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At Behavioral Health Clinics, Supervisors are the New Technology Advocates
Community behavioral health clinics are a lifeline for the communities they serve and often provide mental health and substance abuse services at affordable rates to populations that might not otherwise have access. Many well-established clinics have been operating for decades, delivering treatment...
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How the Pandemic Turned Behavioral Healthcare for Older Adults on Its Head
The past three years have brought about the greatest transformation in behavioral healthcare practices that I have seen in four decades. I have served as Chief Executive Officer of Service Program for Older People (SPOP) for 33 years. We provide community-based behavioral healthcare for adults...
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The Evolution of the Behavioral Health Model: 24/7, Walk-Ins, and Crisis and Stabilization Centers
Our communities are in crisis. Mental health and substance use disorders are affecting communities nationwide from all levels of society, without regard for political affiliation, economic status, age, cultural origin, or educational level. Furthermore, the impact of the crisis is particularly...
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Utilizing Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy When Treatment-Oriented Care is Not Leading to Recovery
Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy (CT-R) was originally developed by the Beck Institute to promote recovery and resiliency in individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, but it can be applied broadly to individuals with various challenges. The Beck Institute describes CT-R as “highly...
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NYS Office of Mental Health Announces Funding to Strengthen Suicide Prevention Efforts for Veterans and Uniformed Personnel
The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) recently announced funding for a new initiative to strengthen resiliency and suicide prevention efforts among military Veterans and uniformed personnel, including law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical service members, and...
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Digital Transformation, Virtual Learning, and the Resilient Organization
With onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, human services organizations across the United States had their worlds turned upside down. For many, the effects of the pandemic only exacerbated the community issues their organizations were founded to fight. The increased risk of infection, the effects...
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Attracting and Retaining Employees During the Workforce Crisis of 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic is beyond unpredictable. No one can really say with certainty how and/or when this situation will be under control to the point where behavioral health organizations can go back to normal or know what the new normal would look like. With lockdowns, social distancing, and a...
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Training the Workforce in Non-Traditional Modalities of Self-Care: A COVID-19 Silver-Lining
Over the past 18 months, the pandemic and the many associated societal stressors, have caused great suffering, and the behavioral health (BH) workforce has been no exception. The novel coronavirus and ongoing pandemic have wrought tremendous personal loss, job and/or income insecurity, and forced...
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Suicide Prevention is Everyone’s Business
September 10th of each year is World Suicide Prevention Day and that concurrent week is Suicide Prevention Week in the US. WellLife Network (WLN) routinely provides and offers community awareness and trainings for NYC and Long Island Communities. We would like to ask all agencies in NYC to...
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Facilitating Trauma-Informed Organizational Change: OASAS Trauma-Informed Care Champions
Last June of 2020, Arlene González-Sánchez, LMSW, Commissioner of the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) announced a partnership with the Institute on Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care (ITTIC) at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work. The goal of the...