News & Notes

His mental health journey hasn’t always been easy, but he’s grateful for the path it has put him on. “It’s been a rough journey at times,” said JG, a Bert Nash Center client. “But it’s definitely been worth it.” When JG returned to Lawrence in 2018, he began seeing Cassie Parker, an Adult Services therapist at the Bert Nash Center. They quickly developed a level of trust. “She always remembers the things we’ve talked about,” JG said. “That really built up a relationship, wher

The Bert Nash Center continues to experience negative financial impacts associated with COVID-19. Our Center’s participation in the Paycheck Protection Program provided a bridge for us, but unfortunately, we must make additional cuts to be sustainable. These cuts will come in two forms: workforce reduction and salary reduction. Workforce reduction Fifteen (15) positions will be eliminated, effective July 4, 2020. Some of these positions are open and will simply not be filled.

During a 2014 interview, the late Bob Nash was asked about his father and the community mental health center that bears his name. “I like to think about all of the lives that have been changed because of my father’s work,” Bob Nash said. “That’s what I think of when I see Bert Nash.” Bob Nash’s father, Dr. Bert Nash, collapsed while giving a presentation February 18, 1947, at a Lions Club meeting at the Eldridge Hotel in downtown Lawrence. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage an

In the last two years, the Bert Nash Center has trained and certified more than 1,000 new Mental Health First Aiders. These community members, parents, teachers, friends, and colleagues learned the skills needed to help identify when a friend, colleague, student, or family member is struggling with their mental health or is in crisis. They also learn how to be helpful in the moment, both by helping someone connect to appropriate professional help as well as by being a nonjudg

Working and living in Lawrence at the time, Barbara Nash had heard of the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, but that was it. Until she met Bob Nash. That was in 1977. Some friends set them up on a blind date. “It did not go well,” Barbara said. Fortunately, there was a second date. “I am a rabid Jayhawk fan and the second date was a KU-K-State basketball game. KU won. There’s no way it could have possibly not gone well,” Barbara said. The couple was married two years

The Bert Nash Center is celebrating Juneteenth virtually this year with Juneteenth KC and virtual celebrations across the United States. You can join, too, by going to the Juneteenth KC website https://bit.ly/3djBMKG, the Nelson-Atkins commemoration https://bit.ly/3fHFjnA, and storytelling and performance from the Amistad Center for Art & Culture. Friday night https://bit.ly/314E0uS, the Carver Museum & Cultural Center will celebrate with livestream music and spoken work per

The Bert Nash Center celebrates the Supreme Court’s decision Monday, June 15, 2020 affirming what we already believe and practice: that being gay or transgender should not put someone’s job at risk. Everyone should be able to be fully who they are — and it is our responsibility as a community to create that inclusivity where it isn’t present.

It is with sorrowful hearts that introspect is taken. For, it is in the land of the free that feelings of unrest trouble the spirit. Who else begs the question? — In whose bosom does freedom lie? With 2020 lenses, some feel closer to the calamities of historical apartheid South Africa and Jim Crow America — experiencing trepidations of déjà vu. No longer is it an experience that the young ones read from a history text, or capture from an interview with a first-hand elder. Ech

Steve Maceli, owner of Maceli’s Banquet Hall and Catering, is the 2019 recipient of the Bert Nash Pioneer Award. The award was presented April 22 at the annual Bert Nash Pioneer Celebration. Steve represented Bert Nash at the Transformations Charity Gala in January and was the winning contestant, earning $10,000 for WRAP (Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities), a school-based mental health program. Steve is also a generous supporter of Bert Nash in many other ways. T

Douglas County Friends and Neighbors, Black Lives Matter. I entered the mental health profession in part because of pain I had experienced in my life and the help I received from a community-based mental health provider much like the Bert Nash Center. Watching the news is to see pain aired on live television. Some of us turn away, overwhelmed. Some of us become sympathetic, separating ourselves from the experience of others. Some of us simply feel at a loss…don’t know what to

June will be an anniversary for Debra Chapin. Next month she will celebrate her first year as a peer support specialist at the Bert Nash Center. “I knew this program existed,” Chapin said. “I thought what they did was really cool. I thought this is exactly where I want to be.” In January, that’s exactly what happened. Chapin was notified she had passed the certification to become a peer support specialist. In her role, she provides support and shares her personal story of rec

Social work wasn’t originally part of my plan. As an undergraduate, I studied biology and applied to medical school. After I didn’t get in and had graduated from KU, I chose to take a gap year to volunteer in AmeriCorps at a group home for juvenile boys in Kansas City. However, the children I worked with slowly melted my heart and I decided to start working at Bert Nash after my volunteer term ended in 2014. My first position was at Bridges as a psychosocial worker where I le

As a kid growing up in New York City, I saw firsthand the toll the lack of safety and security can have on a person’s mental health. Uncertainty about meeting basic needs makes it near impossible to think about the future, let alone accomplish goals. This uncertainty dominated my childhood, but also shaped my worldview. I knew from a very early age that my path lay in helping people. Watching my brother struggle with his mental health for years, and his subsequent decade of i

I pursued a career in mental health because I have always found great joy and value in helping others. As I got further into my graduate program, I felt myself being drawn more and more toward working with kids and adolescents. I just love their energy. Prior to working at Bert Nash, I worked in an inpatient psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents. After spending time in a very crisis-driven environment, I became even more passionate about mental health prevention a

People can heal when they are offered a safe space to be vulnerable and authentic. They can heal when they feel truly seen, heard, and validated. I am passionate about helping others heal from past experiences and overcome life traumas, to get past the “stuck.” I strive to be the compassionate therapist that holds space and helps guide through the healing process. Specifically, as a therapist working with children in the school setting, I am passionate about social and emotio

Zsofia had cut herself before. But this time was different. She was really scared. She called a friend and the friend was also scared. So, the friend called 911. “I reached out to a friend when the self-harming incident occurred,” said Zsofia, who is a senior in high school. “I didn’t know what to do, so I called my friend.” When first responders called the house, it was a surprise to Zsofia’s mom, Traci, who was home at the time but wasn’t aware of what had happened. “They w

Growing up, I saw my older brother struggle with a serious mental health condition. As a young adult, he died by suicide. It was at this time that I knew I wanted to learn as much as I could about how to help other individuals and families who are affected by mental illness. Shortly after receiving my master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, I came to Bert Nash as an emergency services clinician with the Access Center. There, I saw first-hand the challenges, struggles, and pai

A poem by Lisa Cyrus When stay-at-home says to me, “no place is open” and frustration wants to set in, my close friend, Gratitude, drops by and reminds me that I have a home to stay in; a peaceful home at that, with all the amenities I need and even enough of my wants. Let’s talk about the longing for in-person contact with my friends and family. It too tries to overwhelm me. And in the nick of time, another close friend, Insight, shows up, and puts things into perspective

I do what I do because … I love it. I love working with adolescents. I love working with their families. I love helping individuals find their strengths when they might feel that they have none. And I love working in a position where the school district and Bert Nash are partners working for the best interest of the students. One of my favorite quotes is, “We can do hard things.” Being a teenager is hard, high school is hard, all of the current “unknowns” due to COVID-19 are

In her short 11 years, Peyten has experienced a lot. She has been bullied at school. A fellow student threatened to kill her. And there have been family issues. “I know more things than an 11-year-old should,” Peyten said. Her mom, Jessi Benson, said Peyten, who is a fifth-grader, is very mature for her age. “I have to be the grownup sometimes,” Peyten said. It used to be that Peyten would keep her feelings bottled up inside. Then they would eventually boil over in fits of an