Taos Behavioral Health

Counseling for Adults, Children and Families

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Play Power: TBH Staff Member Builds Confidence in his Students

by Mary McPhail Gray
NVW Chair

“I give them a safe place to rough house and learn how to use their bodies” states Ryan Daly—the play therapy leader at Nonviolence Works. For the past three years, Daly has been leading the Familia Y Mundo therapeutic after-school program participants in activities designed to get them moving and learn body awareness.

Ryan Daly

Ryan Daly

Daly and the FYM staff see dramatic differences in the students that participate. As he enters the classroom he notices youth who are “shut down”—even with their heads down and not talking. After a period in the play therapy activities—they are vibrant and smiling with happiness. Daly knows that this contrast is partly due to the advantage he has of seeing them after a long day in the classroom—often sedentary—and the chance to play and move is rewarding. [Read more…] about Play Power: TBH Staff Member Builds Confidence in his Students

Letter to Donors

Dear Donor,

Happy New Year!  We want to begin 2017 by thanking you for your support of Nonviolence Works last year, and by sharing some of our accomplishments that your generosity helped make possible.

Familia y Mundo (FYM), our after-school and summer therapeutic program that provides individual and group counseling, served 120 youth during 2016.  Now in its fifth year, and housed at Ranchos Elementary School through a cooperative arrangement with the Taos Municipal Schools, it provides youth with support and the opportunity to practice social and emotional skills in a safe environment. [Read more…] about Letter to Donors

Nonviolence Works Welcomes New Family Therapist

By Mary McPhail Gray
NVW Chair

“I wanted to have a profession in which I gave back to others,” commented Marcella Skogen, the new family therapist at NVW.  After she was helped by a counselor during her divorce process, she was motivated to enter the profession herself and completed a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology at the University of Denver.

Marcella Kagan

Marcella Kagan

Like many transplants, Skogen has been visiting Taos for twenty-five years with a goal of some day being able to move here.  She and her husband arrived last July and she is now working part time at both Golden Willow Retreat and NVW. She has assumed the role of lead therapist in the Familia y Mundo therapeutic after-school program where she leads counseling groups and does individual counseling.  [Read more…] about Nonviolence Works Welcomes New Family Therapist

Winter Break Camp Helps Youth Explore the Community

Mary Gray McPhailBy Mary McPhail Gray
NVW Chair

The two-week break from December 27 to January 6 gave NonviolenceWorks youth clients an enriching opportunity for adventures in the community. A total of 18 youth participated in the Famila Y Mundo Winter camp at Ranchos Elementary School and the Nonviolence Center at NVW. In addition to therapeutic groups sessions and individual counseling, the curriculum was planned to provide some new experiences out in the community.  [Read more…] about Winter Break Camp Helps Youth Explore the Community

Designing Programs to Fit Taos Needs

Mary Gray McPhailBy Mary McPhail Gray
NVW Chair

Taos is a unique complex community where human strengths and human needs exist at the same time as dramatic challenges to the behavioral health system. Whether looking at poverty, hunger, violence or despair in many forms, Taoseños across their life span need compassionate culturally informed services that support paths to greater life success. Many presenting challenges are generational patterns and system failures, yet change has to start with individuals reaching out to those in need. [Read more…] about Designing Programs to Fit Taos Needs

A Year to be Grateful to our Many Partners!

Mary Gray McPhailBy Mary McPhail Gray
NVW Chair

As 2016 comes to an end, I reflect on how Nonviolence Works is deeply grateful to the community partners who collaborated with us to provide the services to 700 youth and 150 adult clients during the last 12 months. Our mission “To inspire, train and empower all people to lead lives of nonviolence” compels us to work with other community agencies and leaders who share our vision to support human growth and change. [Read more…] about A Year to be Grateful to our Many Partners!