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A Message from Our Executive Director
Greetings at the start of our new training year, always an energizing time as we begin with a new group of interns in Psychology and Marriage Family Therapy. I'd like to welcome Lindsay Fulton, Roxanne Rafiepour, Herman Sandhu, Anne Seiler, Pooja Sharma, Tanisha Stewart, and Jennifer Trinkle.
It has been a demanding year for all of us at Ann Martin Center. We've had wonderful success at growing our clinical programs even as we faced significant organizational changes.
This fall, we are launching three new Oakland school-based mental health programs at Lighthouse Charter School and Westlake Middle School (both funded by MediCal) and Lodestar Charter School (with private funding from the school). These programs bring a spectrum of psychological services out into the community where families face serious adversity (violence, poverty, and high truancy rates).
We folded our Parent Education workshops and Professional Lecture series into a new Community Education Program that features experts in education, parenting, child development, and psychotherapy into a blend of presentations for parents, caregivers, educators, and mental health professional. Jennie Kogan is the new Community Education Coordinator and you're encouraged to contact her with ideas for speakers or topics ( jkogan@annmartin.org). Visit our website to sign up for e-notifications of the lecture programs.
As reported in our last newsletter, Ann Martin Center was named 2016 California Nonprofit of the Year for Assembly District 15 in the East Bay. We are honored to receive this recognition. Assembly member Tony Thurmond said, "At the forefront of innovation, Ann Martin Center has been providing high quality mental health services, and educational support to the greatest at-risk families in Alameda County for over 50 years. It is with great pleasure that I honor and recognize the tremendous work, achievements, and the dedicated staff of the Ann Martin Center."
Amidst these successes, we said farewell to several long time staff members who contributed so much to the reputation, achievements, and integrity of our organization: Drs. Beth Berkowitz (former Director of Training and Quality Assurance), Mahima Muralidharan (former Practicum Training Coordinator), Leighko Yap (former Psychological Testing Coordinator), and Lynn Peralta (former Director of Development). We wish these dedicated individuals all the best in the future endeavors.
Meanwhile, we have restructured our Clinical Management Team under the direction of Hasse Leonard-Pagel, PhD (Director of Clinical Programs). Ankhesenamun Ball, PsyD joins us as the new Director of Outpatient Programs. Kristen Carey, PsyD will serve as Interim Training Director. Karen DeVaney, PsyD will coordinate Psychological Testing services and Heather Udy, PsyD has become our first Quality Assurance Manager. We are fortunate to have Denise Jakob, PsyD continue to stay on as Director of School-Based Services.
All of us are working feverishly to lay a solid foundation for continued growth at Ann Martin Center, both in terms of reaching more vulnerable children (through our careful prevention and early intervention programs), as well as by deepening our commitment to training the next generation of child psychotherapists (through our APA-accredited internship program).
There is much to look forward to!
David S. Theis, DMH
Executive Director
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AMC Goes to Westlake Middle School
By Louise Maynor, Psy.D. and Katelyn Simons, Psy.D.
Remember middle school? Chances are, you'd rather forget. According to Deborah Kasak, Executive Director of the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-grades Reform, "adults don't like to look back on those years" because they consider the middle school years the worst years of their lives.1 The reason? Bullying, rapidly fluctuating moods, dares and double dares, risk taking, and self-consciousness in the extreme just to name a few.
Think for a moment about the emotional and social volatility of middle school. Then factor in additional external difficulties like poverty, community violence, housing instability and lack of access to resources and opportunities.
It is into this world of challenges that the Ann Martin Center school based program has launched its first ever Middle School mental health program! Long time AMC clinicians Louise Maynor, Psy.D and Katelyn Simons, Psy.D. are joining forces with Westlake Middle School and Westlake's community center, Eagle Village, to provide mental health services to middle school students in the heart of Oakland.
AMC Clinicians Katelyn Simons, Psy.D. and Louise Maynor, Psy.D.
in front of Westlake Middle School.
Eagle Village's partnership with Westlake Middle School encompasses three components: a family resource center, an after school program, and mental health services. The resource center links families to needed assistance with food, emergency student transportation, computer and internet access, job training, and public benefits enrollment guidance. Eagle Village's after-school program provides students with homework assistance as well as opportunities to participate in different clubs, dance science, and sports. The passion and commitment of this long time program is poignant and we feel very grateful and enthusiastic to collaborate with this community.
Eagle Village is equally excited that Ann Martin Center school-based clinicians will provide mental health services to their students as this is the first time Westlake Middle School will have full-time Medi-Cal providers. Santi Soumpholphakdy, Director of Eagle Village's mental health services shared:
"There is a huge need that the Ann Martin Center will fill by their help and support that will greatly benefit the Westlake community. I am anticipating that this will be the first year where we can support all of our students in need with no waiting list."
Ann Martin Center's school-based team is eager and proud to take this next step and venture into the land of Middle School. We are looking forward to this school year and hope to co-create positive changes with Westlake middle schoolers, promoting healthy emotional & educational development and broadening their sense of self and their potential.
1. http://www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2012/10/how_can_we_make_middle_school_less_awful.html
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Client Testimonial
"We are beyond grateful for the help with our daughter. Her therapist was able to keenly observe our kid & see where she needed the most support. As we saw improvement in writing, the therapist then nimbly shifted focus to math. We have seen huge strides forward in both writing & math over our time at Ann Martin Center, as well as wonderful shifts in behavior, responsibility to get work done, and focus. We are so grateful! Thank you!" - Parent, Learning Program
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Staff Spotlight: Ankhesenamun Ball
Outpatient Program Director
Dr. Ankhesenamun Ball is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and graduate of Alliant International University's California School of Professional Psychology. She has a background in forensics, pediatric neuropsychology, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and applied behavior analysis. She completed her pre and post doctoral training with Access Institute and Westcoast Children's Clinic, respectively. Her experience spans across child treatment, assessment, and administration. In her role as Outpatient Program Director she will be working collaboratively across programs to continue to support Ann Martin Center's mission, vision, and values.
Dr. Ball is no stranger to working with children and under-served communities. She has been an advocate, consultant, and organizer for programs that service the needs of children (Head Start and American Society for Autism). She believes that the work we do here is extremely important and should be accessible to any child or family in need. Dr. Ball loves to play and enjoys helping children and adults alike, connect with their "Goof Ball Island." When not working, Dr. Ball can be found playing with her one year old daughter, Aria, and dancing to 90's hip hop with her partner. One fun fact, Dr. Ball is named after King Tutankhamen's wife Ankhesenamun.
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Staff Spotlight: Kristen Carey
Interim Training Director
"With a longstanding appreciation for Ann Martin and the excellent training it offers clinicians, I am excited to step in as Interim Training Director this fall. I began my tenure at the organization as a trainee in 2000 and was thrilled to encounter such a talented and dedicated group of directors, instructors and supervisors, all of whom were an integral part of my clinical training experience. I have been grateful to remain part of Ann Martin's training program as supervisor and instructor these past several years and look forward to supporting the program in the months going forward. I feel honored to work with such an outstanding group of trainees and staff at Ann Martin.
In my time outside the Center, I stay busy with my growing family, who I will be spending more time with as I welcome the newest member of my family in December. I am looking forward to working with the search committee to select a permanent director of training."
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Community Education Lectures
We have an exciting lineup of both Parent Education Program (PEP) Workshops and Professional Development Lectures for Fall 2016.
Here are a few upcoming workshops:
October 6, 2016, 6:30-8:00 pm
Speaker: Anne K. Ross
October 20, 2016, 6:30-8:00 pm
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Annual Appreciation Breakfast, Sept 29, 2016
AMC's Annual Appreciation Breakfast will be on Thursday, September 29, 2016 from 9:00 to 10:30 am. This yearly tradition honors supporters in the Ann Martin Leadership Circle (with annual gifts of $1,000 or more) and acknowledges our entire community of loyal donors to hear moving stories from the individuals impacted by our programs and services. It is AMC's opportunity to say THANK YOU to our biggest supporters and introduce business leaders, agency partners, and community members to the mission and work of the Ann Martin Center.
We hope to see you there!
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Save the Date: AMC Gala April 28, 2017
Save the Date for our annual Ann Martin Center Gala that will be held on Friday, April 28th, 2017 at the beautiful Oakland Scottish Rite Center. This annual tradition is a lovely occasion to celebrate Ann Martin Center's achievements in supporting the mental health and learning needs of underserved children and families in the East Bay.
*Exciting Update* We are pleased to announce that we will have Destiny Arts perform at our Gala! Destiny Arts is a nearby local non-profit that serves at-risk youth through dance, theater, and martial arts. It is a great opportunity to highlight their work as we serve similar populations in the Bay Area.
Here are some snapshots from the 2016 Gala:
We hope you will join us next year!
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YOUR GIFT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Ann Martin Center is a community-based nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of at-risk children in the East Bay.
A gift of any size would go a long way to serving more parents and children in our East Bay community. If you have already made a gift this year, thank you for your support! Your generous contributions will help children succeed in school, develop vital social skills, and move into productive and fulfilling adulthood with confidence, resilience and self-esteem towards a brighter future.
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