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By Rena Shawver
June 12, 2009
Employment is one of the leading priorities voiced by mental health consumers when asked about their life goals and desires. Yet national employment rates for people with mental disabilities run as low as 15%. Washington State has taken on employment as a primary goal for improvement for individuals with mental illness, acknowledging that mental health consumers succeed when placed in jobs of their choice and provided ongoing support.
Read full article: Transforming Employment Outcomes for People with Mental Illness
By Rena Shawver
June 11, 2009
Changing the mental health service delivery model to incorporate recovery and resiliency as core principles is as much of a social movement in Washington State as fighting for minority rights and equality. To promote this shift in thinking, four consumer groups across the state have formed and have begun implementing regional organizing initiatives (ROIs) in support of this monumental undertaking.
Read full article: Mental health “recovery movement” gets boost from consumer groups in Washington
By Rena Shawver
June 11, 2009
Social stigma against people with mental illness is alive and well in Washington State, creating barriers to recovery and wellness for thousands of individuals. Since public opinions are shaped by popular and news media, this training will help raise awareness of the ways in which media characterizations can be inaccurate, how language shapes community attitudes and how to work successfully with local reporters to provide accurate information about mental health.
When Barbara Bate was three years old her mother disappeared. She feared her dead. Her father never said she was at a psychiatric clinic receiving treatment for post partum depression. After recovery, Bate’s mother Claire became an advocate for mental health awareness, but her father never acknowledged the brain-related illnesses in the family.
Thirteen of 39 counties in Washington have now adopted a local sales tax to fund mental health and chemical dependency services, indicating increased interest for local support of mental health programs state-wide. A report released this month by the Mental Health Transformation Project (MHTP) and the Washington Institute for Mental Health Research and Training (WIMHRT) outlines the progress of counties in using the tax.
Read full article: Counties Begin Use of Tax Dollars for Mental Health Services
"If my life wasn’t funny, it would just be true," sets the tone for "Wishful Drinking," a hilariously witty session of on-stage self-analysis with actress Carrie Fisher (Star Wars, Austin Powers, Blues Brothers), who takes the audience through her personal journey of alcoholism, manic depression, and life behind stardom….
Read full article: A Humorous Look at Bi Polar and Substance Abuse with Actress Carrie Fisher
He was born an Irish immigrant and became the first homesteader of Des Moines when he came to the Washington Territory around 1854. He died in 1899 of dementia. Along with more than 3200 other hospital patients who died between 1876 – 1953 at Western State Hospital, John Moore (#447) was buried with only a stone grave marker etched with a number on it to anonymously identify the resting place of his remains and avoid the public shame and stigma associated with mental illness…..
“Is recovery or even stability possible without safe decent housing?” asked Lynn Davison, Common Ground’s Executive Director. Our community has an overwhelming need for a coordinated group to help alleviate this problem. The Mental Health Division Mental Health with support from the Transformation Grant has stepped into support this group.
Read full article: Safe Decent Housing for People with Mental Illness
Do you need help evaluating or measuring a mental health need in your community? For the third year the Mental Health Transformation Project (MHTP) is announcing the Consumer and Family Evaluation Mini-Grants Program! The Mental Health Transformation Project in partnership with the Washington Institute for Mental Health Research and Training (WIMHRT) is spearheading this creative program. To download the application click on the following link: 2009 Mini-Grant Program Application.
Read full article: Consumer and Family Evaluation Mini-Grants Program
By Rena Shawver
November 18, 2008
Imagine you’ve broken your leg and are going through physical therapy to get back to work. Your therapist encourages you, saying “you can do it”. When you return to work, your employer has provided a foot rest, extra time off for medical appointments and a sympathetic ear.
Now imagine you suffer from anxiety or depression.
Do you get the same level of encouragement or support upon returning to work after an illness?
What do depression and high cholesterol have in common?
“They’re both warning signs of more serious illnesses and should be treated early, “says former King County Executive Randy Revelle who recently addressed the Washington State Transformation Work Group at its quarterly meeting in Olympia in early October. “Yet in our society we’ll pay for the cholesterol medication, but not necessarily for the depression medication and treatment.”
Revelle thinks that’s wrong and has been heading a major effort to establish “parity” in treatment and insurance coverage for mental health and physical health.
Read full article: Revelle Takes on Mental Health Parity at State and National Levels
One-by-one, representatives from six Washington counties stood to share their ideas with state policy makers on improving the delivery of mental health services to children ages birth through six years.
The queries came seemingly from everywhere: individual communities, mental health agencies, consumers, and law enforcement organizations alike.
August 01, 2008
Early in the life of the Mental Health Transformation Project, even as office supplies were requisitioned, staff hired, and requests for technical assistance launched, it became almost immediately evident that a host of diverse players across the field placed a high priority on training opportunities for law enforcement crisis intervention teams (CIT).
The queries came seemingly from everywhere: individual communities, mental health agencies, consumers, and law enforcement organizations alike.
Read full article: Fundamentals of Transformation: The Crisis Intervention Team
July 09, 2008
Trauma is among the most significant factors involved in mental illness, and it must be taken into account by caregivers and providers, four prominent speakers told the Trauma-Informed Care Symposium in Yakima on June 11.
The purpose of the symposium was to present information about the impact of trauma, take stock of trauma-related activities and programs already occurring in Washington, and develop priorities for promoting trauma-informed care in Washington.
Tonier Cain, a survivor of trauma, shared her story as one of the speakers. It begins with a severely neglectful mother, a long history of childhood and adult sexual abuse, alcohol addiction from age nine, marriage at age 14, and a drug addiction that led to 66 drug-related convictions.
Read full article: Assessing the Effects of Trauma
Read Archived News ArticlesYou can read more news articles like those above by heading to the News Archives section of this website.
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