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An electronic circular of the Coalition's Center for Rehabilitation and Recovery
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No. 56, December 2009
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The Center for Rehabilitation and Recovery provides assistance
to the New York City mental health provider community through
expert trainings, focused technical assistance, evaluation,
information dissemination and special projects.
THE DIRECTOR’S NEW YORK MINUTE “Appreciating Innate Wisdom” We, professionals, often think that we are the only holders of intelligent observations and trained to understand insights. After all, we have studied human behaviors long and hard, learned about theories and diagnosis, and trained in evidence-based approaches. One of the lessons many of my mentors/supervisors shared with me was the For example, there was a middle aged woman named "Susan", who dressed strangely and hung around the mental health center asking to help, not for help. The staff consistently pushed her away and thought she was a pest. A young social work trainee made friends with Susan and, much to everyone’s surprise, found that she had been a young MSW, herself, once upon a time. She had been raped long ago but no one had ever treated her for the trauma and its aftermath. She had gradually become the person whom everyone thought was a lost cause. Susan and the young student put together a plan to establish a mentoring program in which peers, who were further along the recovery process, would begin to help others. Susan grew stronger herself, got her hair cut, took more showers, and dressed more appropriately. Little by little, she grew into a leadership position and ended up helping many people, both staff and recipients. The student learned a lot, herself, by thinking that she didn’t know everything, listened well, and worked as a partner with Susan. Perhaps if we adopted a more humble stance and walked a path together with recipients, we would be amazed at what we, too, can learn! Center Completes Fall 2009 Introduction to Benefits Management Training Series A total of 136 people attended the Introduction to Benefits Management trainings presented at four locations around the five boroughs. We learned from the results of a short quiz that participants are grasping the details of benefits management and are hungry for more challenges to test their knowledge! Learning the ins and outs of how to best help people use work incentives continues to be vital. Our goal is to help people become more familiar with the resources available and more confident in the belief that people can return to work! If you missed this opportunity to attend or would like to recommend the training to a colleague or friend, stay tuned for the Spring Series by checking with the Center’s web site. Center Provides Training to Coalition Member, Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services (JBFCS) Center staff, Marie Sabatino, provided a four-part training to mental health providers and supervisors of JBFCS’ Brooklyn Treatment and Graduate Apartment Programs. The training topics included Elements of Recovery, Person-Centered Approaches, Motivational Enhancement and Leading the Way to Recovery: Using our Stories to Inspire Change. These trainings emphasized the importance of understanding, living and embodying recovery values as an effective means to promote transformation. Many participants noted that the handouts were particularly helpful and relevant to their work, including excerpts from the writings of Dr. Mark Ragins’, A Guide to Mental Health Transformation on a Personal Level, which may be downloaded here for FREE: http://www.village-isa.org/Village%20Writings/A%20Guide%20to%20Mental%20Health%20Transformation%205-26%20final.pdf Medicaid Buy-In for Working People with Disabilities (MBI-WPD): The Picture of the Dynamic Duo
Some people refer to the MBI-WPD as “the best kept secret in benefits” and many who have begun to work or who are thinking of working, find it hard to believe that you can be covered by Medicaid and earn money. People often believe that any work activity will make them ineligible for Medicaid. Medicaid itself offers coverage for so many aspects of health expenses that are often unaffordable otherwise. The Medicaid Buy-In for Working People with Disabilities, often referred to as MBI or MBI-WPD, is a benefit specifically geared to allow adults with a disability who are working to have Medicaid. Margie and Pat, pictured above, are available together or individually to come to your agency to talk further about the MBI-WPD, do a short presentation, take questions and assist with applications for those who are ready to apply. They will ensure that you have a check list of all that you will need to take with you to the Medicaid office. In case you’re still thinking this can’t be for you, you’re not alone. Here are some of the things we’ve heard: “I’m not sure about signing up for this—it’s too good to be true!” or “I can’t really be eligible. I’m not sure if this is the real deal.” If you’re still unsure, email one of us and let’s talk! When we come to your site, we will bring some written information that should help. Look forward to hearing from you! Pat and Margie pfeinberg@coalitionny.org or mstaker@coalitionny.org
Dealing with Overpayments & Ask the Expert This FREE full day training will include updates on legislative and policy changes relevant to benefits management. In the morning session, participants will learn how to assist consumers who have received more benefits than they are entitled to, such as when they are hospitalized or return to work. The focus will be on the most effective ways to respond to overpayments and to advocate for consumers. Participants will learn how to complete a “waiver of overpayment” questionnaire and will be given valuable tips about how to navigate the Social Security bureaucracy. In the afternoon session, participants will have the opportunity to discuss their current cases, allowing for both expert guidance and input from colleagues. Date/Time: Thursday, December 3, 2009, 9:30am-4:30pm Storytelling Exchange This monthly series was created to provide a forum for mental health staff to discuss their experiences with storytelling and narrative therapy. The upcoming exchange will feature Abdur Rahman from Black Veterans for Social Justice, a Viet Nam veteran who suffered from PTSD. He will present his version of narrative therapy and how it has helped him integrate overwhelming experience and transform it into something that can help others. Mr. Rahman uses such therapy in his work with veterans. He will also discuss the importance of oppressed people having a voice to tell their own story, in this case, Black veterans. This approach can be applied in a number of settings with people who have suffered trauma and oppression in many different contexts. Date/Time: Monday, December 14, 2009, 9:30am-11:30am To register for any Center training, please go to: www.coalitionny.org/the_center/training/ Note: If you are typing the URL in your browser, the space between “the” and “center” is in reality an underscore symbol “_”. Other Community Events & News Martha K. Selig Educational Institute Training Center of JBFCS Title: Trauma Assessment and Treatment SAMHSA’s ADS Center (Resource Center to Promote Acceptance, Dignity and Social Inclusion Associated with Mental Health) Title: History of the Mental Health Consumer Movement Crisis Prevention Institute Title: Autism Awareness Seminar
Boston University, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation New publication, Food Education for People with Serious Psychiatric Disabilities: An Evidence-Based Recovery Curriculum, www.bu.edu./cpr/products/curricula/foodeducation.html Center for Healthcare Strategies, Inc. (CHCS) Presentations and video archive from a recent CHCS webinar, Establishing Accountable Physical/Behavioral Health Care Homes: Medicaid Innovations, www.chcs.org/publications3960/publications_show.htm?doc_id=1066660 Fountain House New anti-stigma campaign created by Coalition member agency, Fountain House, Glenn Close and International Mental Health Research Organization, Bring Change 2 Mind, www.bringchange2mind.org Mental Health News New winter 2010 publication, Schizophrenia: Current Research and Treatment, www.mhnews.org National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare New survey report, Survey Finds Barriers to Veterans and Mental Health, www.thenationalcouncil.org/cs/press_releases/survey_finds_barriers_to_veterans_and_mental_health National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) New NIMH vodcast on trauma and recovery, Coping with Traumatic Events, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/coping-with-traumatic-events/index.shtml#video_wrapper_61285 New York Department of State, Division of Administrative Rules Includes proposed rulemaking for PROS, NYS Register, www.dos.state.ny.us/info/register/2009/nov10/pdfs/rules.pdf New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) Recent issue features, OMH’s Statewide Comprehensive Plan for Mental Health Services, http://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/resources/newsltr/2009/nov.html Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Latest issue includes cover story, Recovery: A Philosophy of Hope and Resilience, www.samhsa.gov/samhsaNewsletter/Volume_17_Number_5/Recovery_Hope_Resilience.aspx
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importance of recognizing the innate wisdom lurking in every recipient of our care. Underneath odd behaviors, colorful speech, or unusual attire, there is probably a person who, if given half a chance or multiple chances, knows themselves the best and can lead the two of you in the right direction toward healing. 
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