Mental wellness news, discussions, and tips
Are you in the process of working through issues such as depression and anxiety, as well as illnesses such as obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Is your current living situation getting in the way of your recovery or preventing you from independent living. Here is a quick test to see if you can expedite your recovery by living at a supportive housing.
Read MoreShould You Seek Professional Help?
October observance brings attention to the need for depression awareness and mental health screenings. Not everyone experiences depression in the same way, but it can affect anyone at any time. So, it is important to take steps and seek out professional help and be screened if you or someone you care about feels they may be depressed.
Depression Anxiety Stress Screener
Read MoreWe are thrilled to offer E Street Supportive Housing, a beautiful Victorian home in central San Rafael for those individuals who need a structured environment to support their mental health treatment.
Read MoreAre you a passionate therapist committed to helping your clients and seek an opportunity to develop and grow as a leader? Do you have clear ideas that you want to develop and need a strong supportive clinical team to help you?
We are looking for highly motivated licensed therapists to provide Family and Couples Therapy as well as Individual Therapy as part of our multidisciplinary clinical team. We are offering a unique opportunity to create and lead new programs. You will have an opportunity to create new group therapies training programs and be a team member of highly skilled professionals working on some of the most complicated and innovative areas of mental health. This is an opportunity to advance your career while doing what you are most passionate about.
Read MoreSymptoms usually start soon after the traumatic event, but less often they may first appear months or years later – often triggered by another traumatic episode. Symptoms may come and go over time; however, if the symptoms last longer than four weeks, and interfere with your work or home life, you might be experiencing PTSD.
While it has become apparent that supportive talk therapy by itself is not very helpful for PTSD, specific trauma-focused therapies that address the way trauma is stored in the mind/body are effective. There are treatment methods that research has shown to be effective for treating trauma:
Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Prolonged Exposure Therapy
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
Somatic Psychotherapy
In PTSD, a trauma is defined as “exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence”. The trauma can be something that happened to you as a child or as an adult, something that happened once or many times over the years, or even something that you witnessed or learned about it happening to a close family member or friend. Even though we often describe things like a divorce, a bad argument with a friend or parent, a difficult move, or a toxic work environment as ‘traumatic’, these major stressors are not experiences that would lead to a diagnosis of PTSD. When we think about “Big T” traumas, we mean events like childhood physical or sexual abuse, an actual or threatened assault, unwanted sexual contact or abuse, exposure to war or combat, severe motor vehicle accidents, natural or man-made disasters, or sudden/catastrophic medical events.
Read MoreDr. Perez shares her thoughts on the new Multi-Family Group. What makes this group different is - that myself and the co-lead of the group, a young adult can jointly connect to the members at a deeper level. Working with Jesse Rentz, PsyD has created this unique advantage. I relate to the parents in the group having brought up 3 sons who are now adults, while Jesse is a young adult who can speak for the offspring or family member growing up in today’s world and can offer the parents an age appropriate viewpoint. The combination of these age-related developmental stages offers the group participants a very credible understanding.
Read MoreHere are a few books and videos that I often suggested to clients and families when it comes to early recovery. In particular, I recommend the 12 Stupid/12 Smart things series, written by a psychologist in his own recovery. It’s a really nice mix of core recovery principles with an understanding of psychology/emotion regulation, etc. which I used to put some groups together at my work. These are also fairly short books (which I really like!).
Read MoreAre you a parent or loved ones of troubled teens, stuck young adults or those who struggle with mental illness or substance abuse/addiction? This group will help you identify effective approaches for reestablishing healthy roles, create constructive communication approaches and practice strategies to encourage healthy boundaries and self-care.
Read MoreMind Therapy Clinic is looking for a highly motivated licensed therapist to provide Family and Couples Therapy as well as Individual Therapy as part of our multidisciplinary clinical team. In this position, the therapist will be expected to carry a caseload of couples, families, and individuals and lead 1-3 therapy treatment groups per week. Expertise with DBT, CBT, ACT, or other evidenced-based treatment modalities is desired. The individual will also be responsible for developing professional education opportunities for our team and the greater Bay Area therapy community and supervising interns or trainees.
Read MoreJoin Jesse Rentz, PsyD and Alina Belohlavek, MFT Associate on Mondays at 10am for Authentic Relating group therapy. The goal of the Authentic Relating group is to help group members gain a deeper understanding of what is blocking or preventing them from becoming their true authentic selves.
This group aims to help clients increase their awareness of their internal experiences, so that they can develop a deeper honesty with themselves and with others in their daily lives.
Read MoreI am extremely happy to announce Matt Blagys, PhD, as our new Clinical Director.
Dr. Blagys has a robust clinical background which includes a number of years working at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital psychiatric department, Yale’s Child Study Center and the Austen Riggs Center in Massachusetts. More recently, he has served as Clinical Director of Alta Mira and of Reflections, two premier, dual-diagnosis residential treatment programs. I have collaborated with Dr. Blagys for many years while he was at these facilities and have known him to be a wonderful therapist and excellent administrator. We feel incredibly fortunate that Dr. Blagys will be bringing his wealth of experience and expertise to our clinic at this challenging time.
Dr. Blagys will provide individual and family therapy for our clients, with a particular focus on the treatment of mood disorders, trauma, and substance use. He will also lead a new group, Family Issues, on Wednesday afternoons.
Read MoreWork on processing and developing coping skills and self-soothing techniques for anger, sadness, and guilt and shame. Issues and themes will center on exploring issues related to grief, loss, and sorrow, as well as issues related to self- worth and self-compassion.
This group takes place on Tuesday 1:30 to 3:00pm
Read MoreAre you a licensed therapist with expertise in delivering DBT, CBT, and other evidenced-based modalities? We have just the position for you. To apply click here.
Read MoreWe are grateful for your participation with us in our new reality. If you have resources or hope to give to those who may be in need this season, please be willing to bring comfort and healing when you can.
We wish you and those you love a meaningful and hopeful holiday season.
Read MoreDistress Tolerance is one of four modules that make up Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Distress tolerance skills help individuals tolerate and survive crisis situations without making things worse (crisis survival skills), especially when one cannot make the situation better right away. Distress tolerance skills also teach individuals how to use acceptance as a tool to reduce suffering and build a life worth living (reality acceptance skills). Additionally, this group will cover a set of skills to utilize when the crisis one is dealing with is addiction.
Read MoreWe are pleased to welcome Sara Drotman, PsyD to our clinical team. Dr. Drotman completed her degree at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University in New York, where she worked with diverse populations of patients in hospitals and clinics throughout the city. She then completed her pre- doctoral internship and postdoctoral residency in the Veteran’s Affairs medical system in Pennsylvania, where she further specialized in treatments for PTSD (including Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged Exposure) and substance use disorders.
Dr. Drotman specializes in evidence-based treatments for trauma, depression, and anxiety. Dr. Drotman’s approach to psychotherapy is grounded in a strong belief that individuals have the ability to recover from trauma, addiction, and mental health conditions.
We are pleased to welcome Jessica C. Lief, LCSW, to our clinical team. Jessica is a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist who specializes in the treatment of substance use disorders, eating disorders, body image issues, trauma, and grief and loss. Jessica completed psychoanalytic training in through the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Psychology in the Eating Disorders, Compulsions, and Addictions (EDCAS) Program.
Jessica’s favorite part of being a therapist is guiding each client in their personal transformation and witnessing each step as it is achieved. Jessica will work with the client to identify what is deeply meaningful and important in that person’s life. The client will develop concrete skills to get their needs met directly. Jessica will help the client to develop powerful, inner resources, including self-compassion, emotion regulation techniques, radical self-acceptance, and confidence.
Monday, October 5th:
Join the IntNSA webinar presentation by Mind Therapy Clinic’s Dr. Deborah Bowman Introducing the Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Screening Tool - Revised in a Residential Substance Use Disorder Treatment Facility” and for induction as a Fellow of the International Academy of Addictions (ceremony later in the conference).
You'll have the opportunity to view all the presentations and workshops at your leisure. In light of the pandemic and economical strains on frontline health and social care workers, and because IntNSA is celebrating the Year of the Addiction Nurse, IntNSA is offering the conference free to all.
Base fee:
Free Virtual Attendee - NO CEsIncludes attendance to all virtual sessions
Virtual Attendee - WITH CEs – $25.00Full attendance to all virtual function PLUS you are eligible to receive CEs for all qualifying presentations.
To Register visit: https://www.intnsa.org/conference/register/
International Nurses Society on Addictions (IntNSA) will run its first-ever Virtual Educational Conference between October 4 through October 31.
The conference will run live keynote events every weekend and on the week days there will be a variety of asynchronous webinars (concurrent papers) and poster presentations on a variety of addiction topics related to prevention, treatment, and recovery. In addition to the educational activities, you will have an opportunity to visit the exhibitors' virtual hall and learn more about IntNSA and what it might have to offer you, your colleagues or clients.
Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT) is an attachment-based treatment for individuals who struggle with emotion dysregulation, chaotic and unstable interpersonal relationships, and difficulty managing interpersonal conflicts. The focus of this group is to help group members build the capacity to "mentalize" - that is, to hold one's own state of mind and the state of mind of another together. This group can benefit anyone looking to understand their interpersonal relationships better and increase their sense of curiosity and engagement through the inevitable ups and downs of any relationship.
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