Multimedia
Behavioral health and health care settings offer a spectrum of programs including substance use, mental health, and medical and recovery services. Professionals providing these supports use an array of competencies to empathize and assist persons with substance use and other psychosocial problems. Always focused on helping others, professionals can experience challenges in practicing self-care for themselves.
This interactive workshop provides an opportunity for providers to review wellness practices and experience the benefits of intentional, micro-structured, self-care interventions. This training was approved for two renewal hours (CASAC, CPP, CPS) and two initial hours (CPP, CPS) through New York State’s Office of Addiction Services and Supports (NYS OASAS). As an IC & RC member board, OASAS accredited courses were granted reciprocal approval by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Alcohol and Drug Counselor Committee. Many other states offered reciprocity.
Published: July 22, 2024
Other
The New England ATTC held a Regional Advisory Board Meeting on 6/7/24 to share highlights over the reporting period and identify emergent areas of needs. Priority topics included advancing harm reduction throughout New England. The meeting minutes are available for download.
Published: June 7, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
The Great Lakes Current is the e-newsletter of the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC.
The September 2024 issue features content celebrating National Recovery Month, Suicide Prevention Month, and a new Counselor's Corner blog post by Mark Sanders and Isa Velez Echevarria. You will also find links to upcoming trainings and new products from our centers.
Make sure you're subscribed to our email contact list so you never miss a month of The Great Lakes Current newsletter, and thank you for reading!
Published: June 6, 2024
Multimedia, Presentation Slides
Humor is a part of daily living that has been shown to improve mental, physical, and emotional health. Laughter can bring us through some of the darkest times when hope seems glim. Despite the benefits and need for laughter and humor, helping professionals are taught very little about the therapeutic benefits of humor in treatment and recovery. In fact, it is sometimes discouraged in the helping professions. In this presentation you will learn strategies to incorporate humor in your work with clients.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this presentation, you will be able to:
Understand the research on the benefits of using humor to improve physical, mental and emotional health
Use humor more effectively in your work with clients
Use humor to improve rapport with clients and to help clients grow in recovery
Use humor to help reduce burnout and increase organizational morale
PRESENTERS:
Tom Farley
Tom Farley grew up in Madison, WI and graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in Marketing. He began his career in banking and finance, living and working in the New York City area. From 1999 to 2012, he ran The Chris Farley Foundation, a nationally recognized non-profit dedicated to substance abuse prevention. Like his brother, Tom was successful in opening the “eyes and ears” of youth audiences through the powerful and effective use of humor. In 2008 he wrote “The Chris Farley Show”, a New York Time bestselling biography of his late brother, the actor and comedian Chris Farley. He has been interviewed on The Today Show, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, Fox News and The View. He has also been featured in People Magazine, USA Today and several national and regional newspapers and publications. Tom has served on the Dane County Human Services board and several non-profit boards. Tom works for Rosecrance Behavioral Health as the Professional Relations Coordinator for Wisconsin. He is also a motivational speaker, delivering messages on prevention and recovery. Tom lives in Madison, WI.
Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC
Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC, is the Illinois state project manager for the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC. He is an international speaker and behavioral health consultant whose presentations and publications have reached thousands throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, West Indies, Lithuania, and Guam. He is the recipient of four lifetime achievement awards, including NAADAC’s prestigious Enlightenment Award, the National Association for Addiction Professionals’ 50th Anniversary Legends Award, the Illinois Certification Board's Professional of the Year Award and Jessica Hayes Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Barbara Bacon Award for outstanding contributions to the social work profession as an alumnus of Loyola University of Chicago.
Mark is the author of five books on behavioral health recovery. Recent writings include Slipping Through the Cracks: Intervention Strategies for Clients with Multiple Addictions Disorders and Relationship Detox: A Counselors Guide To Helping Clients Develop Healthy Relationships In Recovery. His groundbreaking monograph, Recovery Management, co-authored with historians William White and Earnest Kurtz, helped shift substance use disorders treatment and recovery from the acute care model towards a recovery-oriented system of care. Mark is the primary contributing author of a trauma-informed gun violence prevention curriculum which is now being implemented in several large cities throughout the U.S., and he authored two stories published in the New York Times bestselling Chicken Soup for The Soul book series.
In addition to his behavioral healthcare work, Mark has a 30-year career as a university educator, having taught at The University of Chicago, Loyola University of Chicago, and Illinois State University School of Social Work. He is also the co-founder of Serenity Academy Chicago, a program which sponsors recovery-oriented peer groups in local high schools.
The Great Lakes A/MHTTC is offering this training for individuals working in HHS Region 5: IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI. This training is being provided in response to a need identified by Region 5 stakeholders.
Published: June 5, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
Third & Fourth Quarter Updates: April 2023 - September 2023
The goals of this newsletter are to share Regional Best Practices with regard to training and technical assistance (TA) initiatives, provide updates on regional strategic initiatives and curriculum development, and facilitate ongoing collaboration among state partners and programs. Please click here to view our collaborators over the prior reporting period.
View the Newsletter!
Published: March 31, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
The Great Lakes Current is the e-newsletter of the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC.
The February 2024 issue features content from the Great Lakes ATTC celebrating Black History Month, including our upcoming 2024 Black History Month Panel Presentation. It also features a new educational brief on health equity in crisis systems, upcoming prevention trainings on drug trends in the region, and updates to the Classroom WISE curriculum for 2024. As always, you will also find links to all upcoming events and trainings hosted by the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC!
Make sure you're subscribed to our email contact list so you never miss a month of The Great Lakes Current newsletter, and thank you for reading!
Published: February 12, 2024
Multimedia
The audio recording from the webinar, “Peer Support: Why Your Program Needs It” (described above) is also available for download.
Published: February 1, 2024
eNewsletter or Blog
by Raymond Crowel, PsyD, Clinical Director, The Danya Institute
In March 2020, COVID-19 made its presence felt literally around the world. Within weeks, our lives were upended, as businesses shuttered their doors, schools closed, and our social connections were severed. The same was true for substance use and recovery programs when outpatient addiction treatment, medication-assisted treatment, and residential treatment programs closed. In the early months, both face-to-face services and AA/NA support networks were nonexistent.
Successful substance use recovery requires access to treatment, connection to people, and a strong community that supports recovery. Limited access to treatment and services, paired with isolation, anxiety, and depression caused by the pandemic, proved to be devastating for many people in recovery. Relapse and overdose rates jumped in the first year of the pandemic, destroying the progress that was beginning to be made in combating the opioid abuse epidemic. In addition, many vulnerable people turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with the chronic stress, loneliness, loss of work, and grief. Lastly, the drug trade in fentanyl exploded. The result was a dramatic spike in overdoses and substance use-related emergency department visits.
<em>Image by Enrique from Pixabay</em>
While the COVID-19 pandemic has become less deadly, substance abuse has not. The ongoing trauma from the pandemic, untreated relapses in recovery, limited treatment capacity, and increasing potency and availability of illegal drugs contributed to more than 100,000 deaths in 2022 (NIDA).
The pandemic forced substance use treatment systems to think of creative ways to continue to support recovery. Peer Recovery Specialists, trained in outreach and connecting with persons ready to begin their recovery process, shifted to disposable cell phones and virtual support services and support groups. Flexible Federal and state government policies allowed medication-assisted treatment programs to provide more walk-up and take-home dosing. The entire substance abuse and mental health service system migrated to telehealth services to provide safe access to ongoing treatment.
Online networks and virtual referral processes made identifying and matching treatment providers with those seeking treatment easier. As residential programs reopened, providers implemented masking, testing, safe distancing, and sanitation processes to protect residents and staff from COVID-19. Many such practices put into place during the height of the pandemic have remained in place, permanently altering how services are delivered. Sadly, our rates of addiction, overdose, and death by overdose remain high. Although education, prevention, and treatment efforts are back to near pre-pandemic levels, still more needs to be done to save the lives of the many still struggling with addiction.
At a minimum, we need:
More treatment professionals, including Peer Recovery Specialists and credentialed foreign-trained professionals.
Integrated approaches to healthcare that consider both mental health and substance, along with social determinants of health.
Increased adoption of harm reduction efforts, including the widespread distribution of Naloxone, needle exchanges, and fentanyl test kits, as well as supervised consumption sites.
COVID-19’s legacy is one of suffering and rising to the challenge. We are hopeful that the enduring legacy will be a stronger system of care for behavioral health, built with the same determination brought to combatting COVID-19.
Published: January 2, 2024
Other
The New England ATTC, in partnership with RICARES, held the next monthly installment of the Recovery Science and Harm Reduction Reading Group series. We discussed a paper titled, “Predictors of Retention and Drug Use Among Patients With Opioid Use Disorder Transferred to a Specialty "Second Chance" Methadone Program” by Moses and colleagues. A summary of the discussion is available for download.
Published: November 30, 2023
eNewsletter or Blog
November 2023 Dialogue: ATTC: Trans Awareness Week | MHTTC: School Well-Being Learning Community | PTTC: Fostering Inclusivity and Substance Use Prevention | ORN: Finding a Voice. Additional sections include behavioral health observances, virtual training and webinar events, and new resources.
The Dialogue is designed to inform behavioral and mental health professionals of news and upcoming events in the HHS Region 3/Central East region. This electronic newsletter is disseminated bi-monthly on the first Tuesday. You are encouraged to provide us with any feedback or submit articles and topics for discussion in future issues of the newsletter,
[email protected].
Sign up to receive the Dialogue and our weekly training bulletin in your mailbox.
Visit the Dialogue Archives.
Published: November 7, 2023
Other
The New England ATTC, in partnership with RICARES, held the next monthly installment of the Recovery Science and Harm Reduction Reading Group series. We discussed a paper titled, “Mobile low-threshold buprenorphine integrated with infectious disease services” by Rosecrans and colleagues. A summary of the discussion is available for download.
Published: October 31, 2023
eNewsletter or Blog
Third & Fourth Quarter Updates
The goals of this newsletter are to share Regional Best Practices with regard to training and technical assistance (TA) initiatives, provide updates on regional strategic initiatives and curriculum development, and facilitate ongoing collaboration among state partners and programs. Please click here to view our collaborators over the prior reporting period.
View the Newsletter!
Published: September 30, 2023
Multimedia
National Recovery Month (Recovery Month), which started in 1989, is a national observance held every September to promote and support new evidence-based treatment and recovery practices, the nation’s strong and proud recovery community, and the dedication of service providers and communities who make recovery in all its forms possible.
Hosted by the ATTC, and MHTTC Network, in collaboration with SAMHSA, this hour-long event showcases the winners of the 2022 Recovery Innovation Challenge through a “talk-show” format. Hear from four of the ten Challenge Winners who share their innovative strategies for recovery, lessons learned from implementation, and recommendations for replication in other communities.
Download the slides by clicking on the green "download" button above.
Published: September 29, 2023
Multimedia
Beyond sobriety, programs dealing with substance use disorders have embraced a more comprehensive goal: Recovery. There are four recognized domains of recovery: Health, Home, Purpose, and Community. There are a myriad of resources, both internal and external, that make up recovery capital. As a person begins their journey, they draw on their initial store of recovery capital and as that journey continues, they gain more recovery capital. More recovery capital, more recovery. More recovery, more recovery capital. By assisting an individual identify their recovery capital and make plans for its increase, their recovery becomes stronger.
This session, presented by Norma Jaeger, PhD (ABD), Executive Director of Recovery Idaho, explored the many potential elements of recovery capital and how to support an individual in building more recovery capital to support their life in recovery.
View recording | Download slides | Download handouts: Recovery Capital Scale, Recovery Capital Worksheets
Published: September 21, 2023
eNewsletter or Blog
September 2023 Dialogue – Addiction: Nurturing Purpose in Recovery: Unveiling Passions and Living Intentionally | MHTTC: Improving Suicide Prevention Strategies in Maryland | Prevention: National Suicide Prevention Month | ORN: Addressing Regional Needs. Additional sections include behavioral health observances, virtual training and webinar events, Region 3 news, and new publications/resources.
The Dialogue is designed to inform behavioral and mental health professionals of news and upcoming events in the HHS Region 3/Central East region. This electronic newsletter is disseminated bi-monthly on the first Tuesday. You are encouraged to provide us with any feedback or submit articles and topics for discussion in future issues of the newsletter,
[email protected].
Sign up to receive the Dialogue and our weekly training bulletin in your mailbox.
Visit the Dialogue Archives.
Published: September 5, 2023
Print Media
****Available in English and Spanish****
This snapshot of information is intended to provide resources to individuals, parents, professionals, and providers regarding the peer recovery specialists' impact on behavioral health among Latinos in the United States.
ESPECIALISTAS EN RECUPERACIÓN ENTRE PARES PARA UNA SALUD MENTAL EQUITATIVA ENTRE HISPANOS Y LATINOS
Esta reseña informativa tiene por objeto proporcionar recursos a individuos, padres, profesionales y proveedores sobre el impacto de los especialistas en recuperación entre pares en la salud mental de los Latinos en Estados Unidos.
Published: April 28, 2023
Multimedia
DESCRIPTION:
Recovery Friendly Workplaces (RFWs) support their communities by recognizing recovery from substance use challenges as a strength and by being willing to work intentionally with people in recovery. RFWs encourage a healthy and safe environment where employers, employees, and communities can collaborate to create positive change and eliminate barriers for those impacted by addiction.
Join us to learn how becoming a Recovery Friendly Workplace promotes the physical health and mental wellbeing of all employees. In this 90-minute session we’ll learn about New Hampshire’s national RFW initiative and hear from a panel of professionals leading RFW efforts in their states.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Learn how to best replicate New Hampshire’s Recovery Friendly Workplace initiative
Identify and summarize RFW Initiatives in the Great Lakes region
Identify the strengths, opportunities, and challenges of supporting RFW Initiatives
TRAINERS:
Samantha Lewandowski is the Program Director of New Hampshire’s Recovery Friendly Workplace (RFW) initiative. She first served as a Recovery Friendly Advisor for the initiative, where she worked 1:1 with over 80 workplaces, and then as its Assistant Director. She manages the day-to-day operations of the initiative, including overseeing staff and subcontractors, ensuring workplaces are supported in the RFW process, and promoting effective collaboration with partners, as well as helps implement the initiative’s strategic vision. She is also currently serving as RFW’s Multi-State Liaison, where she provides TA to other states looking to implement NH’s model.
Tyler Meenach graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a BS in Criminal Justice in 2011. He spent the next 10 years developing his career in correctional rehabilitation—earning his MS in Criminal Justice along the way. In late 2021, Tyler began a new career as a health coordinator with Hamilton County Public Health where he has been active in the development and growth of the Recovery Friendly Hamilton County program—a recent recipient of a Workforce Champion award from the Workforce Council of Southwest Ohio. He is an avid bookworm, movie buff, and record collector.
The Great Lakes A/MH/PTTC is offering this training for individuals working in HHS Region 5: IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI. This training is being provided in response to a need identified by Region 5 stakeholders.
Published: April 14, 2023
Website
Recording: Black History Month Panel Presentation Featuring 2023 Hall of Fame Recipients of The Museum of African American Addictions, Treatment, and Recovery
DESCRIPTION:
Join the Great Lakes ATTC and the 2023 Hall of Fame recipients of the Online Museum of African American Addictions, Treatment and Recovery for a panel discussion about substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, culturally appropriate service delivery, and recovery in African American communities. The panelists will share their expertise and years of experience on these topics with an emphasis on defining recovery in African American communities, understanding culturally specific approaches to working with African Americans with SUDs, practicing effective cross-cultural counseling, and learning how the entire African American community can serve as a recovery community.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Participants will learn:
How to anchor recovery in African American communities
A working definition of recovery in African American communities
Culturally specific approaches to working with African Americans with SUDs
How to build rapport with African American clients in a cross-cultural counseling relationship
PANELISTS:
Published: February 24, 2023
eNewsletter or Blog
The November 2022 Dialogue contains articles on: Addiction: Multiple Pathways to Recovery | Mental Health: Coping After a Death by Suicide | Prevention: SAMHSA’s 19th Annual Prevention Day | ORN: African American History Month, and Regional Spotlight: Beyond Bars.
Additional sections include upcoming training and webinar events, behavioral health observances, new resources, and Region 3 news.
The Dialogue is designed to inform behavioral and mental health professionals of news and upcoming events in the HHS Region 3/Central East region. This electronic newsletter is disseminated bi-monthly on the first Tuesday. You are encouraged to provide us with any feedback or submit articles and topics for discussion in future issues of the newsletter,
[email protected].
Sign up to receive the Dialogue and our weekly training bulletin in your mailbox.
Visit the Dialogue Archives.
Published: January 4, 2023
Multimedia
Presenters: Sean Mahoney, Mental Health and Addiction Association of Oregon
December 2022
It's one thing to believe in harm reduction but how do we actually have those conversations with people actively using substances? And what other things should we know about besides Narcan and clean needles? Peer and recovery mentor Sean Mahoney has been having these conversations for years and is excited to share his experience navigating these difficult conversations with safety, compassion and love. Mahoney has also seen how this conversation has changed over the years due to fentanyl, COVID and the emerging mental health crisis. Harm reduction for opioids and heroin for sure but also for meth, alcohol, benzos and beyond will be covered in this course as will the techniques and approaches to have a trauma informed conversation to let the people we serve know that their lives matter.
Download slides | Watch recording
Published: December 15, 2022
Print Media
Lack of buy-in can interfere with attempts to expand use of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for substance use disorders. These three fact sheets offer strategies to build support for this evidence-based practice.
MAT Fact Sheet #1: Securing Buy-in
MAT Fact Sheet #2: Reducing Risk of Misuse and Diversion
MAT Fact Sheet #3: Making the Case for Medication
Published: September 14, 2022
eNewsletter or Blog
The September 2022 Dialogue contains articles on: Addiction: Families in Recovery | Mental Health: National Suicide Prevention Month | Prevention: Suicide Prevention Awareness | ORN: Mobilize Recovery, and Regional Spotlight: A Journey to Recovery, by Demetrie Garner.
Additional sections include upcoming training and webinar events, behavioral health observances, new resources, and Region 3 news.
The Dialogue is designed to inform behavioral and mental health professionals of news and upcoming events in the Central East states. This electronic newsletter is disseminated bi-monthly on the first Tuesday. You are encouraged to provide us with any feedback or submit articles and topics for discussion in future issues of the newsletter,
[email protected].
Sign up to receive the Dialogue and our weekly training bulletin in your mailbox.
Visit the Dialogue Archives.
Published: September 6, 2022
Print Media
This Issue: CONNECTIONS: HONORING CULTURE AND EMBRACING CHANGE
This issue will bring awareness to the National Recovery Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and National Suicide Prevention Week. Our Executive Director, Mr. Fred Sandoval shared more details about the work NLBHA is doing in collaboration with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. We are also providing more details about our upcoming National Latino Behavioral Health Conference.
Please read to learn more about the resources we are highlighting this quarter, our upcoming events and projects, and more.
In This Issue
Our Mission
Dicho of the Quarter
Page 01
A reflection by our Director
Page 02
NLBHA and AFSP: National Suicide Prevention Week Awareness
Page 03
Story time: meet our team member, Ana L. Chavez-Mancillas, MSW
Page 06
Highlighting the experts, Quarterly Highlights and Celebrations
Page 07
Article by Eva Moya, PhD
Page 08
Media Corner
Page 10
Conference Highlights
Page 11
NHL Executive Leadership and Fellowship Program
Page 12
Community Campaigns: National Suicide Prevention Week, National Recovery Month, Hispanic Heritage Month
Page 10
Staff Contact information
Page 15
Español
Esta Publicación: Conexiones: Honrando La Cultura Y La Aceptación Del Cambio
Português
Esta Edição: Conexões: Honrando a Cultura e Abraçando Mudanças
Published: September 2, 2022
Multimedia
The Great Lakes A/MH/PTTC is offering this training for individuals working in HHS Region 5: IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI. This training is being provided in response to a need identified by Region 5 stakeholders.
Alcohol is STILL a Drug: An Exploratory Webinar Series (August 2, 2022) Recording
DESCRIPTION
Alcohol is STILL a drug. The opioid crisis, increase in stimulant misuse, and marijuana legalization dominate the news— yet alcohol remains the number one substance causing health, social, legal and financial problems throughout the US.
While this series will focus on the hopefulness of recovery from alcohol use disorder, we’ll also take a deep dive into what we know about the full impact of alcohol overuse and the ways it affects every person in the US.
SERIES LEARNING OBJECTIVES
These are the overall learning objectives for the full 10-session series:
Summarize the current impacts of problematic alcohol use in various/special populations, including pregnant women, youth, rural, and minority populations.
Assess and prioritize alcohol reduction efforts in targeted settings.
Describe the current efforts to curb problematic alcohol use, including best practices in providing treatment.
PRESENTER
Kris Kelly, BS
Kris Kelly is a project manager for the Great Lakes Addiction, Mental Health, and Prevention Technology Transfer Centers, a woman in long-term recovery, and subject matter expert on peer-based recovery support services. Kris is also leads the Recovery Community Organization Capacity Building core area for the Peer Recovery Center of Excellence.
She has worked with state and local government, recovery community organizations, treatment courts, withdrawal management/detoxification, and clinical treatment developing best practices for integrating recovery supports into systems and services. As a former executive director and director of programs of a Minnesota-based recovery community organization, Kelly is a leader in the peer support movement in Minnesota. Kelly has presented at state and national conferences on topics ranging from supervision in peer-based recovery support services and integrating peer support services into behavioral health organizations to recovery-oriented systems of care.
Published: August 2, 2022