November 10th, 2018
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Looking to address issues of long wait times and limited access to mental health care, the state of Maine has initiated a system-wide assessment of its behavioral health services for children. With a series of surveys geared towards stakeholders including children and families, providers, law enforcement and corrections personnel, advocacy service providers, educators and behavioral health providers, the state hopes to gather a wide range of feedback about the system, its strengths and areas where corrections are needed. “The review will examine the service array, regulatory structure, and operational processes across Children’s Behavioral Health Services or CBHS,” said Emily Spencer, [More]
Tags: children, Maine, improvement, best practices, corrections, mental health care, behavioral health services, survey, strengths, service array, regulatory structure, operational processes, Disability Rights Maine, Maine Department of Health and Human Services
Posted in Articles | No Comments »
November 9th, 2018
By Janine Weisman
School is a safe place — but only for half of the world’s students. A new UNICEF analysis finds that half of students aged 13 to 15 globally report experiencing peer-to-peer violence in and around school. That’s about 150 million teens, according to the report “An Everyday Lesson: #ENDviolence in Schools,” which outlines a variety of ways students face violence in and around the classroom. The report measures peer-to-peer violence as the number of children who report having been bullied in the previous month or having been involved in a physical fight. And, the report’s data shows the prevalence of [More]
Tags: children, students, UNICEF analysis, peer-to-peer violence, bullying, physical fights, school, shootings, toxic stress, exposure to violence, healthy brain development, antisocial behaviors, substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, criminal activity
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
October 5th, 2018
By Catherine Robertson Souter
As the saying goes, find a job you like and you will never work a day in your life. Psychologists, more than most people, are aware of the need to find meaning in the day to day. For some, however, finding their passion generally takes a long time. For others, it comes more quickly. For Ashley Warhol, Psy.D, finding her niche as director of clinical services and internship training at Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health flowed naturally, and quickly, from a predoctoral internship with the organization in 2012. Following the internship, she was offered a position as a staff clinician, moved [More]
Tags: children, adolescents, interview, training, clinician, Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, Ashley Warhol, treatment interventions, Q&A
Posted in Interviews | No Comments »
October 3rd, 2018
By Phyllis Hanlon
Residential, or boarding, schools serve different populations and have different goals. Schools that address behavioral issues in children admit students with a variety of diagnoses. Those diagnoses include a number of psychological and emotional issues that range from anxiety, mood and eating disorders, attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) to fire setting, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other behavioral problems. In recent years, more children have presented with a diagnosis on the autism spectrum. According to Valentina M. Parchin, Ph.D, director of education for the Adelbrook Learning Center in East Hartford, Connecticut, this agency has moved [More]
Tags: children, residential treatment, Residential schools, boarding schools, behavioral issues, Board-certified behaviorists, student, emotional issues, psychological issues., therapeutic approach
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
August 30th, 2018
By Eileen Weber
Reports of family separation at the Mexican border set off a firestorm. Video and audio demonstrated the conditions in which the more than 3,000 children lived. An estimated 1,600 parents are still in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. With reunification underway, the Trump administration recently admitted that more than 450 immigrant parents separated from their children may have been deported. “I find Trump’s policy of separating children from parents shocking, appalling, and extremely cruel,” said Richard McNally, Ph.D, professor and director of clinical training in the department of psychology at Harvard University. McNally has focused much of his [More]
Tags: children, PTSD, border separation, family separation, immigrants, parents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, IRIS, war-torn areas
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
August 30th, 2018
By Catherine Robertson Souter
It would surprise no one that children who have been mistreated or have been subjected to another form of trauma would experience repercussions. It makes sense that trauma can result in symptoms that look like behavioral disorders, oppositional defiant disorders, anxiety, depression, or ADHD. Yet, for many children the symptoms are treated as not being related to their traumatic experiences. As part of an on-going research project, Julian D. Ford, Ph.D, A.B.P.P., professor of psychiatry and law at the University of Connecticut and director of the Center for Trauma Recovery and Juvenile Justice, and colleagues Joseph Spinazzola, Ph.D. and Bessel [More]
Tags: children, PTSD, kids, interview, treatment, research, family separation, Developmental trauma disorder, symptoms, study, National Child Traumatic Stress Network
Posted in Interviews | No Comments »
June 14th, 2018
By Eileen Weber
One in every five children between 13 and 18-years-old have or will have a serious mental illness, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Based on its statistics in 2015, only a little over half of children aged eight to 15 received mental health services. Laura Whitmore, associate minister at Southport Congregational in Southport, Conn., has first-hand experience with this situation. With approximately 100 kids and teens in the church’s middle and high school youth groups, she has seen an uptick in issues like stress, anxiety, and depression. But, there have been more alarming problems as well. “I [More]
Tags: children, mental health professionals, mental illness, kids, Connecticut, behavior problems, psychiatry, diagnosis, Lawmakers
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
June 11th, 2018
By Pamela Berard
The Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) gave the go-ahead for the University of Vermont (UVM) Health Network to move forward on a project that would use the Network’s extra revenue from 2017 to increase inpatient mental health capacity in Vermont. The GMCB, established by the Vermont Legislature in 2011, is charged with reducing the rate of health care cost growth in Vermont while ensuring the state maintains a high-quality, accessible health care system. Vermont’s hospital budgets are regulated by the GMCB. When health care facilities exceed allowable budgeted net patient revenues, they are subject to review and possible regulatory action, [More]
Tags: children, adolescents, Mental health, Vermont, emergency room, inpatient, Medicaid, mental health crisis, psychiatric beds
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
May 11th, 2018
By Pamela Berard
St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine, opened its new pediatric behavioral unit in early 2018 and is on track to open a new adult behavioral unit in 2019, as part of a three-year, $12 million improvement project. Project funding was partially funded through a capital campaign. Improvements include the relocation and remodeling of the pediatric and adult behavioral units, which will move to the main hospital; as well as renovations and expansion for the building supporting oncology, rheumatology, infusion, and other outpatient services. The new 13-bed pediatric behavioral unit provides specialized care for children and adolescents. It features [More]
Tags: children, adolescents, patients, Maine, treatment, psychiatric care, Lewiston, St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, pediatric behavioral unit, adult
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
April 9th, 2018
By Phyllis Hanlon
The recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida rocked the country and launched calls for stricter gun laws and better security measures in the nation’s schools. While such events are rare, all schools experience their share of crises on a smaller scale that challenge students’ well-being. To address a spectrum of situations, schools should implement a comprehensive plan that engages students, teachers and parents, and creates an environment of trust in partnership with community agencies. Arlene Silva, Ph.D, NCSP, chair in the school psychology department at William James College, emphasized that proactive measures are the best practice. “Number one is preparation,” [More]
Tags: children, adolescents, Parkland shooting, school shooting, concerned children, anxiety, coping, emotional concerns, student support, psychological skills
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
