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Governor Hochul Announces Tools to Improve Digital Wellness Among New Yorkers
With Tech Devices Popular as Gifts, New York State Provides Free Educational Materials Aimed at Safely Navigating the Modern Digital Landscape Online Resources Complement Governor’s Nation-Leading Commitment to Protect Youth Mental Health and Establish Distraction-Free...
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2025 Behavioral Health Trends Recap – Progress, Setbacks, and the Road to 2026
In early 2025, I called out 10 major trends shaping the behavioral health (BH) landscape: integration of behavioral and physical health, mental health parity, digital health and AI, federal policy shifts, prevention, vulnerable populations, workforce development, and overdose prevention. At...
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The Silent Battlefield: Synthetic Opioids Hidden in THC Vapes
The overdose crisis has always been a war, but the battlefield keeps shifting. Today, the weapon isn’t a needle or a powder bag. It’s a vape pen—sleek, pocket-sized, sold at a gas station counter, and marketed as harmless cannabis. In reality, these cartridges are Trojan horses carrying...
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An Epidemic of Anxiety and Depression Requires a Reevaluation of Conventional Treatment
The field of psychiatry has been governed by a medical model of illness in recent decades. This model posits behavioral health conditions, including anxiety and depression, are manifestations of biological abnormalities that may be corrected through interventions commonly employed in other branches...
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America’s Hidden Maternal Mental Health Crisis
There is a quiet but growing crisis unfolding in America. It is the steady erosion of maternal mental health. New national data underscore what so many families and clinicians already know: U.S. mothers are struggling, and the supports meant to sustain them are lagging behind. A recently...
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Weapons of Mass Distraction: Why Governor Hochul’s New York Cellphone Ban Rings True for Adults
I’m not one to mix politics and parenting, but something clicked, or maybe buzzed, when Governor Kathy Hochul recently proposed a statewide classroom cell phone ban. The proposed “bell-to-bell” ban would make New York the largest state to restrict classroom phone use. According to the...
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The Future of Mental Health Is on the Line—We Must Protect It
Federal restructuring risks erasing decades of progress. Together, we can demand better for our communities. Each May, we pause to raise awareness about mental health, which also serves as a time to engage in conversations about emotional well-being, reducing stigma, and promoting equitable...
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A National Call to Action: Protecting Medicaid for Individuals with Serious Mental Illness and Autism
Take Note: Members of the House Committee on Energy & Commerce are drafting a budget which is highly likely to propose severe cuts to Medicaid. Whatever form those cuts take, they are likely to disproportionately harm people with disabilities, including people living with serious mental illness...
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Stretching Medicaid Dollars: How Behavioral Health Providers Can Stay Afloat
Many behavioral health providers around the country are trying to establish and implement alternative payment models in hopes of focusing on reducing costs and improving outcomes, especially for more acute patients. However, many states and health plans lag, creating a disincentive for already...
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NYSPA Report: New Federal Policy in Support of Suicide Prevention
Earlier this year, the Biden Administration launched a new national strategy on Suicide Prevention. According to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): In the United States, someone dies by suicide every 11 minutes; the rates of suicidal behaviors have...
