People come to therapy for three reasons: to heal, to problem solve, and to grow. Psychological wounds heal only through the soothing, transformative, and liberating power of successful attachments to other human beings. Our psychological selves come into being through attachment and we grow and develop as psychological beings through successful attachment and attachment supported […]
Psychiatric Social Work in the ER by Candy Elson, LCSW
As some of you know, I work in a local emergency room as a “psychiatric liaison” a couple of week-ends a month and sometimes I get called in for four hours of an evening is someone calls in sick and they need coverage. You never know what to expect and it is amazing the number […]
A Visit to the Village: Lessons in Recovery by Jacquie Hernandez, MSW student
The 2015-2016 Mental Health Training Program (MHTP) Stipend Recipients had the pleasure of joining Professor Candy Elson in visiting The Village, an adult integrated services recovery program that is a part of Mental Health America of Los Angeles. The agency is a recovery oriented agency that focuses on meeting clients where they are and assisting […]
RecoverMe – From Dublin to San Diego by Jacquie Hernandez
Project Enable is a BPSR (biopsychosocial recovery) clinic that works with adults with a severe mental health diagnosis. I interned with the TAY (transitional age youth) program. One of the main components of this program is their TAY group. This is an open-ended group that is specifically for TAYs to teach them independent living skills, […]
A Decentralized Service Delivery Model Benefits Clients and Providers at SURVIVORS By Carin Anderson, MSW Intern
Social work, like other human service professions, requires the clinician to practice self-care to balance work with physical, emotional, and psychological well being. This is especially true when working with torture survivors. Even those such as immigration court clerks or interpreters need to be cognizant that the work they are doing can have an effect […]
Social Work and Interns at Survivors of Torture, International by Carin Anderson
Survivors of Torture, International (SURVIVORS) was founded in 1997 to fill a gap in services for survivors in San Diego County. Their program takes a holistic approach to healing with psychotherapy, psychiatry, psychological evaluations and medial affidavits for asylum seekers, medical case management, and interpreters. Additionally, SURVIVORS offers case management. Tammy Pham is a MSW […]
The Recovery Model in Action: MHTP Student Field Trip to MHA Village by Desiree Llanas
On December 18, 2013, Master of Social Work students in the Mental Health Training Program (MHTP) took a small road trip from San Diego to Long Beach in order to visit “The Village” of Mental Health America, Los Angeles. The Village offers comprehensive mental health services using an integrated services approach. This was an amazing […]
“Got Grit? And other essential character traits…”
Submitted by Debbie Boerbaitz, LCSW, PPSC, School Social Worker Otay Elementary is a K-6, Title 1 Public School in the Chula Vista Elementary School District, with a population of approximately 610 students. We have received distinction as a California Distinguished School, National Blue Ribbon School, and were recipients of the Title 1 Academic Achievement and […]
Mental Health in International Settings
Sally Mathiesen, Ph.D., LCSW What is mental health? The World Health Organization launched Project Atlas in 2000 to respond to the large gaps in the collection and dissemination of information about mental health service delivery in countries around the world. “It replaces impressions and opinions with facts and figures” (WHO, 2011, p.7). The main findings […]