A Case for the Discerning Application of Treatment Models: Proceed with Caution

In recent decades we have witnessed a proliferation of models for the treatment of behavioral health conditions, many of which enjoy robust evidence bases that support their application in accordance with overarching principles and intended outcomes. In many respects, we inhabit a “Golden Age”...

Volunteer Engagement: Considerations for Organizational Success

Health and social service agencies, and the nonprofit sector generally, rely on volunteers to advance their missions and to ensure their continuing viability. As nonprofit organizations (NPOs) must compete for resources necessary to sustain their operations, the availability of an engaged workforce...

Help Wanted! Now More Than Ever

A 2016 report of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) offered a bleak depiction of the current and future state of the nation’s behavioral health services workforce. Nearly half the American population resides in a designated Mental Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA), and...

On Becoming Trauma-Informed: It Takes a Village

Healthcare and social service providers who aim to promote optimal health and wellness among the populations they serve cannot achieve their objectives unless they address the impact of traumatic life events (both past and recurring) on vulnerable individuals. The landmark Adverse Childhood...

The Emergence of Telehealth and a Deepening Digital Divide

In recent years it has become commonplace to reference “transformational” initiatives within our health and social service systems that have altered the manner in which care is delivered and reimbursed. A movement to replace “Fee-for-Service” models with “Value-Based” alternatives...

The Loneliness Epidemic and its Consequences

Former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy described loneliness as an epidemic long before the Coronavirus emerged and disrupted relationships in ways we might never have imagined (McGregor, 2017). Despite extraordinary advances in telecommunications technologies that have enabled us to connect in...

Does Our Healthcare System Perpetuate an Epidemic?

Suicide has been rightly classified as an epidemic, as evidenced by a precipitous increase in its incidence in recent decades. Between 1999 and 2018, the rate of completed suicides has risen by 35% in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Some authors suggest suicide...

The Perils (and Promise) of a Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended our lives unlike anything most of us have experienced. It has exacted an incalculable toll in terms of lives lost or forever altered, and its impact on our institutions and economies is beyond measure. It is exceptionally insidious in its effects on our...

The Epidemic of Opiate Abuse: Its Causes and (Potential) Solutions

The use of mind and mood altering substances is certainly not unique to our modern post-industrialized society. Epidemics of substance use and addiction have ravaged communities for hundreds of years. Homo Sapiens and their ancestors have sought relief from suffering for as long as suffering has...

Housing Is Healthcare: But Only If Our Housing Infrastructure Remains Healthy

An abundance of evidence now confirms what most behavioral health professionals have suspected for many years – safe and stable housing, coupled with appropriate health and social support services, reduces recipients’ reliance on costly emergency and institutional care services (Martinez &...