Looking forward to Spring

As we work our way through the last of the cold days, we here at Samaritan are looking forward to a new Spring season! As our amount of daytime grows longer, we are happy to welcome back the sunshine and warmer weather.

Accepting New Clients

We welcomed Ross (legal name Phillip) Buttner to the Samaritan team this month! He is open and accepting new clients ages 15 and older! If you would like to become a new client of Ross, please call our new client line at 608-663-0763 ext. 100 and we can work on the new client process.

Phillip (Ross) Buttner, Ph.D, LP

A message from Ross:

Reaching out for help is a significant step, and I deeply appreciate the vulnerability and leap of faith it takes to enter into a therapeutic relationship. I believe that taking the time to get a true sense of a client’s perspective and lived experience is the first and most important step in addressing the concerns and challenges brought into treatment. Because of this, I strive to fully understand the clients I have the privilege to work with.

I have worked in counseling for over 15 years, specializing in treating anxiety, depression, and spiritual concerns. For the past 25 years, I have practiced, researched, and taught mindfulness meditation. I have found mindfulness to be a fundamentally important life skill that brings balance in dealing with difficult emotions, insight into problematic patterns, presence with loved ones, and enjoyment to often-missed details of everyday life.

I meet clients where they are in their journey, and bring warmth and humor to my sessions. My approach is generally straightforward and solution-focused, using gold-standard treatments. However, I often find that the counseling process is a journey that uncovers new insights as it progresses, and I offer flexible and responsive therapy to accommodate what our process uncovers.

Phillip (Ross) Buttner is a Licensed Psychologist (LP). Ross received his Bachelor's degree in Psychology from UW-Madison and Ph.D in Clinical Psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in California. He has traveled extensively and spent two years at a meditation center completing numerous extended silent meditation retreats.

Ross has completed trainings in the somatically-based Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Existential group process work, and has expertise with anger-management and communication skills from his 7 years working with domestic violence clients. Ross has worked in both community counseling as well as acute partial hospitalization settings.

Ross brings over 25 years of practice and research of mindfulness to his sessions, bringing presence and humor into his sessions in treating depression and anxiety-related concerns, including trauma, grief, identity and life-change crises. Ross has also completed our specialized training to integrate one's own faith into the therapy process for those interested.

Ross is currently credentialed with Quartz, Medicare, Medicaid, UnitedHealth Care, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Cigna. We are in the process of getting credentialed with additional insurances as well, including Dean Health.

Here is a link to the website bio for Ross if you would like more information about him:

https://samaritancounselingcenterwi.org/therapists/phillip-ross-buttner/

We can't forget to celebrate our Clinic Manager, Angela Laufenberg!

For 11 years, Angela has been an integral part of the Samaritan family. She has helped develop our clinic into what it is today.

We hope to continue to grow and support our community with Angela on our team for many years to come!

During this month - and the rest of the year - it is important to recognize the harmful affect of systematic racism, especially in the mental health field, on Black communities.

Take some time today to learn a little more about racism and it's surrounding issues. Here are a few recommendations to get you started:

"Been in the Struggle nurtures, challenges, and fosters the work and witness of dismantling racism for the long haul. Filled with wisdom and insight from nearly three decades of partnering across racial lines in this work, authors Regina Shands Stoltzfus and Tobin Miller Shearer offer a powerful mix of practical direction and poignant reflection to empower and sustain those working to dismantle racism, regardless of their stage on the journey."

Our staff is currently reading Been in the Struggle. This book has brought so much great discussion to our practice. We highly encourage others to read it.

"In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of antiracist ideas—from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilities—that will help readers see all forms of racism clearly, understand their poisonous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves."

"In this “vital, necessary, and beautiful book” (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’ (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence."

For more recommendations, check out the Black Mental Health Alliance's list of books on behavioral health, all of which are written by Black voices:

https://blackmentalhealth.com/12-books-on-behavioral-health-written-by-black-people/