Mental Health Matters: Spiritual Inclusivity Spirituality is often an overlooked aspect of life in a mental health facility. Treatment of the mind and body are the predominant evidenced based practices provided in most settings, while the spiritual domain is more of a glossed over afterthought. Since the late 19th century, “the majority position of…
“She Was Admitted to a Psychiatric Hospital. What Happened Next…” What is it actually like to be psychiatrically hospitalized or seek mental health help? How can we who meet people who are seeking or are brought for mental health help against their will respond? As a psychologist, I have heard many stories of how grateful…
Borderline Personality Disorder Stigmatization Sri Kothur, M.S., Therapist “Manipulative,” “attention seeking,” “difficult,” and “treatment resistant” are a few deleterious ways clients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are viewed [1]. More than any other psychological disorder BPD is viewed as the worse and most untreatable. A common view is that these clients’ take deliberate actions…
Mental Health Matter: “Passive vs. Active Listening: Music Therapy in Mental Health” By: David Ko, MM, MT-BC Music is a universal form of communication. Through the art of writing and performing music, musicians are able to communicate some of their deepest emotions and most significant experiences in a way that is simultaneously expressive, creative, and…
Can Stress Hinder Weight Loss? By: Natalie Lawson, RD Stress is part of our everyday life. Work, kids, finances, relationships… and then you try and throw in something like weight loss and BOOM, you’ve got yourself an extra dose of stress! Not to mention that weight loss causes so much stress. Think about it… everywhere…
You Are What You Eat By: Melanie Mediate, LPN, Civil Residential Supervisor “You are what you eat”. How many times have you either said or heard this idiom? Most of the time when people make this statement they are referring to how your diet affects your physical health. However, this saying can also extend to…
Some of Your Anxiety Might Not Belong to You Robert Stewart, LMHC Forensic Residential Program Supervisor Recently, one of the training wheels broke on my son’s bike. Rather than replace it, I decided that the time was right to take off the training wheels altogether and teach him how to ride on two wheels.…
What is Motivational Interviewing? By: Taylor Googe, MSW Social Services Supervisor Working in the mental health field you have probably come across that particular client who comes in again and again. You might have wondered why they haven’t changed and what you could do to help. You have also probably noticed that directives such…
Mental Health Matters Empathic Listening Samantha Tyler, NCC, M.S./Ed.S., Director of Residential Services As a CPI instructor, I always stress to my students that although we may spend a great deal of time practicing physical techniques, verbal skills can and should be utilized first when faced with a crisis situation. As long as the…
EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE IN THERAPY Sri Kothur, M.S., Therapist When clients decide to start therapy, they are faced with many choices. It is critical for clients to consider and understand the type of treatment offered. Evidence-based practice is the use of scientifically supported treatments studied in large scale clinical trials that show symptom reduction, which…
2-1-1 Big Bend and ASIST Training By Alex Mikulka, Inpatient Admissions Supervisor On a daily basis, Apalachee Center and 2-1-1 work together to ensure that individuals in the Big Bend can get the resources and services they need. However, many folks at Apalachee are unaware of the history and scope of 2-1-1. For the…
Caring for Individuals With Alzheimer ’s Disease Judy Goreau, RN In September I had the pleasure of attending a “Brainstorming” meeting with the North Florida Senior Citizens Network. This is a foundation entity of the Area Agency on Aging for North Florida, Inc. The meeting included people from all over North Florida involved in…
Reducing Burnout in the Mental Health Field Andrea Beaulieu, MSW, RCSWI Social Services Supervisor What is burnout?Many people in the mental health field talk about having “burnout”, or other people being “burned out”, but there is rarely a lot of time spent defining the causes and cures. Burnout can actually be a normal response…
Finding Acceptance Through Mindfulness Whether you think you can, or think you can’t–you’re right. –Henry Ford How do you cope with stressful or troublesome situations? Some may face it head on, solving the problem, thus making the unpleasant feeling subside. Others may avoid the problem, constantly pushing it aside and hoping it will disappear.…
STRESSING MENTAL HEALTH Jay Reeve, PhD, Chief Executive Officer Stress is a fact of life. Everyone experiences it, and no one handles it perfectly every time. But the causes, and consequences, of stress are more complicated than most people realize. This month, the Health Council of the United Way of the Big Bend is…
TIME Jon Williams, MA Clinical Supervision Specialist Time is a paradox. Time is a great thief, as it robs us of our youth with every moment that passes. Conversely, time gives us a foundation for everything that we experience. In the “hard” sciences such as math, chemistry, biology, and physics, time is accounted as…
Rural Mental Health and ACI’s Efforts to Serve By James Kwasneski, MSW Case Manager Supervisor Gadsden County Outpatient The provision of outpatient services to rural populations is a significant challenge and area of opportunity for Apalachee Center. Since the passage of the Community Mental Health Act of 1963 (CMHA), federal funds have been allocated…
Levels of Mental Health Care By Mark Reeves, Ph.D. In the mental health field you will often hear professionals refer to the “recovery process.” The term implies that people experiencing either a temporary mental health crisis or chronic mental illness have as a goal to recover as much of their ability to function in…
Service dogs have been a great contribution to individuals with disabilities, physical health problems, and illnesses that limit participation in daily life. Often, we observe service dogs in public settings that act as seeing-eye dogs for the blind or providing assistance to those with hearing and/or speech impairments. In addition to these contributions, service dogs…
Volunteerism By Jon Williams, MA Like many people, I was taught from childhood that while my toy trucks and action figures were mine, I should allow others to play with them if I was not using them. We have all been taught to share what we have and what we can from an early…
Paul Haney, Special to the Democrat 6:05 p.m. EDT July 7, 2014 (Photo: Mike Ewen/Democrat) Traditional views say that those who die by suicide are selfish and cowardly, opting for the easy way out of their troubles. The more we understand the psychological condition of suicidal ideation, however, the more we realize that traditional thinking…
Mental Health Matters: What is EMDR? By: Jennifer Barr, LCSW There are many different types of treatment for trauma and trauma-related diagnoses, like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Some of you may be familiar with some of the available treatments. When considering a specific treatment or therapy, it is always important to speak with…
Have you ever had to care for a loved one in need when you felt like you weren’t prepared or equipped for the job? Maybe Mom or Dad are elderly and became sick, and you didn’t want them to live in a facility? Maybe you have an adult child that has schizophrenia and at times…
People that Thrive ~Submitted by Jackie Beck, MSW, Director of Inpatient Programs “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success”~ Albert Schweitzer The human condition: We all are subject to emotions and are vulnerable to circumstances that impact those emotions. Stress and adversity can have many faces: family…
What Do You Want to Change? Have you ever had a family member or friend who had a glaring problem that you knew they needed to change, but they did nothing about it? Have you struggled with change yourself? We all typically would like to change something about how we manage ourselves or our…
Ask yourself what is going wrong in your life and more likely than not you will very easily call to mind your problems at home, at work, with your health, or your finances. (If anyone tells you their life is perfect and they have no problems, don’t believe them!) It is so easy to notice…
People have the innate desire to feel purposeful and productive. One way that many people feel like they have purpose is through working or volunteering. Feeling like one is giving back to the community or contributing to society can help keep the body and mind active and create a feeling of well-being. There is a…
Welcome to Mental Health Matters, a regular column in the Tallahassee Grapevine that features stories and tips on issues relating to mental health, from the staff of Apalachee Center. This week, I’m very excited to be using this space for something a little different. I want to let you know about a new place to…
The term “trauma” is commonly used in our world today. In fact, we have witnessed several events recently publicized across news media that have been traumatic for many people in different ways. It is also very likely you have experienced something significant during your lifetime that you label as traumatic. The experience of trauma is…
Almost everyone experiences a crisis at some point in life or knows someone who did. Crises are events like the loss of a loved one or job, a breakup, horrific trauma, injury, or drug abuse. They can leave people feeling helpless and hopeless. People in crisis can be hospitalized, sometimes against their will, if they…
Whether you’re prone to depression, grieving a loss or just feeling a bit “bah-hum-bug,” a season focused on joy can be tough. Here are some tips for surviving the holidays: Keep Yourself Healthy Maintaining healthy habits is essential to treating and preventing “the blues.” Heading to bed on time and avoiding lengthy post-party naps is…
There are many ribbons indicating the bearer’s passion for a specific cause. A yellow ribbon for our soldiers, pink for breast cancer awareness, and red for AIDS awareness are some of the common ribbons that can be seen on the back of many vehicles on the highways. The multi-hued puzzle ribbon indicating autism awareness only…
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the intervention of choice for the treatment of a variety of psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and personality disorders in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Research indicates that CBT is an especially effective intervention for a broad range of psychological problems. In fact, studies comparing the effectiveness of…
The National Institutes of Mental Health noted that most violent crimes are committed by people who are not mentally ill, and most mentally ill people do not commit violent crimes. Dramatic cases in the news, however, sometimes can lead readers to falsely assume that mentally ill people are violent. Mental illness, nonetheless, does become an…
About 30% of all Americans that go to the doctor are instructed to begin an exercise program. This has increased from 23% from just a few years prior. Approximately one third of all Americans are obese. Clearly, there are a whole lot more calories being taken in than burned. Despite the improvements that are associated…
When people talk about an illness, they usually base their ideas on the symptoms, or signs of that illness. For instance, colds can include stuffy noses, scratchy throats, and lowered energy. Flu can include fever, chills, and stomach upset. More serious illnesses, such as heart disease or cancer, also have a variety of physical indicators…
As a psychiatrist treating patients hospitalized with mental illness, I go through this scene quite often: anxious parents (who sometimes fly in from out of town) meeting with the treatment team to discuss their child’s illness, treatment, and prognosis (our technical term for prospects.) These parents come from different cultural, social and economic backgrounds, but…
You probably have heard of mental illnesses such as depression or eating disorders. It is likely that you or someone close to you have experienced one of these disorders. You may have never heard of the term “personality disorder.” Yet, it is also likely that you have met someone with such a condition and have…
While en route during your normal routine, you may have noticed that there are several large groups of pinwheels throughout the city. These are placed as part of a national effort to bring attention to Child Abuse Prevention. The pinwheel represents the hope and promise of a happy childhood for all children. A pinwheel, while…
The world can be a very dangerous place. Tornados, Hurricanes, Personal Assaults, Car Accidents and even Terrorist Attacks can occur. People exposed to these events can sometimes have problems with feeling safe and secure after they feel their life so profoundly and personally threatened. Most of the time, people do not choose to have a…
Welcome to Mental Health Matters, a new regular feature of Tallahassee Grapevine that will feature stories and tips on issues relating to mental health, from the staff of Apalachee Center. I’m excited to be starting this new conversation with some observations on mental health issues that you may not have known. There are a lot…