. Refreshments will be available for purchase, as well.

Crafters from the Westchester Mental Health Guild will be on hand selling their wares to benefit AMCS. Be sure to stop by the church at 5550 Thornburn Street in Westchester. See you there!

11/18/2025

November is National Gratitude Month – a time to embrace the incredible power of gratitude and recognize just how much it can transform our lives.

Gratitude is more than simply saying “thank you.” It’s a way of seeing the world, one that helps us shift our focus from what’s wrong to what’s right. By practicing gratitude each day, we build a deeper connection with ourselves, the people around us, and the world we share.

When we practice gratitude regularly, every aspect of our lives can improve. Studies show that gratitude enhances our mood, reduces stress, and significantly boosts our overall health and well-being.

Grateful people tend to experience fewer stress-related illnesses, lower blood pressure, and less depression. They’re often more physically active, happier, and more successful—both personally and professionally. They even report having stronger relationships and higher levels of life satisfaction. And here’s a fun fact: grateful kids tend to earn better grades in school!

A Few Fascinating Facts About Gratitude:

• Women tend to be more grateful than men. National surveys show that women express and feel gratitude more frequently.
• Gratitude builds better teams. Feeling and expressing appreciation makes people better collaborators and may even help prevent burnout—especially in athletes.
• Gratitude boosts physical health. Grateful people report fewer aches and pains and are more likely to engage in healthy behaviors such as regular exercise and preventive care.
• Gratitude strengthens mental health. It reduces negative emotions like envy, resentment, and anger, while increasing happiness and decreasing depression.
• Gratitude improves relationships. Expressing thanks deepens existing bonds and helps form new ones. Research shows that when we acknowledge others’ contributions, we not only strengthen relationships but also open doors to new opportunities.

So this November — and every month — take a moment to appreciate the good in your life and the people who make it special.