In Utah, trauma often goes unseen. Poverty, discrimination, religious pressure, and family struggles leave scars that prescriptions alone can’t heal. Outpatient Behavioral Health (OBH) in Salt Lake City takes a different path—pairing traditional therapy with lived experience and even medical cannabis.
Founded in 2022 by Clifton R. Uckerman, LCSW, OBH is what he calls a “liberation clinic.” Uckerman was one of the first peer supports in Utah’s juvenile justice system, bringing his own lived experience into the work. His goal is to help people uncover the roots of trauma rather than mask symptoms.
“I kept hearing the same story,” Uckerman says. “People weren’t getting adequate treatment, and when they did, they were punished for positive THC results. Here, we provide care that’s culturally relevant and judgment-free.”
Cannabis in Therapy
OBH is currently the only Utah clinic openly integrating medical cannabis into PTSD treatment. With guidance from a Qualified Medical Provider, patients can use cannabis before or after therapy sessions to ease anxiety and unlock conversations about trauma.
Traditional therapists may dismiss or penalize cannabis use. OBH embraces it. “For many patients, cannabis improves adherence to treatment,” Uckerman explains.
Helping the Overlooked
OBH also supports Utahns re-entering society after incarceration. Federal parolees remain barred from cannabis, but at the state level, probation officers generally honor a medical card. For some, that access makes stability possible.
Healing Beyond Talk
OBH offers more than counseling. The Inkspirations shop provides tattoos as acts of transformation, while retail CBD products serve patients waiting on—or ineligible for—a medical card. Every patient has access to peer support staff who’ve walked similar paths.
By reframing trauma as something rooted in culture, childhood, or systemic injustice—not only war or accidents—OBH challenges Utahns to see PTSD more broadly. And by weaving cannabis, community, and therapy, they’ve built a clinic unlike any other in the state.
“People want treatment that’s real,” Uckerman says. “We’re here to give them that.”
