Join the Northwest ATTC and speakers Bill O'Connell, EdD (UW Psychiatry) and Ursula Heflick (Spokane Fall Community College) for a webinar on August 28, 2024 (12-1pm PT) about an innovative new effort in Washington State to initiate a bachelor's-level Behavioral Health Support Specialist (BHSS) curriculum leading to credentialing to expand the mental health workforce and improve access to care.

The mental and behavioral health workforce shortage has hindered access to care in the United States, resulting in long waitlists for persons who need behavioral health care. Bachelor level practitioners are one solution to increasing available mental and behavioral health treatment across a variety of settings. A Behavioral Health Support Specialist (BHSS) will provide brief treatment for depression using behavioral activation, anxiety using CBT and engage in harm reduction for substance use issues. 

This webinar will describe the relationship between approved bachelor programs in behavioral health, psychology, and social work and the new state BHSS credential and help participants understand the role and function of the BHSS in the various settings they can practice under supervision.

A certificate of attendance (for CE credits) will be sent to all attendees of the live webinar.

Join us on July 17th (12-1pm PT) for our next Northwest ATTC webinar, where experts Scott Boyles and Mat Roosa will teach us all about "ASAM Criteria Implementation and Science Based Implementation Strategies"!

The collective struggle of healthcare systems to engage in timely and sustained implementation of the ASAM criteria and other EBPs has been well documented. Implementation science helps us to understand the key ingredients of effective implementation and sustainment and shows that didactic education is necessary but clearly not sufficient to ensure implementation success.

This webinar will offer a brief overview of the ASAM Criteria Implementation Guide which is based on The NIATx model for improvement which has emerged during the last twenty years as a highly effective toolbox for implementation and improvement of EBPs. The Guide moves us toward a focused sequence of tested process tools for ASAM implementation (walk-through, flow chart, nominal group technique, data-driven PDSA cycles, etc.).

Find out more about this event and the presenters, and register to join us on July 17th, here!