Passing through the New Year’s Holiday season many of us thought about the tradition of New Year’s Resolutions. Some of us made them—others said, “Why bother?” Such resolutions are meant to help us start or increase positive behavior changes, but many people respond, “What real choices do I have?”
Hope and Change are in the Air
As we view our world, we see some new signs of hope. Several vaccines have been miraculously developed in record time and distribution is beginning. There is political change that has reflected an overwhelming number of citizens willing to vote even in the midst of a health crisis. The New Year celebrations were somber but reminded us that the seasons come around and we begin again to look toward new accomplishments. School will begin again—even if still virtual—but our youth can connect in a variety of ways.
Headed for SUCCESS!
”For many of our clients—during face-to-face schooling, we would be sitting with them in the classroom helping them maintain control and focus on their education. In oue now virtual world, we have to figure out how to still give them intensive support” said Brian Salazar, the Director of the SUCCESS program at Taos Behavioral Health.
The SUCCESS Program’s clients are middle school and high school students whose behavioral health diagnoses require multiple services. Both individual and group settings allow the staff to reinforce a variety of social and emotional goals—but the translation to a virtual world of 2020 has demanded patience and creativity.
Challenging Holidays
We have had one crisis after another this year—the virus—the environment that spewed drought driven fires and scary tornadoes—the depressing economic realities–the reverberating crisis and divisions in the political world.
And now we are to smile at the start of the holiday season?
Our holidays in Taos are enthusiastically celebrated by adults and youth—with planning and comparisons to previous years in anticipation of joy and sharing. It is a time to cherish family and tradition and express our faith.
Challenging Holidays
We have had one crisis after another this year—the virus—the environment that spewed drought driven fires and scary tornadoes—the depressing economic realities–the reverberating crisis and divisions in the political world.
And now we are to smile at the start of the holiday season?
Our holidays in Taos are enthusiastically celebrated by adults and youth—with planning and comparisons to previous years in anticipation of joy and sharing. It is a time to cherish family and tradition and express our faith.
What’s Really Happening to Students at Home
“The only way I can keep coming back to do this work is that at the end of every workday, I do something positive,” Says Siena Sanderson, Program Director for the Nurturing Center at Taos Behavioral Health. All the Nurturing Center staff do likewise. “We go to each of the families we are working with and take them some items that have been donated to us. Everything from plants to household goods to clothes, furniture. Our cars are delivery trucks!” states Sanderson. “But the families are intensely appreciative and then it makes it possible to go back to work the next day!” And we know that most of our families are too proud and depressed to ask for what they need.
[Read more…] about What’s Really Happening to Students at Home
Learning at Home – Building Mutually Respectful Relationships
It is September and families are schooling their children from home. All kinds of arrangements have been made. Perhaps your child is spending time in a learning pod. Maybe you’ve arranged with family or neighbors for a group of children to safely do their schoolwork with one adult supporting the learners. Maybe your child is home by your side, while you do your work and run your household.
The responsibility for learning is now more than ever a partnership between school and home. We know parents are a child’s first teachers. Now parents are also responsible for building strong bridges between remote instruction and educational expectations, navigating schoolwork on the computer and supporting the learning of their children.
[Read more…] about Learning at Home – Building Mutually Respectful Relationships
The Special Gift of Appropriate Staff
When families “need everything” the staff who serve them need deep compassion, broad experience, strong commitment, and creativity. Those would be the descriptors applied to the staff of the Nurturing Centers which joined Taos Behavioral Health in July of this year.
Several years ago, Siena Sanderson worked with Madalena Miera, a TBH clinician, to obtain more funding to enhance the equine therapy pilot program at Enos Elementary. The mini horses were a wonderful opportunity for elementary students—and later middle school students– to learn focus, discipline, self-confidence, and horse management skills. Students who had experienced trauma and others who were painfully shy learned how their behaviors helped the horses take direction. This creative project has similarities to the Neighborhood Art Project Sanderson led with the Harwood Museum of Art—bringing a new opportunity to students with limited cultural experiences. Sanderson has used her art skills to support emotional growth in clients at the Community Against Violence, Youth Heartline, Holy Cross Hospital and Taos Municipal Schools. She brings this creative depth to her role as the Director of the Nurturing Centers. [Read more…] about The Special Gift of Appropriate Staff
TBH Welcomes The Nurturing Centers
“This place makes you feel a lot better” declared a second grader to Candy Allen, the Family Navigator at the Enos Garcia Nurturing Center. The student’s mother had just gone into a detention center and his teacher encouraged him to go down to the center for some emotional support. Allen was able to listen to him and engage him in an art project—one of the staples of the Nurturing Center’s activities. He made a sculpture for his mother. [Read more…] about TBH Welcomes The Nurturing Centers
Saying Farewell to a Community Hero
Towns like Taos succeed and thrive because people voluntarily contribute their time, talents and resources in deep measure to our progress. Such a hero is Richard S. Watkins —just retiring from the Taos Behavioral Health Board after 12 years of extraordinary service. He arrived as it was a small collection of staff with a budget built only on donations and has guided its financial progress to becoming the largest Behavioral Health agency in northern New Mexico with solid financial systems and an outstanding staff of 55. [Read more…] about Saying Farewell to a Community Hero
