Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT): Clinical Strategies for Engagement, Selection, and Initiation
Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT): Clinical Strategies for Engagement, Selection, and Initiation
National Nurses Week is May 6-12
This is National Nurses Week, a recognition of the incredible nurses and nurse practitioners who serve across our agency. "At Westchester Jewish Community Services, our mission of providing compassionate, high-quality mental health and social services would not be possible without the dedication, expertise, and heart that our nurses bring to their work every day," said Seth Resnick, M.D. DFAPA, FASAM, Chief Medical Officer at WJCS. "Whether supporting clients in our mental health clinics and assisting in care coordination or providing community-based services in our residential programs, our nurses play a vital role in promoting well-being, safety, and dignity for ...
Dr. Samuel Kahn 2025 Memorial Lecture
The Annual WJCS 2025 Samuel Kahn Memorial Lecture will highlight Raising Resilience, Dr. Klein’s new book about her work in helping children thrive in the face of everyday uncertainty, as well as devastating events. Dr. Klein will discuss how research on trauma and its impact on emotional and intellectual development, including her own findings, can help parents offset and even avoid damage that could derail their children’s future. The stressors and traumas could include peer conflicts, divorce, moving, academic struggles, and larger national events. Parents can learn to instill in their children the emotional intelligence, cognitive flexibility, and social know-how they need to manage life’s challenges, build the resources to bounce back, and create a lasting capacity for happiness.
The Intersection of Trauma & Developmental Disabilities
In order to enable clinicians to better serve this unique client population, this course will: provide information on how trauma may present differently in the developmental disability population compared to neurotypicals, encourage participants to think critically about how traumatic experiences might be experienced through the lens of a person with developmental disabilities, and identify ways in which current evidence-based interventions for trauma could be adapted for this population of clients.
Client Alliance, Compliance & Therapist Burn Out
Mental health professionals, perhaps now more than ever, are susceptible to stress and burn out directly related to their job responsibilities. Part of this comes from defining our professional selves based on what we are told our roles should be and what we should be able to accomplish rather than a realistic appraisal of situations and settings.
Maintaining Appropriate Professional Boundaries: Exploring Ethical Obligations of Mental Health Professionals (FOR WJCS STAFF ONLY)
This course brings real-world context to ethical concerns often experienced by professionals in practice in maintaining appropriate professional boundaries, including telehealth and social media domains. This course will provide a framework to contemplate ethical dilemmas and make informed decisions that insulate professionals from legal liability while protecting clients from harm.
Complicated Relationships: Case Studies in Boundaries (FOR WJCS STAFF ONLY)
This course brings real-world context to ethical concerns often experienced by professionals in practice in maintaining appropriate professional boundaries, including telehealth and social media domains. This course will provide a framework to contemplate ethical dilemmas and make informed decisions that insulate professionals from legal liability while protecting clients from harm.
Mental Health First Aid Training (WJCS Staff Only)
Mental Health First Aid takes the fear and hesitation out of starting conversations about mental health and substance use problems by improving understanding and providing an action plan that teaches people to safely and responsibly identify and address a potential mental illness or substance use disorder. This training for WJCS staff will teach learners how to be a support to colleagues who may be struggling.
Cocaine and Other Stimulants: What Clinicians Need to Know
This training will provide an overview of these various substances comprising this category of drugs, their intoxication and withdrawal symptoms, and co-occurring mental health and physical health concerns. Participants will also gain an understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying stimulant use, the clinical presentation of stimulant use disorders, and effective evidence-based treatment approaches to address stimulant use disorders.
Mental Health First Aid Training for Veterans, Military Service Members & Their Families
Looking to learn more about how to support the wellbeing of military service members and veterans in your life? In partnership with SAMHSA, The City of Mount Vernon, VA Caregiver Support, and Mental Health First Aid USA, WJCS offers this FREE Mental Health First Aid Training.
Organizational Skills Training 2024
Participants will learn about the essential components of OST and how to use the published treatment manual to address their clients’ organizational difficulties.
Gambling and Other Behavioral Addictions: What Clinicians Need to Know
Behavioral addictions include gambling, sex addiction, internet gaming disorder, shopping addiction and food addictions, however the DSM-5-TR only recognizes gambling and internet gaming addiction within this category.
Edythe Kurz Educational Institute Conference 2024
Mental Health in Older Adults Unique Needs, Evolving Approaches
Domestic Violence Awareness Month
October marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Relationship violence affects millions of people, both children and adults, and can leave long-lasting physical, emotional, and psychological scars. WJCS is proud to partner with the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation in our Margaret's Place program, which provides safe spaces within Westchester public schools where middle school and high school students can share their experience with relationship violence, get counseling, and find hope and healing. Margaret Place educates youth and school communities about violence prevention and engages peer leaders in public awareness programs. While most people recognize how dangerous domestic violence is, both ...
Novel Drugs of Abuse: What Clinicians Need to Know
Novel drugs are synthetic illicit drugs sometimes referred to as designer drugs and are often sold as legal, safe, nondrug products, frequently escaping regulation, resulting in delays in professionals and legislators recognizing their use and impacts.
WJCS Initiates Zero Suicide Model with NYS Office of Mental Health
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, a yearly reminder of the staggering rates of suicide and the importance of identifying and helping people who are experiencing a mental health crisis. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States with over 49,000 people having died by suicide in the U.S. in 2022 and 13.2 million seriously contemplating suicide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS), the largest provider of licensed community-based mental health services in Westchester County, is closely collaborating with the NYS Office of Mental Health ...
Hoarding Disorder: What Clinicians Need to Know
It is estimated that 2%-6% of the population suffers from hoarding disorder. Across two sessions, this course will review the common mechanisms associated with the development of hoarding disorder as well as how to recognize, assess, and treat hoarding disorder. The course will also provide an overview of a newly developed eight-week specialty treatment program for hoarding disorder that can be effectively delivered both in office or via telehealth in standard length psychotherapy sessions.
Assessing and Treating Clients with Co-occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Conditions
This training will help providers to be more prepared for the challenges associated with providing treatment to such individuals. Providers will learn how to conduct an assessment of substance use, how to decide what level of treatment is appropriate for specific individuals, assess individuals’ readiness for change, apply evidenced-based approaches to increasing individuals’ motivation for change, assess the functional purposes and impacts of substance use, select and utilize appropriate treatments for individuals with co-occurring conditions, and help individuals reduce the impacts of relapse.
Hallucinogens: What Clinicians Need to Know
This session will provide an overview of various substances comprising the category of hallucinogens, their intoxication and withdrawal symptoms, and co-occurring mental health and physical health concerns.
Intro to Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Dates: 7/30/24 & 8/6/24 Time: 9-10:30am Contact hrs: 5 CEU’s: 5 Enrollment Limit: 20 Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based treatment originally designed for individuals with suicidal or self-harm behaviors. It has come to be an evidence-based treatment for borderline personality (BPD). However, many other clients and disorders have been shown to benefit from DBT, such as depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, or alcohol and drug use disorders. It can be applied as a behavioral therapy to any target behavior that the client would want to ...
Nicotine and Vaping: What Clinicians Need to Know
Smoking cigarettes remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States and causes more than 440,000 deaths each year. In addition, vaping continues to grow in popularity and is the most common delivery method of nicotine among teenagers and young adults. Nicotine is the main addictive chemical in both smoking cigarettes and vaping.
Building Resilience, Health, and Well-Being
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It’s because of kind, caring people like you that WJCS can provide vital, evidence-based services to people in Westchester who are struggling with mental health challenges and trauma. Meet Tiffany, one of many people who faced what seemed like overwhelming obstacles until she came to WJCS: I experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, and emotional abuse. In high school I dropped out. I was pregnant and thought that was going to be my life, working as a cashier, trying to take care of my baby. I was so depressed when my first ...
National Mental Health Awareness Month
WJCS observes Mental Health Awareness Month.
NAMI Walk with #WJCSProud
Join team #WJCSProud for the 2024 NAMI Walk this Mental Health Awareness Month!