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DMH Office of Communications and Community Engagement
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Questions or suggestions?
Contact Michelle
617-626-8118
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Click here for the 2016 Editorial Calendar
Submission Deadline is the 15th or the month prior to when you would like your article or event published
February 15 for the March Issue
Please send all materials to
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Go Social with DMH!
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Follow us as we celebrate good mental health through photos!  Pleas note: Instagram is only available through the smartphone app._______________________
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View photos from DMH events, follow us and favorite your DMH photos!
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ReachHire offers young adults and anyone seeking a wealth of tools, advice, and resources designed to help you reach your dreams - for building a career, getting an education, and supporting yourself financially.
With a positive attitude and the right support, you can make it a fun and fulfilling experience.
Get Started Today at:
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Connections Correction
We apologize that In the December 2011-January 2012 issue, in the "Recovery, Peers are Key to DMH Inpatient Mission" article we noted
"Kevin Huckshorn, who now serves as director of the National Technical Assistance Center for the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors" Kevin is the Commissioner of
of the DE mental health and substance abuse service system. | |
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Multicultural
Interpreter and Translation Services Available from OMCA
The DMH Office of Multicultural Affairs, Interpreter and Translation Services Program is here to help you communicate with clients who prefer to use a language other than English.
Interpreter and Translation Services available to you include:
- In-person interpretation for meetings, home visits, etc.
- Over-the-phone interpretation
- Translation of written documents
For more information or to request interpreter and translation services, please email [email protected] or call 617-626-8134. |
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Focus on
Employment
Western MA Conference Connects Employers to Job Seekers
By Michael Stepansky DMH Director of Employment Last fall, thirty individuals receiving services from Community Enterprises (CE) and Human Resources Unlimited (HRU) received hand-delivered invitations to attend the agencies' first ever Job Seeker Conference. Jointly coordinated by Western MA's two employment-service-subcontractors, the conference was co-sponsored by Northwest Mutual and Mercy Hospital who provided funding, food, and space, as well as participating on a local-employer panel to answer questions and provide encouragement.
Sandi Coyne, CE's Director of MRC and Employment Services, described the conference as an answer to a single, all-important question: "We estimate people looking for work in our area will be in the process for 60 to 140 days, so how do we keep people motivated?" Individuals receiving supported employment services often find work after six to twelve months, so keeping people motivated is a critical need, and the period of 60 to 140 days is particularly acute. With this in mind, invitations were targeted to CBFS clients who had been looking for work for 60 days or more which is a crucial time in the job search when motivation begins to lag. By bringing people together at this time, and giving them support through workshops such as "Personal Style," "Peer Support," an Employer Panel, and by a Motivational Speaker, the intent was to provide an extra, motivational "push" to help keep people going until the right job is found.
Attendees received a certificate of participation, listened to a motivational speaker during lunch, and will receive business cards donated from a local printer. The business cards are another innovation to keep motivation high and help persons see themselves as professionals not patients. Both agencies would like to offer this type of event again, and are soliciting feedback from attendees to make sure the next Job-Seeker Conference is even more successful.
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Massachusetts Announces $466,450 in Grant Funding for Opioid Treatment for Youth and Young Adults
The Executive Office of Health and Human Services and the Department of Public Health recently announced $466,450 in grants awarded to four healthcare organizations to improve treatment for youth and young adults with substance use disorders and/or co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders.
"As we continue to combat this opioid crisis, we need to use every tool available to us to ensure that our most vulnerable - youth and young adults included - get the intervention, treatment, and recovery services they need," said Secretary of Health and Human Services, Marylou Sudders.
This funding, awarded through a competitive process, comes from a grant awarded to DPH by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) State Adolescent and Transitional Aged Youth Treatment Enhancement and Dissemination Implementation (STY-I) Cooperative Agreement Grant in 2015. The awards expand access to evidence-based assessments, treatment, recovery and behavioral health services in four communities.
The four agencies receiving funding from these grants are:
- North Suffolk Mental Health Association: Boston Area - $100,000
- High Point Treatment Center: Southeast/Brockton Area - $156,450
- Boston Medical Center: Boston Area - $110,000
- Duffy Health Center: Cape Area - $100,000
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REGISTER TODAY!
4th Annual
Stephanie Moulton Symposium
Holyoke
March 23, 2016
Log Cabin, Holyoke
Attendees will be able to choose a date/location when registering, identical programs will be offered at both locations. |
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Conferences and Events
Upcoming Events at The Bridge Training Institute
Continuing Education for Mental Health Professionals - See our training calendar at www.thebridgetraininginstitute.org
Our day-long trainings are held at the Courtyard Marriott in Marlborough, MA. If accommodations are needed, please contact Stephen Murphy at [email protected] or 508-755-0333
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The Massachusetts Department of Public Health Suicide Prevention Training Calendar Please click on the link below to register. 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, please register early. __________________ 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 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 by the 15th of each month for publication in DMH Connections |
DMH Connections Celebrates
Thank You for your readership as DMH Connections proudly celebrates 7 years of continuous publication!
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DMH Connections is posted on the DMH's archives page of the DMH Internet. View issues from 2008 to the Present at
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Gathering and Inspiring Future Talent
By Gustavo Payano
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Pictured: Northampton Graduation with Commissioner, Mikula (Keynote Speaker) and the GIFT graduates at Clinical and Support Options, as well as speakers and the GIFT Train the Trainers,
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In Tewksbury, a kindred family gathers for the unwrapping of gifts. A quiet hum of excitement fills the festive room. Three generations engage in friendly conversations; some catching up with familiar faces and others in exploratory introductions with new connections. And as the moment everyone has eagerly waited for approaches, we settle into our seats. The youngest amongst us are eager to share their shiny gifts with the larger group.
"The GIFT training creates the opportunity for young adults to become peer supporters in the workforce. It allowed me the chance to meet youth who shared their growth and their problems, but most importantly, their
dreams."
~ Emmanuel Hernandez
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Although this sounds like a scene during the winter holidays, we found ourselves at Tewksbury Hospital for a Gathering and Inspiring Future Talent (GIFT) graduation. The GIFT training is a curriculum founded on three core competencies: Peer Mentoring, Core Gift, and Career Development. The most distinctive and engaging of these is the Core Gift process - the discovery of the unique contributions each and every individual is born with and develops through the hardships of their lived experience. Created for young adults and further developed by each class of young adults, the GIFT touts its ability to incorporate content and feedback from students with each iteration.
Dr. Kimberly Bisset, G.I.F.T training creator and lead trainer, welcomes the room of graduates, peer support workers, hospital staff, agency representatives, and guests. Robert Walker from the DMH Office of Recovery and Empowerment and one of GIFT's major supporters, kicks off the celebration with his own story; a hopeful recounting of his beginnings as a person with mental health challenges and computer teacher at the very hospital we find ourselves meeting in - a full circle. Next is Sue Wing, DMH Northeast Area Director, who shares that everyone is given a gift in life and that tremendous joy and good comes with the self-discovery and sharing of that gift. Her words were genuine but balanced with humility: "not all have the opportunity to unwrap their gift."
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Pictured: Wayside Graduation - December 15th, 2015?
All of the GIFT graduates, Kim Bisset and several Train the Trainers.
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Dr. Debra Pinals receives JDAI Performing Practice Award
 Recently Dr. Pinals pictured with Commissioner Mikula received
the Promising Practice award for her consistent support of youth in the juvenile justice system at the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) Massachusetts 8 th Annual Statewide Conference in Marlboro. The award was given to Dr. Pinals for her work leading the court clinicians as they explore how they can best help youth from where they sit. She also contributed to the development and support of the Jail Diversion Program and the inclusion of youth in the conversation with police. Dr. Pinals made tremendous efforts in Bristol County to forge a strong partnership with the Probation Department, the Court and community partners to screen young people for behavioral health disorders through the MacArthur Foundation. |
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Lindemann Beautification Committee Revitalizes the Building Grounds
The Erich Lindemann Mental Health Center is an active, vibrant Center, hosting multiple programs: shelters, group living situations, outpatient care, a recovery learning center, case management, CBFS workers, a Homeless Outreach Team, BEST, and a fully-equipped gym. However, the exterior of the building has deteriorated with time and with unfortunate vandalism. There was a desire to revitalize the outside to reflect the wonderful work that goes on inside. Site Director, Michele Anzaldi suggested taking a negative and making it a positive, and as a result, the Beautification Committee was formed. The committee members are: Idony Lisle, Director of the Hope Recovery Center; Corey Nimmer, Employment Support Specialist for North Suffolk Mental Health Association; Lea Roy, Rehabilitation Supervisor at the Lindemann Inn, and Lauren Ursch, Recreational Therapist, Greenway House.
Their first project was to take a neglected area and paint a mural. A group of windows on the entrance level had been so consistently broken that they had been boarded over by DCAM and painted white by a team from the Solomon Carter Fuller facilities staff. The committee chose a design of living motifs to represent the new growth that the Lindemann Centers programs provide.
Many steps went into the mural: A sketch was approved and the boards were power washed by building maintenance. Then the committee spackled, re-primed, and outlined the base drawing, which was painted and enhanced over several separate periods. Both clients and staff participated which was a wonderful team building effort between multiple center based programs. Staff and clients painted, some stopped, observed and made suggestions, or just appreciated the work. The team anticipates future collaboration supporting the wonderful recovery efforts that are alive both inside and outside our facility.
We particularly want to thank the Concord Lumber Company in Littleton, MA for their gracious donation of paint and materials and also the Hope Center and the Lindemann Inn for added paints. In the future, the committee plans to add landscaping to further refresh and revitalize the Lindemann grounds.
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Farewell Hanh Tran
By Ed K.S. Wang, Psy.D.
Former Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs
The Department of Mental Health lost a dear colleague on December 27, 2015. Hanh Tran passed away peacefully in the hospital with the presence of his brothers and sisters who came from Vietnam and Australia.
Because Hanh did not drive, I had many opportunities to drive us around for statewide meetings, community outreach activities, presentations and training that our Office of Multicultural Affairs organized. During these 15 years of road trips, he talked extensively about his work on refugee mental health, civic engagement, his hopes and dreams, stories about himself and his family. His stories, whether they were about his courageous attempts and final odyssey to escape Vietnam after the war, his resettlement in Boston as a refugee, learning a new language and culture, his first job and many "quiet" accomplishments, all are best summarized in three words, "hope, resiliency, healing". Hanh brought them to work with him at DMH and to the refugee community for all the years that he devoted to these causes.
At the person-to-person level, I often heard unsolicited praises of Hanh's "patience, kindness and helpfulness" from members of the DMH Multicultural Advisory Committee, Cultural Competence Action Team which he staffed. Similar kudos as a result of his assistance were given by DMH staff requesting emergency interpreter and translation services.
At the person to organization level, he presented the importance of culturally competent care for refugees inside and outside of DMH. He shared his personal knowledge and wisdom that a client's culture matters when it comes to establishing hope, healing and recovery by way of technical assistance to many mental health and human services providers.
At the person to community level, he was dedicated to his advocacy of mental health care, improving the life of many Southeast Asians and recent New Americans. As a well-respected leader in his community as the co-founder of Vietnamese Veterans Association and Board President of the Vietnamese American Civic Association, he helped to reduce the social stigma of mental illness. He built bridges between the Department and communities through the planning of many events. For example, Many Faces of Mental Health, the Boston Community Dialogues and the Asian American Mental Health Forums. His efforts have brought the promotion of good mental health and the awarenesss that treatment is effective to the forefront.
Hanh is beloved by his family and his friends inside and outside of DMH. He will be remembered as a community hero who transcended through his own odyssey from Vietnam to the United States that benefited the life and well-being of many. We will miss you, Hanh Tran.
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CBH Knowledge Center News
"Ages and Stages in Adoption:
Developmental Issues and Challenges"
Presenter: Joyce Maguire Pavao, Ed.D, LCSW, LMFT
January 26, 2016
noon to 1 p.m.
Please join the Children's Behavioral Health Knowledge Center to learn about the developmental stages that adopted (including emotionally adopted) children experience in a slightly different way than children raised in the families they were born into. This is a resource for families, providers, and professionals looking to better understand and serve children in an adoption sensitive and competent manner.
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Knowledge Center Releases Tip-sheet on Locating an Adoption Competent Behavioral Health Professional
Adoption is an event that has a life-long effect on everyone involved. Adoption brings unique rewards as well as challenges to families, and sometimes families will need or want professional help as concerns, challenges, or problems arise. Timely intervention by a professional skilled in adoption-related issues often can prevent issues common to adoption from becoming more serious problems that might be more difficult to resolve. However, locating a therapist that has the expertise in working with adoptive families is not an easy task. In fact, a survey on the experiences of adoptive families with mental health professionals reported in the journal Adoption Quarterly found that only a quarter of the 485 respondents believed the mental health professional working with their family was adoption competent. The Knowledge Center recently partnered with Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao, a local adoption expert, to develop a one-page tip-sheet for adoptive parents on how to locate an adoption competent behavioral health professional. The tip-sheet includes questions a parent can ask a potential therapist to gauge their adoption expertise, some indicators of a good adoption competent therapist, and links to local and national resources to help a parent locate a therapist.
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DMH Citizens Legislative Breakfasts Series for 2016
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.
Thursday, February 11, Metro Boston Area Citizens Legislative Breakfast
(Great Hall/State House)
Thursday, February 25, Southeast Area Citizens Legislative Breakfast
(Great Hall/State House)
Friday, March 18, Western Mass Area Citizens Legislative Breakfast
(Springfield Technical Community College, Scibelli Hall)
Friday, March 25, Central Mass Area Citizens Legislative Breakfast
(Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital, Large Conf. Room, K2-A2)
Thursday, March 31, Northeast Area Citizens Legislative Breakfast
(Great Hall/State House)
(The State House events start with registration and refreshments from 9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. and the program starts promptly at 10:00 a.m. and runs until approximately 11:00 a.m.)
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Photo of the Month
MBMHU artists create art inspired by Museum of Fine Arts
Click here to view larger image
By: Ash Tomblin and Jenny Murphy
In the Spring of 2015, the Metro Boston Mental Health Units (MBMHU) of the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital (LSH) community took a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts. One of our artists commented about his experience: "What made it all a blast to me was we were with a group of people filled with positive energy in a positive environment. We were amazed (by the art) and had fun." Inspired by the museum's positive environment, and more specifically, one large-scale installation the group saw. MBMHU artists began to create their own version of a fine art collage on 2 wood panels. The creative challenge of this piece was to fit images cut from magazines into large pre-drawn shapes. The white negative space in-between the images is what connects the panels in an abstract swirled design.
One panel contains reflections and memories of places that people wanted to be (right). The other panel (left) is "Recovery" themed where artists used words and images of recovery throughout our Recovery Month this past September.
This large-scale art piece took many hours and many hands to complete. These panels traveled from the computer lab, the art studio, to Young Adults group, to Dual Recovery and to the units in an attempt to engage as many creative people as possible. The community nature of this piece allowed people to participate even in very small ways. If they added one small piece of paper, then they became part of the whole creation. This piece is now displayed in the LSH cafeteria, in our patient gallery space.
If you have photos of a DMH event that you would like featured here or on DMH's Flickr site, please send them to
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