June 2021
BPA Health Provider Network Newsletter
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BPA Health News Updates and Reminders:
 
BPA Health is growing!
 
For over 40 years, BPA Health has pioneered behavioral health in Idaho and the Northwest. We are committed to providing real and human solutions that make lives better, organizations more effective, and communities stronger. And we’re hiring! Please click on the links below to apply for our current job openings:

 
We are also recruiting for a contract position for the Idaho Lives Project grant:
 
 
BPA Health is seeking to contract with a qualified behavioral health Regional Clinical Case Manager (RCCM) for Region 7 in Idaho (Idaho Falls/Blackfoot area). The RCCM will work approximately 10-12 hours per month as part of the Idaho Lives Project/Garrett Lee Smith grant in assisting in reintegrating referred youth who have attempted suicide or who struggle with severe ideation. The RCM will work with 4-10 families per year and will facilitate young adult peer led support groups, maintain relationships with local schools and participates in monthly staffing calls with the Idaho Lives team at BPA Health. This is a great opportunity to keep your current client caseload and supplement your income.

Call to Action! 

The Idaho Behavioral Health Collaborative is asking Idaho Behavioral Health Providers to join our network now to be ready to serve Medicaid members quickly and efficiently in the future. For more information and/or to join or network please visit the Idaho Behavioral Health Collaborative website.
 
Updates:

42 CFR Part 2 update: On April 9, 2021 SAMHSA released the following statement:
 
“SAMHSA is working with the HHS Office for Civil Rights on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to address the changes required by the CARES Act, to the 42 CFR part 2 regulations governing the confidentiality of substance use disorder patient records. We intend to publish these amendments later this year in the Federal Register, and we will be seeking comments from the public. Until new regulations are promulgated, the current 42 CFR part 2 regulations remain in effect. We know that many stakeholders are eagerly awaiting these revisions and appreciate your patience as we work to provide a thoughtful and thorough review of these provisions and amendments.”

Move recently? Accepting new clients? Not taking new clients? – Please make sure to keep your profile current. Here are links to the correct form:


BPA Health is seeking feedback in order to improve our services. Would you please take one minute to respond to our two-question survey? We’d sure appreciate it!
Resources/TIPs:
 
  • Want to learn more about motivational interviewing? The Northwest Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network has released a podcast series (40 episodes) on MI. For an overview and to subscribe, click here!

  • Counseling Assistance for Frontline/Essential Workers (Idaho): Know someone who provides face-to-face services in the community? Grocery workers, transportation workers, mental health or medical professionals, etc.? They may be eligible for five or more free counseling visits. Click here for details or call (866)536-0239 for a referral today.

  • Idaho Strong COVID Help Now Line (Idaho): 8 am – 8 pm MST/7 days a week. The COVID Help Now Line offers statewide support for Idahoans challenged by the stress associated with this global pandemic. Call or text (986) 867-1073 or toll free (866) 947-5186. You may also now chat with a live representative! Click here for more information. 
Training Opportunities:
 
6/17/2021 from 12:00 - 1:00 MDT - Helping Clients with Anger Issues - Presented by Northpoint Recovery. Register here!

6/21/2021 from 1:00 – 2:00 MDT – Understanding the LGBTQI Umbrella: A Focus on Our Trans and Non-binary Clients. Veronica Zarmez, LPC, will debunk myths, help clinicians identify their clinical biases and increase their skills in working with and navigating the complexities of working with Transgender and Non-binary clients. One free CE. Register Here!

6/24/2021 from 11:00 - 12:00 MDT - Anti-racism and Substance Use Treatment - CE Credits provided through NAADAC. Register here!

7/1/2021 from 11:00 -12:00 MDT – Battling School Anxiety, Strategies for a Successful Transition to In-Person Learning. After months of virtual and hybrid learning due to COVID-19, some students are anxious about returning to in-person school this fall. Holly Lacey, LPC, will be sharing strategies to use with counselors and parents to help reduce this anxiety. One free CE. Register here!

7/20/2021 9:00 am – 4:00 p.m. - MDT - Motivational Interviewing for Individual Service Planning. The Northwest ATTC is hosting and facilitating this training. Please note this training is limited to IDAHO PROVIDERS ONLY. For more information and to register Click here!

Ongoing - Project ECHO - Their 2021 schedule found here and includes hour-long lunch-hour trainings and case presentations in multiple topics such as Opioids, Pain, and Substance Use Disorder, Behavioral Health in Primary Care, Counseling Techniques for Substance Use Disorders, Pediatric Behavioral Health, and more.

On-Demand - Improving Patient Outcomes Through Screening, Follow-up and Treatment For Unhealthy Alcohol Use and Alcohol Use Disorder - NCQA is offering this complementary on demand course to provide health care providers with information on screening, follow-up and treatment for unhealthy alcohol use and ADU. Free CME/CE. Estimated time to complete course is 90 minutes.
June Blog:

Emotional Sobriety – If You Can Feel It, You Can Heal It

by Starr Shepard, BPA Health Community Programs Manager
 
Emotional sobriety is the ability to regulate negative emotions. It’s often discussed in the context of recovery from substance use, but it is an important element of mental wellness even when no substance use is present. Put another way, it is the ability to feel and cope with emotions. As the old adage says, if you can feel it, you can heal it.
 
Recovery is more than just making behavioral changes and abstaining from substances. It is also about changing the way thoughts and feelings are interpreted. Emotional sobriety is the ability to recognize emotions as they are happening and to be able to contextualize and reframe them when necessary. It’s also the ability to respond to stressors rather than react.

Healthy emotional regulation, a key component of emotional sobriety, is one of the most important skills to learn because it contributes to wellbeing in all areas of life. This is particularly true in navigating all kinds of interconnecting relationships from work colleagues, to friends, to family, to romantic partners, and even how we handle interactions with strangers. Mastering the skills to balance our moods and regulate our thoughts will shift us into greater emotional stability and ultimately greater wellbeing.
 
One way to realize emotional sobriety is to recognize that there is a void in every person that cannot be permanently filled. Since it feels so empty, people seek to fill it with all sorts of things from substances, to a range of compulsive behaviors, or perhaps by participating in unhealthy relationship patterns. Everyone experiences this void. An emotionally sober person learns to feel it and acknowledge it with self-love instead of trying to fill it and suppress it with self-harm.

Attaining emotional sobriety is a process, and self-regulation without resorting to self-medication can be learned. It is not enough to abstain from substances or behaviors alone, one must also actively process the workings of their inner world to be able to achieve the serenity of long-term sobriety. Building healthy activities into one’s daily life and doing them with mindful intent is one way to build emotional sobriety. Like working out a muscle; it gets stronger with each repetition and makes it easier to regain stability when life knocks us off balance.
PC-284-06-14-2021
Provider Relations| BPA Health | 1 (800) 688-4013 | providerrelations@bpahealth.com | bpahealth.com