Summer Willoughby Bob and Jeanne
Center Focus
December 2012
Best wishes for a safe and joyful holiday season from all of us at CMHC
Wellness Center to Open in 2013
Bob and Jeanne
Robert Cole, MHSA (Chief Operating Officer) and Jeanne Steiner, DO (Medical Director) are leading the effort to establish the CMHC Wellness Center.
The CMHC Wellness Center will provide primary care for patients who really need it. Read more

Voter Registration Drive Succeeds
Summer Willoughby
Summer Willoughby, MHA
The non-partisan Voter Registration Drive offered clients and staff the information and resources they needed to vote on November 6th. On the Inpatient Unit, Summer Willoughby, a Mental Health Assistant, made it happen. Read the story
Eddrena Claggett, Peer Leader, co-led focus groups with CMHC clients
Peer-Led Focus Groups Offer Insights and Suggestions
The first-ever peer-led focus groups at CMHC uncovered new information about consumer satisfaction and offered ideas for change. Find the story, plus the final report, by clicking here.
Mindfulness in Mental Health 
Yoga training participants
A weekend training 
with 108 Monkeys brings yoga
principles to practice at CMHC and within the Community Services Network. Learn more
Client Voices: "Love"
Desiree manuscripts
Desiree's manuscripts

 

 

Editor's Note:

Thank you, Desiree Branch, for submitting your poems to Center Focus. "Love" strikes a deep chord in the aftermath of events in Newtown, Connecticut.

 

LOVE

Love blossoms like a flower,

a flower full of life

It grows and grows getting more and more beautiful with every moment

But unlike a flower it does not die or ever lose its beauty

but keeps on growing stronger

and stronger and rebels against

all hate

Love turns things right side up

It brings hope where there is despair

joy where there is sorrow

It warms the heart and guides the soul

to do God's holy will

-- Desiree Branch

Rising to the Challenge of HHI

CMHC is the first mental health center in the nation to join the Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI). Learn more
What is the Single Best Thing You Can Do for Your Health?
MIke on treadmill desk Dec 2012
Dr. Sernyak at his new treadmill desk
Dr. Michael J. Sernyak, our CEO, says it may be easier than you think to improve your health and wellness. 
Watch Dr. Sernyak's favorite wellness video 23 1/2 HOURS to learn the simple secret!
 

Want to Change Your Habits in 2013?
(What are habits, anyway?)
 
SAVE THE DATE: The Power of Habit author Charles Duhigg visits CMHC on Wednesday, January 16th, 11 AM-12:30 PM. Hosted by The CMHC Foundation.
CBS Evening News Visits CMHC
The CBS Evening News visited our Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit (CNRU) in November to film a story about the promising new depression medications being tested here.
View the story, which aired on December 6th and features the work of Gerard Sanacora, MD, Director of the Yale Depression Research Program and a CNRU scientist.
Lucile headshot
Thinking About Newtown 

I was finishing this issue of Center Focus on Friday, December 14th when I heard the devastating news of what had happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

 

The CT Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services has posted links to online resources for helping people cope with the tragedy. Clinical staff members at CMHC are among those who may be asked to travel to Newtown to provide crisis counseling for people who are grieving.

 

While we will never fully understand what went wrong in a young man's life, the mental health community has been, and will continue to be, affected by the Newtown tragedy. But it is historic and profound in its implications for all of us who are U.S. citizens, regardless of our professions. I hope that we are entering a period of national soul-searching regarding the violence in our society, which claims too many individual lives and creates lifelong trauma for many more.

 

I'd like to thank Desiree Branch for sharing her poem Love, which is printed above in the inaugural "Client Voices" section of this newsletter. Desiree submitted this poem to the newsletter several weeks ago. Today, it touches me even more than when I first read it. If there is an answer to the Newtown tragedy, it's contained somewhere in Desiree's lines.

 

This holiday season, may we take the time to hear, taste, smell, touch, and see the many blessings of this fragile life.

 

Lucile Bruce, Editor

[email protected] 

p.s. Please spread the word that 
Center Focus is looking for submissions for "Client Voices."  Interested clients should contact me themselves, either by email or in Room 142.
In This Issue
Wellness Center Coming Soon
Voter Registration Drive
Peer-Led Focus Groups
Mindfulness in Mental Health
Client Voices: "Love"
Healthier Hospitals Initiative
The Best Thing for Your Health...and The Power of Habit
CBS News Visits CMHC
Editor's Desk: Thinking About Newtown
Quick Links
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Home Tour Visits
CMHC

Mary McBride
Mary McBride
Singer Mary McBride and her band launched Home Tour Connecticut at CMHC on December 5th. The band performed all over the State, including at DMHAS centers in Hartford, Bridgeport, and Middletown. At CMHC, the concert was followed by a delicious luncheon donated by our friends at Miya's Sushi and CitySeed.
 
Hear what our client Kathleen had to say about The Home Tour:
Kathleen's interview
 
For a few concert photos, click here.
 
Thanks for an amazing afternoon, Mary!
Edwin Renaud Joins Clinical Leadership Team
Ed Renaud
Edwin Renaud, LCSW, Ph.D.

Edwin "Ed" Renaud joined the CMHC staff in November as the new Associate Director of Clinical Services. He is responsible for Ambulatory Services and works closely with Peggy Bailey, LCSW, Director of Clinical Services. Welcome, Dr. Renaud!

Bryant Appointed to National Council
AccupuntureCropped2
Katurah Bryant, RN, LMFT, LADC

The United States Department of Agriculture has appointed Katurah Bryant, Assistant Director of CMHC's Substance Abuse Treatment Unit, to the National Advisory Council on Maternal, Infant and Fetal Nutrition. She will serve as an Addiction Specialist on the Council. Congratulations, Ms. Bryant!

Welcome,
John Brenner!

John Brenner

John Brenner, MS, MSN, APRN, Police LT. (Ret) (pictured above) from Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center provides primary care for CMHC patients two days per week in his temporary office on the fifth floor. When the CMHC Wellness Center opens (see story, this issue), Brenner will work there, along with a full-time nurse educator from Hill Health. For an appointment with Nurse Practitioner Brenner, speak to your clinician.
New Scrubs
Linda Wheaton, RN and Colleen Kerelejza, RNC

Nurses on the third floor Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit received new scrubs in December. They are very happy with their new attire! Thanks to all the staff members who worked together to accomplish this goal.

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