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AI in Behavioral Health: Where It Helps, Where It Falls Short
When a conversation turns to AI, people often voice concern about the technology taking over or automatically making critical, even life-and-death, decisions. For behavioral health professionals, the reality of tapping AI-powered tools for treatment centers is remarkable but practical. AI is an...
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In the Age of AI, What Must Remain Human in Behavioral Health?
Artificial intelligence is moving quickly into behavioral health at a time when the field is already under intense strain. Demand is high, access is uneven, clinicians are stretched, and many are looking for a tool that can help them work faster and reach more people. That makes AI attractive. It...
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Parenting Through ADHD: What I Learned as a Clinician and a Mother
When I first noticed something was different about my son, I did not immediately think it was ADHD. That may sound surprising coming from someone with a clinical background in behavioral health, but the reality is that ADHD looks different in every child, especially when considering the stereotypes...
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Peer Support and Case Management: Complementary, Not Interchangeable
Across the behavioral health field, two frontline roles increasingly shape how services are delivered: case managers and peer support specialists. Both work directly with individuals navigating mental health challenges, substance use recovery, housing instability, and community reintegration. Both...
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Overcoming Barriers to Integrating Peer Support in Mental Healthcare Systems
Peer support is one of the most promising approaches in behavioral health, demonstrating measurable improvements in recovery outcomes for people living with serious mental illness. Yet despite decades of research and growing policy support, peer specialists remain underutilized across many...
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Integrating Peer Professionals in Complex Behavioral Health Systems
NYC Health + Hospitals, the nation’s largest municipal health care system and New York City’s largest behavioral health provider, serves individuals with complex behavioral health and social needs including homelessness, justice involvement, and chronic medical conditions. In this landscape,...
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Peer Support in Practice: Workplace Strategies and Professional Development
The field of peer support is quickly gaining prominence and visibility across the domains of behavioral health and substance use services. Georgia was the first state to provide Medicaid-billable mental health peer services in 1999 - it was not until 2012 that Medicaid billing was authorized for...
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An Ecological Perspective on Policing and Behavioral Health
The ecological model helps us understand how people’s environments—from family systems to institutions like policing—shape behavioral health outcomes. Environmental determinants help explain how systemic and structural conditions contribute to mental health disparities. This article examines...
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Strengthening Behavioral Health Through Peer Services: Advancing Recovery Across the Continuum of Care
Recovery from addiction is often strengthened through connection with others who have lived experience. Across New York State, peer professionals - individuals with lived recovery experience - are playing an increasingly important role in behavioral health services. Through strategic policy...
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The Value of Being Seen: Acknowledging the Importance of Shared Identities and Lived Experiences
It is a well-known fact that our traditional mental health care system has experienced a strain over the past six years. Not only are there ongoing needs for services across communities, but also an ongoing staffing crisis that impedes the successful delivery of those services. Mental health...
