veterans

Reaching Out to Veterans

May 9, 2019

Mary Gray McPhail By Mary McPhail Gray
Board Chair

“Working with veterans is a passion of mine,” declares Jacquie Arcand, one of four Taos Behavioral Health clinicians who are uniquely skilled at treating veterans. “I am a military brat and have a lived experience with military culture and family life. My father was a WWI veteran whose PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) was never treated.”

Just as you would seek help for a physical injury, you can seek help for a soul-searing moral injury. The wounds are just as deep and debilitating. Most veterans have some level of PTSD—as a result of experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event/s. PTSD symptoms may start within a month of the event or may not appear for years. Often the individual has intrusive repetitive memories, avoidance behaviors, negative moods and thoughts and changes in physical and emotional reactions. The veteran often experiences difficulties in social and family life, occupational instability, marital problems and difficulty in parenting. [Read more…] about Reaching Out to Veterans

Erasing the Miles for Counseling!

July 5, 2018

Mary Gray McPhail By 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

June 7, 2018

Mary Gray McPhail By 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

Nonviolence Works Welcomes Linda Sanders

May 24, 2018

Mary Gray McPhail By Mary McPhail Gray
NVW Board Chair

When Linda Sanders walked into her therapy room at Nonviolence Works, she felt as if she was coming home—again and again! Sanders was raised in Texas, and for her entire childhood her family spent most of their vacations in New Mexico—and Taos was the favorite place. She loved the environment and the rich cultural traditions, and at a critical point she and her husband were determined to live here.

Sanders has had an outstanding career as a licensed clinical social worker in Texas—including ten years working with veterans and fifteen years working with adults in other critical decision-making processes. She served for five years as a mitigation specialist completing comprehensive biopsychosocial investigations of clients referred in capital murder cases. For ten years she was the clinical director of a 100-year-old private adoption agency and for eight years was the clinical director in a family social service agency.

Linda Sanders

Sanders has often been an administrator. The VA Medical Center in Dallas is the second largest in the country and as the Assistant Associate Chief Social Worker Sanders supervised a staff of 170. In her first VA position she was the Suicide Prevention Coordinator at a time when Veteran’s Affairs was just beginning to recognize the need for identification, assessment and treatment of veterans at high risk for suicide. She developed community partnerships to coordinate services and was part of a national team that developed an award-winning process to manage suicidal calls coming into all VA call centers. [Read more…] about Nonviolence Works Welcomes Linda Sanders

A Year of Success!

January 18, 2018

Mary Gray McPhail By 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!

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

October 12, 2017

Mary Gray McPhail By 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