DMH Connections

A publication of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health

January/February 2014  

 

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In This Issue

Connections Correction.
DMH Employment Corner
Conferences and Events
Children's Behavioral Health Knowledge Center Will Launch This Spring
DMH Citizens Legislative Breakfasts Series for 2014
Young Athletes Compete In Doc Wayne Sports League
Book Review: Better Days:. A Mental Health Recovery Workbook
DMH YouTube Spotlight
Winter Wellness Tips
New Online Trainings for Certified Peer Specialists
News from Tunefoolery
Photo of the Month

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 Click here to read blog posts by Secretary Polanowicz, Commissioner Fowler and others

 

  

Department of Public Health Blog 

Click here to view the DPH blog which features expert tips on nutrition and physical activity as well as a roundup of health and wellness events 
  

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Friday February 14
 

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Connections Correction
 
Our apologies to Craig Lewis, CPS, who was omitted from two articles in the December 2013 issue.  In the article '12th Annual MassPRA Conference Highlights Employment and Recovery,' Michael Stepansky was credited for doing the presentation with Rob Waker and Craig Lewis was inadvertently omitted.  

Also, Craig also gave the keynote address at the 11th Annual Jonathan Schiff Awards written about in the 'DMH Employment Corner' article.

 
DMH Employment Corner
 
By Michael Stepansky 
DMH Director of Employment 
  

SPOTLIGHT: CENTRAL MASS EMPLOYMENT ACADEMY

 

Beginning in 2011, Alternatives, a DMH provider in Central Massachusetts, began collaboration with Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) and local businesses in the Worcester area to better prepare individuals receiving CBFS services for competitive employment. The result of this unique collaboration was the creation of the Central Mass Employment Academy, now preparing to enroll its sixth class.

 

The Employment Academy is comprised of twice-per-week sessions over two months on the QCC campus for approximately 8-10 individuals receiving DMH services. Participants are engaged in a combination of on-campus classroom-based instruction as well as job shadowing/orientation visits at places of employment in the community. The on-campus curriculum involves presentation of the "Choose-Get-Keep" model, as well as guest speakers, including alumni of the Academy who are now successfully working or in school. Businesses participating in the job-shadowing component of the program were chosen to match the employment interests of Academy participants, including: QCC, Worcester Country Club, DCU Center, Crown Bakery, Home Depot, Worcester Animal Rescue League, St. Vincent's Hospital, Me-Tech Recycling, and the Whitinsville Community Center.

 

While the ultimate goal of the Academy has been to prepare each participant to pursue a competitive job of their choice, the Academy has also increased participants' awareness of the educational and social opportunities available at QCC and other educational programs. To date, nine out of the thirty-six individuals who have completed an Employment Academy have enrolled in QCC or a GED-related course.

 

The Employment Academy model is continuing to evolve. In the Spring of 2013, the Academy was broadened to include individuals served by additional CBFS providers Community HealthLink and the Bridge of Central MA, and to include staff from these agencies among the Academy's faculty. The Academy model is also showing promise as a stimulus for persons to begin thinking about work who may have been unsure or ambivalent about whether to return to employment; while 19% of individuals who originally enrolled in the Academy obtained employment, an additional 43% are currently seeking work.

 

For additional questions related to the Employment Academy, please contact Michael Stepansky, DMH Director of Employment, or Arthur Ellis, DMH Housing & Coordinator for Central Massachusetts.

 


Conferences and Events

 

Now Available 

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health Suicide Prevention Training Calendar

Please click on the link below to register.

Suicide Prevention Events Calendar

When registering for a workshop, please note that each event has tabs titled with information regarding the workshop, available CEs and cost.   

Space is very limited for each workshop and fills up quickly, so please register early.

 

 

 Upcoming Trainings from The Bridge Training Institute

Click here for the complete 2013-2014 training calendar.

Training Institute events are held at the DoubleTree Hotel which is wheelchair accessible to people with mobility limitations. If accommodations such as ASL interpreters or visual aids are needed, please contact Stephen Murphy at:

[email protected] 

or 508-755-0333 three weeks in advance of the training date.

 

 

Upcoming Workshops at the Center for Professional Innovation 

(formerly Community Program Innovations) 

 CPI offers continuing education for mental health and healthcare professionals and educators, holding day-long workshops throughout Massachusetts on clinical and management topics. Trainings are held in Billerica, Foxborough and Springfield. To view the complete schedule and to register visit  

 http://bridgewellcpi.org   

All facilities are wheelchair accessible. If accommodations such as ASL interpreters or visual aids are needed, email:[email protected] 

 or call  339-883-2118.

   

 Click here for the Transformation Center website and all the latest information and events happening throughout the mental health community.   

 

Please send your event information to

  Michelle Cormier Tallman

by the 15th of each month for publication in DMH Connections

 

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 We will be posting DMH Connections on DMH's archives page of the DMH Internet.  
View issues from 2008 to the Present.

Children's Behavioral Health Knowledge Center 

to Launch This Spring   

 

Exciting work in the Children's Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI) is underway and coming soon is the new CBHI Knowledge Center, one of the Department's strategic priorities this year. The Children's Behavioral Health Knowledge Center's mission is to ensure that children's behavioral health services are evidence-based and cost-effective, new service models are developed and evaluated, and the workforce delivering these services is skilled and well trained. The Center's scope encompasses the entire Massachusetts children's behavioral health system: community-based and institutional service providers, public and private payers, parent advocates, research centers and state agencies.  

 

"One of our priorities is to increase developmentally appropriate mental health prevention and early intervention strategies for children and adolescents," said Commissioner Marcia Fowler. "The Children's Behavioral Health Knowledge Center will be critical to our goal of interrupting the trajectory of mental illness early on, especially since we know that 50% of chronic adult mental health conditions present themselves prior to age 14 and 75% prior to age 24."  

 

DMH Deputy Commissioner for Child & Adolescent Services Joan Mikula is leading the effort and with an implementation specialist, has designed and will usher in the Center.  Work is already underway on issues such as parental depression, the disproportionate number of adopted children in DMH placements and behavioral health screening in pediatric primary care. Partnerships with the Children's Behavioral Health Advisory Council and sister EOHHS agencies are guiding the development of these projects.  Information about these projects will be disseminated through a website on the DMH internet and webinars. 

 

The Children's Behavioral Health Knowledge Center will officially launch at events this spring, including at the DMH Annual Research Conference and during Children's Mental Health week in May. Look for more information in future editions of DMH Connections. 

 

Recovery: It All Starts With a Conversation

 

 DMH Citizens Legislative Breakfasts Series for 2014

 

DMH will host its annual series of Citizens Legislative Breakfasts in the coming months.  This is an opportunity for members of the mental health community to meet with their legislators, thank them for their support and discuss how DMH helps people with mental illnesses recover and live satisfying lives in communities of their choice.  It is also an opportunity for consumers and family members to share good news and success stories about their life experiences.  

 

"For many, getting help starts with a conversation. People who believe they may be suffering from a mental health condition should talk about it with someone they trust and consult a health care provider." With these words, President Obama last year launched a national conversation about mental health issues and the DMH Citizens Legislative Breakfasts are just one way we continue the dialogue and focus on how we can all break the silence about mental illness.

 

Sharing stories is the most powerful tool we have in the recovery toolkit. At the DMH Citizens Legislative Breakfasts, we will hear the courageous and compelling personal stories of adults, youth and families living with mental illness and thriving in the face of their challenges.

 

Join the conversation!

 

 

Wednesday, February 12, Southeast Area Citizens Legislative Breakfast

 Southeast Communities (Great Hall/State House)

 

Thursday, February 13, Northeast-Suburban Area Citizens Legislative Breakfast

Metro Suburban Communities (Great Hall/State House)

 

Thursday, March 6, Metro Boston Area Citizens Legislative Breakfast

Metro Boston Communities  (Great Hall/State House)

 

Tuesday, March 11, Northeast-Suburban Area Citizens Legislative Breakfast

Northeast Communities (Great Hall/State House)

 

Friday, March 14, Central-West Area Citizens Legislative Breakfast

Central Mass. Communities (Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital, 

Large Conf. Room, K2-A2)

 

Friday, March 28, Central-West Area Citizens Legislative Breakfast

Western Mass. Communities (Springfield Technical Community College, 

      Scibelli Hall)

 

 

The breakfast events start with registration and refreshments from 9:30 to 10 a.m. and the program starts promptly at 10 a.m. for approximately an hour.

 

Sports for All: Young Athletes Compete In 

Doc Wayne Sports League

 

For young athletes all over Massachusetts, basketball season is in full swing. Thanks to the Doc Wayne Sports League this is true for some students in non- traditional school settings as well. Too often, youth who aren't enrolled in their local public school do not have the same opportunity to participate on sports teams as their peers. The Doc Wayne Sports League provides the opportunity for youth in residential programs, as well as other at-risk youth, to play basketball, softball and soccer on organized teams which hold practices and compete against each other on a regular basis.

 

Bryan Lary, Program Director of Cohannet Academy, the Taunton-based IRTP funded by DMH, says "It is SUCH an awesome experience for our kids. We usually get half or more of our kids out to the games and have a three season league where we play soccer, basketball and softball. The team gives the kids such a sense of pride, teamwork and exposure to team sports they often have never had. It's also great as our kids often will step down to the other programs that we compete against, so they make connections and then keep connections with us during these games."

 

Joan Mikula, DMH Deputy Commissioner for Child & Adolescent Services has long admired the work of the Doc Wayne Sports League. "It's one of the best programs out there," she said. "I would love to see it continue to expand to more community programs so kids who leave residential settings can continue team play."

 

Doc Wayne is a Doc 501(c)(3) non-profit. It is funded through individual, corporate and state support. The mission of the Doc Wayne Sports League "is to offer at risk youth a dynamic and innovative group therapy experience through sport to encourage positive youth development". For more information on the Doc Wayne Sports League visit their website at www.docwayne.org.

 

BOOK REVIEW  

Better Days: A Mental Health Recovery Workbook

By Craig Lewis, CPS

 

by Russell D. Pierce, Director 

Office of Recovery and Empowerment

 

   

In this step-by-step account of a recovery journey, Craig Lewis makes the case that it is indeed possible to choose and to self-direct our lives and this message resonates with both consumers, peers and the population at large. We can all strive for better days: each day is an election for how we are going to achieve successes both minor and major.

 

Craig Lewis is certified peer specialist residing in Massachusetts. He has dedicated his most recent offering, "Better Days," to all of us who may struggle with a mental health label that initially leaves us deflated as we seek to capture lost dreams and aspirations.  This wonderful resource is both interesting and provocative as the author takes us closer to the internal meaning of recovery for each person. By recovery we mean living life to the fullest in concert with our community, peers and families. Craig has spoken to audiences across the United States and Canada, sharing moments when he was a punk rocker and part of a dysfunctional lifestyle. His audiences are full of people with histories of distress, trauma and substance use issues. "Better Days" is a welcome addition to the literature on recovery, personal choice and freedom.

 

We all struggle from time to time, but without struggle our lives are poorly defined. One commentator suggested that struggle gives life meaning and purpose. While we know that some struggles embolden us, others are quick to suggest that a life of struggle should not mean that we elect struggle, but that alternative methods of character development ought to be pursued.  Craig informs us through questions and more questions until we reach a point of healing. Craig asks us to consider what it means to cope, to experience injustices and how to be made accountable for our actions. He suggests that that all of these questions push us toward greater responsibility and wholeness.  

 

When all is said and done, recovery, according to Craig, lives in every single one of us. Recovery is life, love, future, hope, desire, belief, choice, change, opportunity and so much more.

 

"Better Days" essentially recommends that all of us examine our lives, giving meaning to the philosopher's admonition that the unexamined life is not worth living.  Craig's contribution to the recovery community and beyond is this wonderful workbook that will appeal to both with lived experience, their allies and the public at large.

 

If you would like to learn more about how the book "Better Days: A Mental Health Recovery Workbook" can benefit you, your peer group setting, please contact Craig Lewis at:[email protected] 

 
YouTube logo icon DMH YouTube Spotlight

 

In Massachusetts, More Mental-Illness Training for Police

WGBH recently spotlighted Dr. Debra Pinals M.D., DMH Assistant Commissioner of Forensic Services as she trained MBTA transit police officers to prepare them for incidents involving someone with a mental illness. Check out the broadcast and interview here.
In Massachusetts, More Mental-Illness Training for Police
In Massachusetts, More Mental-Illness Training for Police


For Mentally Ill Defendants, A Different Kind Of Court

 WGBH spotlights the Boston Mental Health Court. Mental Health Courts help to provide individuals access to mental health services and support in every facet of their lives instead incarceration. A Mental Health Court is a model that is growing in Massachusetts. There are Mental Health Courts in Boston, Springfield and Plymouth and two more in the works to open in West Roxbury and Roxbury.
For Mentally Ill Defendants, A Different Kind Of Court
For Mentally Ill Defendants, A Different Kind Of Court

Winter Wellness Tips 

 

Weight Management     

Did you know that by adding 15 minutes of moderate exercise to your daily schedule (e.g. walking briskly for about one mile), you will burn 100 extra calories per day? Maintaining this schedule will result in an extra 700 calories burned per week, or a loss of about 10 pounds in one year, assuming your food intake stays the same.     

 

Losing weight isn't as simple as changing your diet. To maintain a healthy lifestyle, consider trying the following:    

 

Increase Physical Activity. To lose weight, you should be getting a minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity five or more days a week. To maintain a healthy weight, aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity five or more days a week.     

 

Eat a Nutritious Diet. Make sure you are eating a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that keeps you feeling full and satisfied. Starvation and fad diets don't work. Eating right is key to maintaining weight loss.    

 

Stay Hydrated. Keep yourself hydrated to maintain a healthy weight. Aim for eight, 8-ounce glasses of water each day. Try drinking water with every meal. This may help you feel fuller and not eat as much.    

 

Get Rest. A good night's sleep can aid in weight loss! Sleep loss not only impedes the hormone that controls appetite but also causes confusion between feelings of sleepiness and hunger.    

 

Need more tips and information on Weight Management? StayWell Onlinehas many tools to help you succeed in maintaining your weight. Learn how fast you burn calories or what your target heart rate should be under Calculators in the Health Tools section of StayWell Online. Visit https://wellmass.staywell.com to get started on your slimmer, immer self.

 

Click here to download a recipe for Delicious Squash Soup

New Online Trainings for Certified Peer Specialists

 

The Transformation Center, through DMH, has developed two new different training programs. Both are now available, free and online! 

 

Preparing for CPS: This course provides people with lived experience an opportunity to prepare to become a certified peer specialist (CPS). People in a CPS position are required to participate in a CPS training program and pass a written exam. This on-line course provides opportunities for individuals to get a better understanding of the position and develop the necessary skills. Certified peer specialists do many things in their work, including one-to-one peer support, sharing their stories to inspire hope for people using and providing services, and being a change agent. They have strong foundations in peer practice as well as systems change. This online CPS Prep Course can help you check out the foundations you've built as you think about and prepare to come to the CPS training course. It is self-paced and can be done with a group or on one's own. It has many interactive exercises and real life stories. Even if you are not thinking about becoming a peer specialist, it can be useful in exploring your own recovery. 

 

Non-CPS Supervisor Training: Are you a certified peer specialist working with a supervisor who's not?  Are you a supervisor who's been asked to take on the supervision of the certified peer specialist staff?  Now there's an online training meant to support both the supervisor and employee in this new role. 

 

This training explains the certified peer specialist role, training and competencies of certified peer specialists for non-CPS supervisors. It is filled with exercises that can be done with supervisors and employees together to help explore the other's frame of reference, how their training and roles differ and how the supervisory relationship can be a supportive one. It can be generally useful for an agency or organization to explore and best utilize certified peer specialists in their workplace.   

 

The links for both of the courses are on the homepage of the Transformation Center website, in the middle "CPS Updates" box. 

www.transformation-center.org.  There is also a mechanism to provide feedback on the materials. 


News from Tunefoolery


Don't miss the Tunefoolery LilyPad 2013-2014 
Concert Series!

Tunefoolery's musicians and musical friends perform great music on a theme.

Sunday March 9, 2014 2:30 p.m. 
Women's Music

All concerts are held at
The LilyPad
Inman Square
1353 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02139

Suggested donation at the door $10

For more information about Tunefoolery, music samples and all the latest news, events visit their website at: www.tunefoolery.org 

 

Sponsored by the Massachusetts Cultural Council


Photo of the Month
Crisis Intervention Training 

  

Debra Pinals, M.D., DMH Assistant Commissioner of Forensic Services was the clinical lead trainer, along with the Taunton Police Department's Officer Steve Turner, at a Crisis Intervention Training session for MBTA transit police recruits.

 

Access photos of all DMH events at the DMH Photo Gallery on Shutterfly 

and now on Flickr!

 

If you have photos from a DMH event that you would like featured as photo of the month or on our photo site, please send them to Michelle Cormier Tallman 

 

DMH Connections

  

Thank you for your readership as DMH Connections proudly celebrates 5 years of continuous publication!