If you have no experience with treatment programs for mental illness, you probably see residential treatment as a last-ditch option for when things get really bad. Loaded images of padded cells, neglect, and listless patients come to mind, right? These images are...

What You Need To Know Psychiatric Service Animals are protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Emotional Support Animals are not; but there is more to know. Service animals are defined as any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for...

Many of us know Eleanor Longden from her 2013 TED Talk, The voices in my head. She is an intelligent, thoughtful young woman who was diagnosed with schizophrenia at a young age and overcame many obstacles to finish her master's degree in psychology. She now devotes...

In 2005, Pinfold et. al. identified stigma as “the second illness”. We talk all the time about how to treat mental illness. But how do we treat the illness of stigma? In order to treat stigma, it starts on the individual level. You must challenge your own perceived...

Families tend to wait for issues to escalate beyond their ability to manage them before seeking higher levels of care. This article summarizes the findings of ten interviews with parents who have supported adult children through mental health and addiction struggles....

If you feel grateful and stand near someone, you will automatically lift their spirits! Please read The Coolest Thing About Gratitude to learn more about this natural human phenomenon. While acknowledging our shared awareness of international, national, career, and...

Many college students are facing a major mental health crisis at the same time they are transitioning to adulthood. In the average college classroom of thirty students, 9 are dealing with a mental illness and about 2 have seriously considered suicide in the past year....

Can a psychiatric hospital be a place where patients feel safety in a kind and respectful environment? Can these places offer a a sense of belonging, empathy, and appreciation to patients? Our recent visit to Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, CT helped us to see...

There are over 45-million people in the United States living with mental illness and in that group, 11-million are living with a serious mental illness. A serious mental illness refers to the constellation of mental health challenges that persist and interfere in a...

Recently, we heard a provocative presentation about trauma by psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk in front of about 500 people in the Mahaiwe Theater in Great Barrington, MA. He has researched and pioneered various integrative methods for helping individuals to heal from...