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RLC Spotlight
  

"Our Shop" Marks Successful First Year at Fuller MHC

July marked the one year anniversary of "Our Shop," a peer-run project of the Metro Boston Recovery Learning Community (MBRLC). This is not the first time that a gift shop has been opened in the lobby of the Solomon Carter Fuller Mental Health Center, however this time shop operator Andrea Selzer, pictured, has been able to put her expertise into reality-with staying power.

Andrea began her endeavors when she left her resume with GBCAN Director Howard Trachtman at a non-profit fair. Andrea was looking for a Certified Peer Specialist position in a group setting. Her background was in design, interior design and retail sales and her new vision was to combine these skills. "I didn't' quite know what I was looking for but knew that it existed in the peer world and if I hunted enough it might present itself," Andrea said.

Six months later Andrea received a call to meet with MBRLC Director Chuck Weinstein for a project he had in mind: transforming a small space on the ground floor of Fuller into a working gift shop. Chuck had a great vision for the shop and believed Andrea could fulfill that.

"It took me a few weeks of coming into the building, staring at the dark space and walking away almost in tears. Then it hit me--we needed to create a light space in an inviting environment and ask for donations," Andrea said. "So we painted, put up lights, got donations from friends and peers for artwork and we became a gallery."

She eventually found a group of people to work on the project with her, with Jeff Santos as her main assistant. Anne Whitman, MBRLC co-director and director of the Cole Center at McLean Hospital, also joined Andrea and her vision. With Anne's relentless pursuit of fiscal conservatism and her love of finding good deals on items, she mentored Andrea slowly and quietly which brought "Our Shop" where it is today. "Anne basically allows me to do as I think is best," she said, "yet is always there for guidance and a kind word."

Each day they moved forward, "Our Shop" sold a few things, bought a few things wholesale and continued receiving wonderful donations. It was a slow process, making a few dollars and using that money to acquire more items. The store now sells books, scarves, picture frames, jewelry, soaps, baskets and artwork as well as practical items such as toiletries, gum and candy, In this first year, Andrea and her staff have managed to create a "wonderful, funky and practical store that seems to lighten up the building," Andrea said. In their first year of operation, "Our Shop" has been profitable enough to offer small support to the MBRLC and host a wonderful Christmas party. Andrea soon hopes to make enough profit to provide MBRLC with some funding for new programming.

Part of Andrea's success is her business approach. She does not take items on consignment, rather she welcomes any artist who is interested in donating one piece to the shop. If the piece sells, she will them buy from the artists on a regular basis and sell their goods. "They are then selling their goods wholesale and it is a much simpler way of having a good working relationship with our vendors," Andrea said. "If their piece doesn't sell in three months I then give it back to them. This doesn't usually happen."

The exception to this strategy is Jonathan Spiller. Jonathan is the "Our Shop" onsite artist in residence. Andrea has given him a place to show his work. "His works shines in our shop and sells incredibly well. He is a brilliant artist," said Andrea.

"Our Shop" is open in the lobby of the Solomon Carter Fuller Mental Health Center, 85 East Newton St., Boston. Shop hours are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Andrea is always looking for items for donation to the shop and is currently looking for a peer with experience in retail sales to help at the shop. Please contact Andrea at buckostar@comcast.net for more information about these opportunities.

Click here  to view more photos in the "Our Shop" album on the Photo Gallery.

DMH, DPH Collaborate on GLBTQ Youth Training Effort

The Department of Mental Health (DMH) and the Department of Public Health (DPH) jointly sponsored an all-day training for DMH staff and providers recently which focused on "Supporting GLBTQ Youth, Young Adults & Their Families."

This was DMH's first gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning (GLBTQ) training. The Massachusetts Commission on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth has asked DMH to assess whether its services are meeting the needs of its GLBTQ youth in its Annual Recommendations for FY2011. Staff training is the first step to ensuring the needs of GLBTQ youth, young adults and their families are met.

In support of this joint effort, DPH Commissioner John Auerbach and DMH Commissioner Barbara Leadholm opened the training with welcoming remarks. Both Commissioners are dedicated to improving the outcomes for this particular population as research and data have shown that GLBTQ youth are at higher risk than the general population for poverty, homelessness, depression and suicide, discrimination, stigma and increased risk of substance use. The training emphasized that the focus was not on "high-risk youth" but rather on "high-risk environments." It is in the family, school and community environments where small positive changes can begin in order to help all young people express themselves and be loved, accepted and celebrated for who they are.

Marisa Howard-Karp, Program Director of the GLBT Youth Support Project (a program of Health Imperatives) led the training. The GLBT Youth Support Project's mission is to ensure safe and supportive communities for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning (GLBTQ) youth, and provides training and on-going support for educators and health and human service providers to assist them in implementing welcoming and appropriate programs, policies and services for these young people and their families.

Training participants were led in a dialogue regarding relevant language, definitions and culture. Participants also learned strategies for enhancing culturally competent services for GLBTQ young adult clients such as creating a welcoming climate, conducting GLBTQ-inclusive intakes and risk assessments and for making appropriate referrals. At the end of the training, participants were asked to engage in interactive role playing to apply the strategies, skills and techniques learned throughout the day.

In continued collaboration, DMH and DPH will be offering this training in each of the DMH areas so area/local staff and providers can attend. Alison Brill, MPH, Community Suicide Prevention Coordinator from the Department of Public Health; and Ann Capoccia, MSW, Coordinator of Interagency Activities from the Department of Mental Health, will be coordinating these trainings.

 August 5, 2011

Alternatives Wins the Gold for Being Green

9 a.m. ceremony, Alternatives Whitin Mill, 50 Douglas Road, Whitinsville, MA. Come celebrate with Alternatives for their LEED Gold certification for their GREEN restoration of the historic Whitin Mill.  RSVP by August 2 to Cristi.Collari@Alternativesnet.org or 508 266-6520.

August 11, 2011

Southeastern MA RLC - 5th Annual "Recovery Is Real" Event 

9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Ricky Silvia Gym at Taunton State Hospital. Click here  to download the flyer for more details. Watch for the RLC Spotlight in the September DMH Connections for more infoabout this event! 

~ SAVE THE DATE ~

September 19, 2011

Notheast Suburban Area  National Wellness Week Event, in concert with SAMHSA's National Recovery Month and the SAMHSA 10x10 Campaign.9 to 11 a.m.

Tewksbury Hospital, Saunders Building in the Events Room. Lauren Spiro of the SAMHSA 10x10 Campaign and National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery will kick this off the event and lead a workshop for us on Wellness and on the 10x10 Campaign. For more information, contact Rob Walker at  (978) 863-5074.

September 23, 2011

12-1:30 p.m. Now performing at the Stuart Street Theater Boston, BBQ at the Fuller to follow. You won't want to miss this growing event showcasing DMH's hottest talent!  More details coming in the September Issue of DMH Connections!

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Suicide Prevention Program Workshop Calendar is available with fall trainings. We will be adding more workshops throughout the year. When registering for a workshop, please note that each event has tabs titled with information regarding the workshop. Space is limited for each workshop and fills up quickly, so register before the deadline. Click here  to view the current Suicide Prevention Training Calendar.

Click here  for the Transformation Center website. There you will find all the latest information and events happening throughout the Mental health Community.

Opening November 2011: The New Massachusetts Mental Health Center

 
DMH's Massachusetts Mental Health Center (MMHC), with a near 100-year history in the Longwood neighborhood, will return to its roots in two new state-of-the-art facilities when it opens in November of this year. A unique public/private partnership between DMH and Partners HealthCare/Brigham and Women's Hospital has led to the much-celebrated redevelopment of the MMHC in Boston's Longwood Medical Area. The lease agreement between the Commonwealth and Partners HealthCare/Brigham and Women's Hospital includes the redevelopment and construction of the MMHC complex at no cost to the Commonwealth.

"Many individuals have worked very hard to make this landmark project possible," said DMH Commissioner Barbara Leadholm, "especially the leadership of DMH and DCAM and our partners at Brigham and Women's Hospital. It has been years in the making and we are delighted that results of this unique collaboration will benefit not only the individuals who will be served by the new MMHC, but as well as the neighborhood, the medical community and the City of Boston.

"The new MMHC will include a medical clinic that will address the unique medical needs of the Center's and other DMH clients," Commissioner Leadholm continued. "The opportunities here are endless: integrated behavioral and medical care at one site; collaborations/affiliations with nearby hospitals for specialized services; teaching and training opportunities for psychiatric and medical residents and allied medical students; and research activity."

MMHC's clinical, training and research programs temporarily housed at the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital and the Landmark Center will reunite on one campus when the new facility opens this fall. The main new facility at 75 Fenwood Road is a six-story, 56,000-square-foot building that will provide clinical, research and administrative space. The 20 Vining Street facility, a three-story brick building, will house the Partial Hospitalization Program and the Fenwood Inn transitional shelter. Both buildings carry the prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Healthcare silver certification, a rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. 
 

Future development on the site includes a clinical and research building for the Brigham and Women's Hospital, a major affordable housing complex for the Roxbury Tenants of Harvard and landscaped open space. Planners approaching MMHC's November move-in date are fully engaged in assuring a smooth transition for staff, trainees and clients.

Watch coming editions of DMH Connections for updates on the MMHC move and opening event announcements.

DMH's Joan Mikula Honored at PPAL 20th Anniversary Conference

DMH Child and Adolescent Services Assistant Commissioner Joan Mikula received the Children's Mental Health Champion Award at PPAL's recent 20th Anniversary Conference. This award honors Joan's enormous impact in changing the way children's mental health services are delivered. 

In the early 1990s, Joan envisioned a partnership between families who wanted to improve care for their children with mental health needs and the Department of Mental Health and set policies in motion to accelerate that partnership. While the mental health community could not anticipate the remarkable structure in place today, Joan ensured that families and youth would have voice in creating policy, participating in evaluation and advocating for new ways to deliver care.

Joan was also one of the designers of the Collaborative Assessment Program. This initiative blended funding from the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Children and Families (then DSS) to ensure that families, often in between two agencies, would be guided to the needed services for their children. This program was both innovative and effective and received a great many accolades from families.

Joan also was in the forefront of several other projects, including Worcester Communities of Care, Central Mass Communities of Care and Mental Health Services Program for Youth, all of which promoted a new approach to delivering services. Each of these programs was very successful and set the foundation for the way services are delivered today through a home- and community-based approach with families included as experts on their children.

Joan has the unique ability to unite all stakeholders in a room into a single group dedicated to improving services, treatment and life for children and youth with mental health needs. Any parent she is in contact with comes away feeling that their views were heard and respected.  One parent remarked, "She is so good at taking complicated issues and explaining them so we all want to be a part of fixing them!"

Joan is also deeply committed to including youth in decision making. She has pioneered practices such as restraint reduction to ensure that youth are treated respectfully in treatment settings. She has promoted youth mentors and insisted on a seat at many policy tables for youth.

We want to thank PPAL for recognizing DMH's Joan Mikula and the indelible impact she continues to make on behalf of children and families. Congratulations, Joan, on receiving PPAL's Children's Mental Health Champion Award!

Left to right: Lisa Lambert, Executive Director of PPAL; Joan Mikula; and Chip Wilder, Chair of PPAL's Board of Directors.

MMHC Development Team Among
MAMH 2011 Honorees 

About 400 health care professionals, state officials, attorneys, business leaders, mental health advocates, family members and mental health consumers gathered at Boston's Seaport Hotel to celebrate Massachusetts Association for Mental Health's (MAMH) 98 anniversary and to salute Victoria Reggie Kennedy as the recipient of its Spirit of Compassion Award; and Jerrold F. Rosenbaum, M.D, Psychiatrist-in-Chief of Massachusetts General Hospital, as the recipient of its Friend and Leader Award.

In addition, special recognition awards (commemorative bricks with an inscription) were given to former DMH Commissioner Marylou Sudders and the development teams at Partners HealthCare, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Roxbury Tenants of Harvard, Division of Capital Asset Management and DMH for the successful and innovative public-private partnership that led to the construction of DMH's new Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston.

The Friend and Leader Award was established by MAMH in 1993 to annually recognize an individual or organization who embodies outstanding leadership qualities, and who has significantly contributed to the quality of life, spirit and the common good of Massachusetts and its citizens.

The new DMH Massachusetts Mental Health Center is scheduled to open in November of this year.

Pictured above are the development teams from Partners HealthCare, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Roxbury Tenants of Harvard, Division of Capital Asset Management and the Department of Mental Health

2011 USPRA National Conference:                  A Success in Boston

The Massachusetts Chapter of the U.S. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (MassPRA) served as host to the 36th Annual National USPRA Conference at the Sheraton Boston Hotel June 13 through 16.  With more than 1,900 individuals in attendance, including representatives from 15 countries, the gathering was a roaring success. In 1975, USPRA developed and defined the practice of Psychosocial (Psychiatric) Rehabilitation, establishing these services as integral to community-based treatment and leading the recovery movement. USPRA currently has more than 30 chapters. MassPRA was established in 2000 when the New England Chapter was disbanded in favor of state chapters.

Conference attendees chose workshops in six different tracks including Integration of Health Care; Vocational Engagement; Children and Youth in Transition; Evidence Based Practices; Cultivating Wellness; and Effective Strategies for Administration, Management and System Change. Pat Deegan and former U.S. Congressman Patrick Kennedy werekeynote speakers.

DMH Commissioner Barbara Leadholm officially welcomed attendees, highlighting the Commonwealth's focus on recovery and peer-run services.

This year, USPRA and the Massachusetts Association for Occupational Therapy cosponsored the first-ever psychiatric occupational therapy symposium on the fourth day of the conference. The symposium focused on incorporating recovery and wellness into occupational therapy practice. Three Tewksbury State Hospital occupational therapists were instrumental in developing this symposium: Marilyn Johnson, Justin Galvin and Victoria Buckley. Marilyn, Justin and Rob Walker from the DMH Northeast-Suburban Staff Development team, presented on the fundamental similarities between the occupational therapy practice framework and the Recovery Model and how they support the development of a person- centered rehabilitation program. The Tewksbury State Hospital Occupational Therapy Department was also represented by two staff occupational therapists, Suzan Schwartz and Priscilla Ross. This was a momentous achievement that gathered leaders in occupational therapy from around the country, another positive step toward infusing recovery into all facets of psychiatric rehabilitation.

USPRA also hosted a number of receptions including its annual Awards of Distinction and Fellows event. Bob Schueler, Director of Rehabilitation in Bay Cove Human Services Mental Health Division, was honored as one of this year's fellows for "having met a standard of excellence in the practice of psychiatric rehabilitation through educational achievement, validation of competency through advanced credentials, research initiatives, publication and advocacy initiatives."

Center Club Clubhouse, one of the 13 founding members of USPRA, hosted an international reception in the club's dining room with live music by Tunefoolery.

MassPRA's efforts on behalf of the 2011 conference began more than two years ago. Margaret Jordan from Human Resources Unlimited in Springfield and Mary C. Gregorio from Bay Cove Human Services in Boston served on the USPRA National Conference Committee. MassPRA Chapter President Lyne Legere said she is honored that MassPRa played such a prominent role in this year's successful national conference. "We are also proud of the fact that this was the largest conference in USPRA history and a tribute to the valued role which psychiatric rehabilitation plays throughout Massachusetts," she said.

For more information visit www.uspra.org and http://masspra.org

Occupational Therapy Staff from the Hathorne Units at Tewksbury Hospital Rehab Dept., from left to right:  Victoria Buckley, Justin Galvin, Marilyn Johnson, Suzan Schwartz and Priscilla Ross.

The tornadoes that cut a path of devastation through Western and Central Massachusetts two months ago continue to challenge many families, individuals and communities.  

Volunteers from throughout the state have responded to the work of rebuilding lives, homes, churches and schools for the affected communities and the efforts are ongoing. DMH and its partner mental health providers provided assistance to shelter sites, communities, local school systems, the Division of Transitional Assistance help centers and the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Disaster Recovery Centers since June 1, the evening the storms hit, through July 9. Many DMH staff mobilized to respond to this extraordinary and rare disaster.  

DMH was requested by the American Red Cross to support their efforts to assist in the Springfield area just hours after the tornado touched down in that city. Led by the efforts of Rae Ann Frenette from DMH's Central-West Area Western Mass. office, the Department continues to assist in relief efforts to help citizens and communities recover. Rae Ann is also a volunteer with the Pioneer Valley Red Cross and is the local Emergency Management Coordinator.  

"I am very proud of the selflessness that DMH staff have demonstrated in the Department's role in the disaster response efforts," said Commissioner Leadholm. "DMH employees are among the compassionate and caring professionals who comprise the front line in this often challenging work and they have my utmost confidence and support." 

From the first weekend after the tornadoes struck, DMH has engaged the assistance of Riverside Trauma Center, who collaborated with the Behavioral Health Network and The Bridge to provide crisis relief in Hampden and Worcester Counties. Both regions were declared federal disaster areas by President Obama on June 15. To date, DMH and its provider partners have deployed approximately 200 crisis counselors and logged more than 2,000 hours of disaster mental health assistance. DMH especially thanks the MassSupport Network's Disaster Behavioral Health Advisory Committee members, who helped mobilize trained crisis counselors to assist in the response efforts. 

DMH is currently working with FEMA and the U.S. Substance and Mental Health Services Administration to launch a Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP) that will provide immediate services to impacted individuals and their families in their communities. The key principles of the CCP program are that the crisis outreach provided is:

• Strengths Based-CCP services promote resilience, empowerment, and recovery.
• Anonymous-Crisis counselors do not classify, label, or diagnose people; no records or case files are kept.
• Outreach Oriented-Crisis counselors deliver services in the communities rather than wait for survivors to seek their assistance.
• Conducted in Nontraditional Settings-Crisis counselors make contact in homes and communities, not in clinical or office settings.
• Designed to Strengthen Existing Community Support Systems-The CCP supplements, but does not supplant or replace, existing community systems.

More than 150 people attended the DMH Northeast-Suburban Area's Quality Management Symposium, "Promoting Recovery through Research and Practice," held at Middlesex Community College in Bedford recently.

Following opening remarks by Susan Wing, Northeast-Suburban Area Director, keynote presenter Susan R. McGurk, Ph.D. pictured, spoke about "Cognitive Remediation and Employment in Severe Mental Illness: The Thinking Skills for Work Program." Dr. McGurk is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School and a member of the Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center. Her presentation examined research that supports the feasibility of implementing the Thinking Skills for Work Program within supported employment and its effects on cognitive functioning and employment outcomes in persons with severe mental illness. Dr. McGurk also engaged volunteers from the audience and tested their own thinking skills while demonstrating software used by the cognitive training program.

The event also included a poster session and workshop presentations by local experts from DMH, providers and the peer community on evidence based or innovative practices being implemented across the Area. The workshops addressed using a comprehensive management plan in community settings (Advocates, Inc.); outcomes from a residential DBT program with adolescents (The Bridge of Central Mass.); implementing the Individual Placement and Support model (The Edinburg Center, Vinfen, Eliot Community Human Services and DMH) and the role of arts in recovery (Tewksbury Hospital).

Jo Bower, Director of the North East Recovery Learning Community, and Carol Gapski, two leaders in the peer community, closed the program with remarks and their observations on recovery.