-
A Harm Reduction Approach to Informed and Compassionate Care
Harm Reduction allows us to consider and implement practices that help individuals make safe, viable choices in support of overall wellness. Harm Reduction is also “a movement for social justice built on a belief in, and respect for, the rights of people who use drugs”1 and is “a key pillar...
-
Hope, Healing, and Peer Support: A Path Through Depression
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), an estimated 1 in 5 teenagers experience depression, and 1 in 12 adults have experienced depression in their lifetime.¹ Depression can be a devastating illness; symptoms may include persistent sadness, hopelessness, loss of enjoyment in...
-
Staff Engagement Improves Patient Wellbeing in Psychiatric Settings
Inpatient psychiatric units are often the first point of stabilization for individuals in crisis, many of whom are experiencing acute anxietFy or depression. Standard treatment models include group therapy, individual sessions with psychiatrists and therapists, medication management,...
-
Justice Peer Support: On the Trauma of (and Resilience from) Incarceration
Editorial Note: Given the recent NYS correction officers' strike, this article is especially timely. The strike, driven by concerns over staffing shortages and solitary confinement reforms, has coincided with the tragic deaths of nine incarcerated men (so far). This context underscores the urgency...
-
Peer Support Workforce Shortages Anticipated: What You Can Do
Imagine this: You are the manager in a behavioral health agency that has decided to hire peer support providers in your workforce. This position can give the agency a boost in revenue, additional help in needed areas with personnel shortages, and hope and practical help to service participants. You...
-
Finding the Perfect Fit with Peer Support: Navigating Employment with Mental Illness
Searching for the right job, or even any job, can be stressful for weeks, months, or even years. The challenges may not even stop after obtaining gainful employment. They can bleed into maintaining that job, which then shields us from engaging in the stressful job search process. These challenges...
-
The Critical Role of Peer Support Programs to Sustained Substance Use Disorder Recovery
Many people who have used behavioral health services can attest to the profound benefits of connecting with someone with shared experience. Finding others with common lived experience - often referred to as peers - and learning about their challenges and resilience are particularly valuable for...
-
The Mental Health Association of Westchester’s Intensive and Sustained Engagement Team (INSET)
Anyone involved in the mental health system, whether an individual diagnosed with a behavioral health condition, family member, or practitioner of services, knows that there is pervasive stigma in our country concerning mental health. Although the COVID pandemic has brought increased attention to...
-
From Crisis to Recovery: The Role of Peer Support Specialists at NYC Well
In her foreword to Intimations, written on May 31, 2020, novelist Zadie Smith states that as a result of reading Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, she discovered “two invaluable intimations. Talking to yourself can be useful. And writing means being overheard.” That she...
-
Behavioral Health News Spotlight on Excellence – An Interview with Joseph Wilson, Peer Specialist with Services for the UnderServed
Overview David Minot, Executive Director of Mental Health News Education, the non-profit organization that publishes Behavioral Health News, interviews Joseph Wilson, a Certified Addiction Recovery Coach and Peer Specialist with Services for the UnderServed in NYC. Joseph details his work at the...
