Taos Behavioral Health

Counseling for Adults, Children and Families

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Erasing the Miles for Counseling!

Mary Gray McPhailBy Mary McPhail Gray
NVW Board Chair

Living in the mountains of Northern New Mexico is special and beautiful, but not without its challenges.  It’s a long trip to town when something is needed.  Taos Emotional Health & Wellness (TEHW), a program of Nonviolence Works, recognized this as a barrier to mental health treatment for many folks in areas surrounding Taos.  To address this community need, TEHW has acquired the technology to provide online counseling services to our clients in Red River, Angel Fire, Costilla, Cerro, and pretty much any location in the State.

Rather than driving one to two hours each way for a one-hour therapeutic appointment, clients can meet with a counselor through their computer, tablet, or via video platform on a secure website.

Many people are familiar with tele-medicine first developed in the 1950s, which has been providing services to rural areas for many years. The video platform enables a patient/client to talk directly with a qualified professional and receive therapeutic services that are covered by their insurance carrier.

Karen House, our  clinical director, is already seeing clients with this service, and other NVW clinicians are in training.  We have appointments available immediately!  Individuals can call NVW at 575-758-4297 and speak directly with our receptionist, Alicia Romero, who can easily guide them through the intake process. Our website is also a great way to connect to our intake process: www.nonviolenceworks.us. However; Alicia is a master at making the job really customer-friendly.  Clients who are currently driving some distance for appointments can request to be transferred to the e-counseling program. [Read more…] about Erasing the Miles for Counseling!

We’ve Moved! New Location—New Programs

Mary Gray McPhailBy Mary McPhail Gray
NVW Board Chair

Nonviolence Works has just completed a move to a new location at 105 Bertha Suite B — across from the US Postal Center and behind Toribio’s restaurant.  We find the new space very uplifting — great colors and art — plenty of places for people to visit and work together. Our phone number is still the same (575-758-4297), and our website (www.nonviolenceworks.us) and Facebook page give you all the current programs news.

We are excited to begin our annual summer Therapeutic Camp (Familia y Mundo) with 45 enrollees and a great program of art, crafts, physical skill building, swimming, individual and group therapy, and community service activities. We offer this program to the community through the ongoing partnership with Ranchos Elementary School.

Our search continues to locate an appropriate environment for a residential treatment center for adolescent males — we will keep the community informed about those plans and our needs.

We have initiated a new Gabler Battle Back Program for veterans with unique strengths in our staff, board and our commitments to this population. The title refers to our belief that we must in good conscience help those who have sacrificed for our freedom — to be supported in their battle back to get all the way home.

There are 6,000 veterans in northern New Mexico and approximately 40% of them are in need of some form of mental health support.  In addition, far too many of the homeless in our country are from the ranks of veterans.  We see them at the roadside in our village — struggling. [Read more…] about We’ve Moved! New Location—New Programs

A Year of Success!

Mary Gray McPhailBy Mary McPhail Gray
NVW Board Chair

Nonviolence Works faced challenges, opportunities and success in 2017.  We want to reach out to Taosenos and celebrate our success!  This year our CEO Simon Torrez and our Lead Clinician Sadie Quintanilla have led the staff through successful changes with enhanced clinical expertise, larger staff, stronger programs, and exciting new plans for additional services.

We welcomed three new clinicians, and all our clinicians enhanced and focused their therapeutic skills. You may not know that we have an expert in infant mental health, several clinicians who respond with skill in crisis situations, a clinician who is skilled in vocational rehabilitation, and several who regularly intervene to prevent suicides.  Our clinicians all have master’s degrees and are able to deal with grief and loss, trauma, anger management, and custody and foster child issues. [Read more…] about A Year of Success!

We’re Here for You!

Mary Gray McPhailBy Mary McPhail Gray
NVW Board Chair

Have you been to the Storyteller theater this week?  It is the holiday season when the audiences become larger and new movies are pushed out by the industry to capture your attention.  We hope you all notice the new ad for Nonviolence Works while you are waiting for the previews!

We want you to know that we are here for you!  We often hear that many people do not know we have competent clinicians that service individuals, families and couples, in addition to our ongoing work with youth. We especially want you to know that we have clinicians skilled in service to our veterans, and we want you to help us spread that word.

Our website gives you an excellent overview of our programs and the deep strength of our staff.  There is also an online referral form for yourself or others for whom you wish to seek services. [Read more…] about We’re Here for You!

A Clinician with Deep Commitments

Mary Gray McPhailBy Mary McPhail Gray
NVW Board Chair

When you look into Karen House’s piercing hazel eyes, you see strength, compassion and commitment.  A fifth generation New Mexican, Karen is a licensed clinical counselor who returned to Taos to lead programs at Nonviolence Works after a recent three-year stint of serving as an embedded counselor with US Special Operations.

Deeply committed to supporting veterans, Karen has used a variety of therapies to reach those who returned from service with deep trauma. A Special Forces widow, House feels obligated to go where she is needed in order to effectively treat service members. A maintenance group commander has told the story to hundreds about the time House completed a counseling session on the wing of an AC 130-H Spectre Gunship.  The airman was explaining his task as a fuel systems specialist, when a young maintenance troop quietly said “You’re a counselor, aren’t you?”  And House was there.

Karen House

House has been willing to go to extreme environments where she is able to fit in and relate to the experiences of the soldiers. She has served as a military family life counselor for a total of ten years.  House is considered an expert in the psychology of remote warfare. In contrast to some therapists who have never been actively involved in day-to-day life on a military base, House has been embedded at the operational level. Just prior to returning to Nonviolence Works as the clinical director, House served three months at Thule Air Base, 800 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

House is proud of her ability to use a variety of nonconventional therapies to reach clients. With a Master’s of Arts in counseling and psychology and a minor in adventure/wilderness programming, House believes strongly in the power of the natural environment and wilderness challenges to heal trauma.

She is also skilled at using CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), MST (Multisystemic Therapy), EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and mindfulness de-escalation techniques with clients.  She is completing a second master’s degree—in social work—in order to expand her flexibility.

As an entrepreneur, House maintained a private counseling practice in Taos for seven years and was instrumental in bringing grant funding for truancy prevention to Taos schools. She is the founder and executive director of The Challenge Group, which provided educational and therapeutic adventures from 1999 to 2012 for people facing significant challenges. House is passionate about whitewater, and has been a rafting guide with New Wave Rafting Company for 20+ years.

House returned to Nonviolence Works in order to participate in the development of programs of critical need in Taos—a residential treatment program for adolescent males and a supportive multi-service program for veterans. House has been the clinical director at San Cristobal Treatment Center, a wilderness-based program for young men with addiction, and family resource director at Taos Charter School.  She brings these experiences to enhance her role in supervising a variety of clinical programs at NVW.

House was particularly drawn to return to work at NVW because of its commitment to providing services needed by the community. She sees herself as a strong community advocate—designing programs that work for the youth, families and veterans of Northern New Mexico.

Her sparkling green eyes also light up during her favorite pastimes: Being a tia to her niece and nephew and historical costuming and embroidery.

 

NVW has the largest staff of behavioral health social workers and counselors in northern New Mexico. If you need help, call us: 575-779-4297  www.nonviolenceworks.us 

Mary McPhail Gray is the board chair of NVW and can be reached at mcphailconsulting@gmail.com or 575-779-3126.

 

 

You Did What We Asked—Now We Are Here for You

Mary Gray McPhailBy Mary McPhail Gray
NVW Board Chair

In the four northern New Mexico counties (Taos, Colfax, Mora and Union) 6,525 veterans have just been informed (or perhaps may not even know!) that all services for therapeutic counseling or social services through the Department of Veterans Administration are not available until further notice.

All appointments are canceled for through Nov 15, or longer, until new social worker has been licensed and credentialed and arrives in Taos.  The closest services are in Albuquerque.

This is a refutation of our promise to them—who risked their lives in service to this country when we asked.

Nonviolence Works has always listened to the community and created programs to fill needs identified by community agencies, leaders and individuals. We do not believe it is moral or ethical or compassionate to leave these veterans out in the cold.  We are here for them—and want to hear from veterans themselves or the caring people in their circle who recognize the need for support. [Read more…] about You Did What We Asked—Now We Are Here for You