News & Notes

With the start of school approaching, we want to recognize our individual WRAP therapists. WRAP (Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities) is a Bert Nash Center in-school therapy program, in partnership with Douglas County schools. The groundbreaking program began in 1997 and continues to thrive today. WRAP assigns a master’s-level clinician to a school to work collaboratively with the school’s mental health professionals to help with the behavioral, emotional, and psyc

With the start of school approaching, we want to recognize our individual WRAP therapists. WRAP (Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities) is a Bert Nash Center in-school therapy program, in partnership with Douglas County schools. The groundbreaking program began in 1997 and continues to thrive today. WRAP assigns a master’s-level clinician to a school to work collaboratively with the school’s mental health professionals to help with the behavioral, emotional, and psyc

With the start of school approaching, we want to recognize our individual WRAP therapists. WRAP (Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities) is a Bert Nash Center in-school therapy program, in partnership with Douglas County schools. The groundbreaking program began in 1997 and continues to thrive today. WRAP assigns a master’s-level clinician to a school to work collaboratively with the school’s mental health professionals to help with the behavioral, emotional, and psyc

With the start of school approaching, we want to recognize our individual WRAP therapists. WRAP (Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities) is a Bert Nash Center in-school therapy program, in partnership with Douglas County schools. The groundbreaking program began in 1997 and continues to thrive today. WRAP assigns a master’s-level clinician to a school to work collaboratively with the school’s mental health professionals to help with the behavioral, emotional, and psyc

With the start of school approaching, we want to recognize our individual WRAP therapists. WRAP (Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities) is a Bert Nash Center in-school therapy program, in partnership with Douglas County schools. The groundbreaking program began in 1997 and continues to thrive today. WRAP assigns a master’s-level clinician to a school to work collaboratively with the school’s mental health professionals to help with the behavioral, emotional, and psyc

Note: May is Mental Health Month. COVID-19 has not only threatened people’s physical health but their mental health. For some, the pandemic has intensified existing conditions such as anxiety and depression and for others it has created new mental health challenges. These are individual stories of hope and resiliency and examples of how people coped and managed their mental health during a pandemic. “You’re taking care of your body and mind, and it’s one and the same” Rach

How did your involvement with the Bert Nash Center begin? My involvement started by being invited to a Discover Bert Nash Tour. The tour was so well done, and I realized the essential services that Bert Nash is playing in our county. I can still remember the impactful stories that they shared on the tour about the work that Bert Nash does with community training of Mental Health First Aid to public schools having WRAP workers. A simple invitation to discover more about Bert N

Dear Friends, As we look back on this year, we can acknowledge it has been a year of adversity. Yet, resiliency has been the pillar for us to stand on. Because of the pandemic, we face a mental health crisis unlike any we have seen before, where anxiety and depression are affecting our community at higher rates while the resources of those needing help have diminished or disappeared entirely. As the economic impact of Covid-19 stretches into the future, we are seeing an incre

Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center and Lawrence Public Schools have a long history of collaboration to promote the mental wellbeing of students. A shining example is the WRAP program. WRAP (Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities) is an in-school therapy program that was started in 1997 and continues to thrive today. WRAP is a groundbreaking program where the Bert Nash Center — in partnership with Lawrence Public Schools and other Douglas County schools — assigns

Whether virtually or in person, Bert Nash Center’s Medical Services Team is here to help. “We are available for people to get help, via phone, or video as well as in person,” said Dr. Timothy McCord, Medical Services psychiatrist. During a pandemic, with so many stressors in people’s lives such as job loss, loss of insurance, and remote learning challenges, the Medical Services team’s services may be needed now even more than ever. Even though most medical insurance companies

Tina Rosenthal, Governing Board chair What is the best thing about being a Bert Nash board member? The best thing about being a Bert Nash board member is the people I have the privilege to serve with. I have met a lot of wonderful individuals, employees as well as fellow volunteers, while serving on the board. It has been both refreshing and exciting to work with a group of people who are equally as passionate as I am about the stability of mental health services for our comm

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

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

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

Parenting isn’t easy. Especially if you feel like you don’t have the support you need. That’s how Becca and Eliot Spielman felt before they came to Bert Nash. Then, for the first time, they felt supported. And understood. And validated. “During our first meeting with Angie (Keegan, who was a Bert Nash parent support specialist at the time), it was clear that she understood both the gravity of the situation and the range of emotions my partner and I were experiencing,” Becca s

I have thought about the answer to this question for a while. As it has changed some over the years as I have adjusted into different roles within mental health. Before I began on a path to mental health, I was looking into a career in art and I happen to take a social psychology course in undergrad. Taking this course shifted a lot for me. I changed my career goals, school, and dove into studying psychology. From there I grasped every piece of knowledge to understanding the

I love what I do. Some days it is harder than others but I cannot imagine being anywhere else. The work isn’t done for the thank-yous nor credit. I do it because I love kids. I do it because someone did it for me in school. Someone continually showed up for me. They asked how I was doing and listened without judgment. Our schools need to be about support and relationships first. Placing Bert Nash WRAP (Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities) therapists in schools help

While training to become a Youth Mental Health First Aid instructor, I heard about an acronym they use in Hawaii -- “MAMA” = meaningful adult, meaningful activity. Among other protective factors, a youth having at least one meaningful adult and meaningful activity in their lives greatly increases their resiliency. Growing up, I had many meaningful adults and meaningful activities supporting the development of who I am today. A time that these MAMAs were especially helpful was

I am deeply honored to be the recipient of the Bert Nash 2020 Lyn Smith Award. It means so very much to me to think that my friends and colleagues at Bert Nash find me worthy of this prestigious award. It was my great fortune to join the Bert Nash Endowment Board at a time of growth and innovation, at a time when resources were becoming more and more scarce. It was a time when we envisioned a new way of articulating and sharing the mental health needs in Douglas County. It wa