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Developing a Culture of Accountability and Belonging
Creating a psychologically safe and inclusive work culture of Accountability and Belonging is central to the role of a developing anti-racist leader. The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior that leaders are willing to tolerate. An effective culture shift requires the...
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Black Men and Mental Health: Practical Solutions
It's no secret that black men face a unique set of circumstances in our world; economic, healthcare, and educational disparities, systemic racism, and social injustice. These factors create a world where it seems Black men's lives are rarely valued, much less their thoughts and feelings. This has...
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Mental Health in BIPOC Communities: How to Reduce Stigma and Barriers
Much of the stigma around mental health stems from crisis situations. We fear people who seem out of control, especially when we don’t know how to support them. For Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), social disparities can compound that fear. During my career, I’ve worked in...
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Co-Creating an Equitable Crisis Care Continuum to Reduce Stigma
People are in pain. We are experiencing an onslaught of public health crises that is affecting our overall functioning. The fierce urgency of now to collectively move us to a space of wellness is imperative to our quality of life. The current crisis care continuum is not designed to meet the needs...
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Tips on Becoming an Antiracist Leader
White institutional culture is most often invisible. It determines the norms and standards in your organization and is damaging to the antiracist journey. It requires training your eyes to see, your ears to hear, and your voice to become racially fluent. The first step for an antiracist leader is...
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An Interview with the New York State OASAS, OMH, and OPWDD Commissioners to Address Critical Healthcare Issues
In a rare opportunity, Mental Health News Education, publisher of Behavioral Health News and Autism Spectrum News, has brought together the Commissioners of the NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH), The NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS), and The NYS Office for People with...
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Responding to the COVID Pandemic and Racial Injustice
One of the truths that have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic is that while the trauma and grief of COVID-19 and the accumulated racial injustices have been widespread, the impact has been felt more strongly in some communities. COVID-19 has been much more harmful to Black and Brown communities...
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Beyond Data: Strategies to Reduce Racial Missteps for Behavioral Healthcare Providers
Discussions of social determinants of behavioral health (SDBH) are often limited to data. While statistics are extremely valuable to understand the impact of institutional and systemic forces across racial and economic lines, SDBH conversations regularly exclude practical means to raise the...
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A Social Determinants Perspective of the Intersection of Ageism, Racism and Social Isolation During COVID-19
There is now well-established evidence on how long-standing systemic health and social inequities compound one’s risk of acquiring COVID-19. However, further research is needed to explore how disadvantaged social status(es) may interact with mandated or recommended social policies that aim to...
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The NYSPA Report: American Psychiatric Association Approaches to Social Determinants of Mental Health
The year 2020 refocused our attention on the social determinants of mental health. From structural racism to economic insecurity to healthcare disparities, people have become acutely aware of the insidious discrimination and losses that vulnerable individuals and communities have suffered. Rates of...
