In this Newsletter:
- Sierra's Designs: A mother's grief channeled to support Alaska Seeds of Change
- Next day access for Children and Families - What does that mean?
- Expanding services to Mat-Su!
- Increasing expertise in evidence-based practices
- Arctic Entries supporting Alaska Seeds of Change
- Peer Support Training
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Sierra's Designs: Channeling Grief to Support Youth |
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Sierra Rae Parker was an artist, graphic designer, animal lover, world traveler, actress and musician who lived in Alaska most of her 33 years. For several years, she volunteered with Alaska Seeds of Change, our youth vocational training program. Sierra died in January 2022 from alcoholic cirrhosis.
To honor her memory and raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol, her mother Suraj Holzwarth has curated a collection of her artwork. She sells prints, postcards, stickers and more to benefit programs addressing youth mental health.
Alaska Seeds of Change is honored to be the beneficiary of a pop-up show and sale of Sierra’s work on November 4, 5-7 pm. Recover Alaska will attend to provide resources.
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About Sierra’s Art: Take a deep dive exploration in the theatrical, magical, enchanting and mysterious world of Sierra’s art. Her creativity is boundless, her depth broad and her style bold and whimsical, packed with deeper hidden messages while encouraging us all to develop our superpowers. Her art includes:
· Mythology: Goddesses, Gods, Aberrants & Elementals
· Comic Books, Graphic Novel Superheros, Movie &TV Characters
· Steampunk and Rockabilly
· Magic & Enchantment
· Sci Fi, ETs and Space Travel
· World Cuisine Cooking
· And Everything Cephalopod!
Sierra enjoyed cosplay, and attendees are encouraged to wear costumes. We hope to see you there!
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Expanding Mental Health Care in Mat-Su |
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Bringing the CCBHC model to the Valley! |
In 2020, Alaska Behavioral Health became a Certified Community Behavioral Health Center, or CCBHC. This federal designation requires us to meet standards for access to care, provide a comprehensive range of services, and report and assess client outcomes.
We have long known there was a need for similar services in Mat-Su, and are pleased to have received additional funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to expand services to Mat-Su. We expect to start offering services and open a clinic location in Mat Su early in 2023.
In the meantime, we will continue to offer services via telehealth or through our Anchorage clinics for those able to make the drive.
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Alaska Behavioral Health was also awarded SAMHSA funding to continue to improve access to care and quality of care at our existing Certified Community Behavioral Health Center (CCBHC) locations in Anchorage and Fairbanks.
This support will provide training for staff in additional evidence-based practices to better serve our clients. One effort will focus on Parent- Child Interaction Therapy.
The Alaska Child Trauma Center at Alaska Behavioral Health was selected to participate in a National Child Traumatic Stress Network learning collaborative on Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). In partnership with The Baker Center for Children and Families, four early childhood clinicians will receive training in PCIT over the course of two years to support building high quality and sustainable practice for young children and families. Additionally, one Clinician will participate in a train-the-trainer series to provide training and PCIT consultation to future Alaska Behavioral Health providers. Benefits we anticipate as part of this learning collaborative include improved outcomes for children and families, increased access to an effective protocol for young children with behavioral challenges, and increased provider work satisfaction.
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Next Day Access for Children & Families in Anchorage
(and what does that mean?)
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Our Child & Family Team has worked over the last few years to eliminate waitlists and get children and families into services more quickly. We are pleased to announce that we now next-day appointments available for new clients in Anchorage! Same day crisis appointments are also available in all of our clinics.
How does it work?
Same-day crisis: If you (or your child) is experiencing a high level of distress and needs to see a therapist right away, call us in the morning and request a same-day crisis appointment: we will find an open appointment time for you. You will not necessarily be able to see your regular therapist but we'll make sure you can see someone.
Next-day new client appointments: In Anchorage, we have availability to schedule new Child & Family clients for a mental health assessment as early as the next day. Assessments are generally scheduled in the mornings. After the initial assessment, your clinician will discuss next steps and frequency of on-going appointments. Depending on scheduling, there may be a short wait (average 10 days) to begin on-going therapy. After-school appointments are in high demand; the more flexible you can be with scheduling, the sooner you can begin. If you are unable to attend a scheduled appointment, please call us as soon as possible to let us know.
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Arctic Entries: benefitting Alaska Seeds of Change! |
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Back in the spring of 2020, Alaska Seeds of Change was chosen as Arctic Entries non-profit partner for the spring season: ticket sales of the popular live story-telling show would raise funds for the Seeds vocational training program for youth! But after one show, COVID hit and the rest of the season was cancelled. Now after two years of pop-up shows, Arctic Entries is back at Anchorage's Performing Arts Center, and we're incredibly grateful that the Board voted to continue to support Alaska Seeds of Change for the 2022-2023 season!
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The first show on October 25 sold out in record time, so mark you calendars now for the rest of the season! Tickets go on sale one week before the show, at 2 pm thru Centertix.
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Peer Support Training Opportunities |
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Saturday Class starts October 22! |
Our 40-hour basic peer support training class
prepares people who have lived experience with mental illness and/or substance misuse to become certified peer support professionals.
There are only a few more sessions this calendar year, and the Saturday class is the last one outside of Monday-Friday work hours.
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