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Addiction, Treatment, and the Evolution of Therapeutic Communities: The Legacy of Dr. David A. Deitch
David A. Deitch, PhD, is one of the most influential figures in the modern history of addiction treatment. A clinical and social psychologist, he currently holds the title of Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, where he founded the Center for...
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Building Sanctuary: Creating Trauma-Informed Workplaces to Heal Burnout and Secondary Trauma in Behavioral Health
The quiet exhaustion in Sarah’s eyes told a story that statistics could never capture. After eight years as a behavioral health nurse, she found herself sitting in her car each morning, summoning the strength to walk through the clinic doors. Anxiety in her chest, her neck, and the very hands she...
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Investing in the Behavioral Health Workforce: Training, Professional Development, and Advancing Clinical Excellence
Behavioral health clinicians are seeing more patients with complex, co-occurring disorders and acute symptoms that require multidisciplinary care. At the same time, referrals and expectations for timely, high-quality care are rising. These demands take a toll on care quality and clinician...
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Innovative Training Through Personal Connections: How a Behavioral Health Podcast Is Transforming Staff Development
In today’s rapidly changing behavioral health landscape, frontline staff often face complex challenges that require continuous learning, updating skills, and meaningful guidance from those with deep expertise. Traditional training formats, while valuable, can be difficult to attend due to time...
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Using Trauma-Informed Supervision and Reflective Practice to Navigate Countertransference and Vicarious Trauma
Most mental health professionals currently engage or have engaged in supervision during their careers. Some view this as a chore to be completed as soon as possible during the week. Some view supervision as an opportunity to learn and grow professionally. Some see this as only an administrative...
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The Overlapping Roots of Mental Health Disparities: Poverty, Racism, and Trauma as Social Determinants
Mental health cannot be fully understood — or effectively addressed — without considering the powerful forces that shape people’s everyday lives. Poverty, racism, and trauma are more than just challenges individuals face; they are deeply embedded social determinants of mental health that...
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Beyond the Chemical Imbalance: Rethinking Depression and Anxiety
For decades, much of the mental health field has operated under the assumption that certain individuals simply do not produce “enough” of a particular neurotransmitter, and that the most effective way to address this imbalance is through medication, supplemented by therapy focused on...
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Cultivating a Trauma-Informed Behavioral Health Workforce
Creating a trauma-informed behavioral health workforce is both a moral imperative and a practical necessity in today’s demanding care landscape. Understanding the concept requires recognizing its foundation: a workforce committed to safety, trust, empowerment, collaboration, peer support, and...
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Trauma-Informed Treatment of Anxiety: Empowerment Through Education
Abuse and neglect are experiences of profound invalidation, of both one’s physical and emotional needs. Physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect thrusts one into survival mode. There is rarely space for feelings. The body goes into “fight, flight, or freeze” response, there may be...
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The Impact of Childhood Separation: Parallels Between Children of Parents with Mental Illness and Children of Incarcerated Parents
Family separation is a traumatic experience for children, regardless of the cause. When separation occurs due to parental mental illness or incarceration, children face unique psychological and systemic challenges that are often overlooked. Both groups experience disenfranchised grief, attachment...
