Archive for the ‘Recovery from Mental Illness’ Category

Where Do We Go from Here? Follow-Up Care from Psychiatric Hospitalization

Psychiatric hospitalization is a disruptive event for any individual, especially for a child and family. However, brief the hospital stay – and stays are very brief these days – the person, the child, and the family has to cope with medications, restoring relationships, making an awkward and...

After the Hospital the Real Treatment Begins

It is often in the period following an inpatient psychiatric hospitalization that the “real treatment” begins. After stabilizing the most severe symptoms that compromise a patient’s functioning, the patient and his or her therapist must then collaborate on the next steps that will help to...

Assisted Outpatient Treatment: A Helping Hand in the Community

Living with a loved one afflicted with a mental illness who does not comply with his or her treatment plan can have a tremendous negative impact on the family as well as the individual. Assisted Outpatient Treatment, or “Kendra’s Law,” is a valuable tool for families and others who seek to...

Building a Responsive, Accountable, Recovery-Focused System of Care

I wish to briefly describe what is on the horizon for the Adult Mental Health system in our state. The New York State public mental health system is among the most well-funded in the country, yet outcomes are of concern. In the middle are people who struggle with mental illness and want to lead...

The Economics of Recovery: How Consumers Can Help Close the Budget Gap

Speaking before the Greater New York Hospital Association, Governor Paterson said the only way to solve the multi-billion dollar budget crisis was by “—working collaboratively—whether we run the hospital, work in the hospital or have been hospitalized.” While the Government could freeze...