Perspective on Recent Developments in New York State Behavioral Health Reform

Since the last issue of Behavioral Health News, as summarized by the excellent update above written by Dr. Jorge Petit and Jenna McCready, the State has moved forward to aggressively implement managed behavioral health. This article presents a perspective on some of the developments. RFQ for...

Recovery from Mental Illness: Consumer Readiness as a Driving Force

In this account, I’m sharing our experience at The Bridge, the New York City non-profit mental health rehabilitation agency, to illustrate the key role that consumers play in moving service providers to a recovery/rehabilitation orientation. The Bridge was created in 1954 by a group of...

Integrating Health and Behavioral Health Services: A Personal Perspective on One Agency’s Experience

In 1984, at the very first senior staff meeting I attended when I arrived at The Bridge (the non-profit mental health and substance abuse rehabilitation agency in New York City) the spotlight was on client healthcare issues. Our then part-time psychiatrist had recruited a heroic primary care...

A Perspective on Mental Health Housing in New York State

What an accomplishment! In the past 25 years (I may be off by a year or two) the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) has supported the development of 30,000 residential units for persons who have serious mental illness. Development began with the establishment of congregate supervised...

Editorial: New York’s Medicaid Reform Portends Major Changes in Behavioral Health Service Delivery

The 27-member Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo in January made a series of far-reaching recommendation pertaining to the delivery of mental health and substance abuse services (taken together, behavioral health services). The MRT, comprised of stakeholders from...

Sheridan Hill House: An Alternative Residential Model for Older Persons with Serious Mental Illness and Medical Conditions

In the context of recent national research findings that people with serious mental illness have a significantly shorter lifespan than the general population, the mental health community has directed much attention to addressing this disparity. Integrating mental health and health care has become...

Noted Panelists Discuss the Impact of Race and Racism on the Mental Health Professions and on the Therapeutic Alliance

Moderator’s Note: I had the pleasure of assembling a panel to address the impact of race and racism on the mental health professions. All of the panelists had participated in the Undoing Racism Workshop training offered by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond and were familiar with...

One Agency’s (and the System’s) Pathway to Recovery

Here’s a prescription for how to approach treatment of people with schizophrenia: “mental illness can be alleviated if the person is treated in a considerate manner, if he has the opportunity to talk about his trouble, if his interest is stimulated and if he is kept actively involved in...