THE NEW NORMAL AND THE IMPACT ON MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
As a consequence of all of these things, there is an increased need for mental/behavioral health services. Furthermore, the traditional mental/behavioral health models simply need to improve and adapt to the changes in our environment the same way as people living through this are expected. It is essential to provide quality care that is relevant to the needs of each individual client, relationship, family, group, and community we work with in order to help make this immensely challenging time easier for us all. In order to do this we must adopt a holistic approach that includes, but is not limited to, mental/psychological health, emotional health, physical health, spiritual health, and social/community health services that look at each client as a whole and considering how each of these categories are being impacted. The answer to this is Integrated Behavioral Health.
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS INTEGRATED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH?
- Focuses on the whole person making use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, healthcare professionals and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing
- Collaborative approach that consists of a team approach with the client and the providers working together as partners to help the client meet their needs.
- Takes into account the whole person (mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual), including all aspects of the client’s lifestyle, and their relationships, and the relationships the client has with the practitioners they work with, including medical, behavioral, and conventional and alternative.
- All factors influence health, wellness, and disease are taken into consideration, including mind, body, emotional, spirit, and relational/community (wheel of health, developed by Experts of Integrative Medicine part of Duke University Health System) The wheel of health is three concentrated circles that represent primary elements of optimum health, (Professional Care, Self-Care, Mindfulness)
ADAPTING INTEGRATED THERAPEUTIC SERVICES FOR HOLISTIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS NEEDS TO BE “THE NEW NORMAL”
Now, more than ever, the importance of this approach and utilizing it moving forward is apparent as we work together to begin to cope and heal from this pandemic. At RISE & Shine Integrated Health Services, before the pandemic, we were ahead of the game and already started implementing Integrated Therapeutic Services for holistic healing and wellness that are based off of an Integrated Behavioral Health Model.
INTEGRATED THERAPEUTIC SERVICES
There are three categories of services that make up Integrated Therapeutic Services.
- Medical: In addition to traditional behavioral health services, we have a medical director on staff who is available to consult on cases as needed and requested. This is especially helpful in cases which clients have chronic health conditions that were known prior to or that have surfaced during the pandemic. It is also helpful to have a medical professional available to consult with to rule out any physical symptoms that may be causing some of the behavioral/mental health symptoms we are noticing.
- Behavioral Health: Including providing a variety of services that help our clients to cope and heal mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and socially and/or as a community. This includes services for Individuals, relationships, families, groups, trainings, and community outreach services. Conjoint Relational/Family Therapy and Conjoint Relational/Family Therapy with Alternative and Complimentary Providers has been especially helpful during this time.
- Alternative and Complimentary: Our team has also added some alternative and complimentary practitioners to give our clients a variety of options for the services they utilize in our collaborative approach that help them meet their holistic individual needs in all of the areas mentioned above. Hypnosis, Bodywork, Spiritual Counseling, Energy work, Medical Qigong, Cranial Sacral Therapy, Psych K*, Self-Empowerment through Self Defense, Active shooter training, and guided meditation and guided imagery are a few of the alternative and complimentary services we are now offering to help our clients maximize the benefits of healing.
WHAT SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE AT RISE & SHINE INTEGRATED THERAPEUTIC SERVICES?
Our Services were based off of this model, however, knowing the value of having a team that works well together was one of the most important factors when choosing this team. The providers that this team consists of were chosen because of the integrity of the work they do and the, the quality of the services they provide, and the improvement and benefits that the clients they work with now, and prior, have provided testimonials to the changes they have experienced. Each team member provides their unique specializations that can be helpful in various aspects in the Integrated Therapeutic Services we provide in our Holistic Approach. Depending on the client, their needs, what services they feel would benefit them, and their care team recommendations are all factors that would be considered when creating each client’s unique plan for treatment.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF INTEGRATED THERAPEUTIC SERVICES?
- Effective interventions that are natural and less invasive used whenever possible
- Integrative medicine neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts unconventional medicine and is used differently on each case we work with
- Services are Inquiry driven and open to new paradigms with new solutions that have often not been attempted by the client prior to receiving services with our team
- We are able to use broader concepts of health promotion, prevention, and healing which are essential to helping our clients
- All practitioners are open to self-exploration, self-development, and open minded to consider all possible options for the benefit of the clients we work with
- This approach has been especially helpful in benefitting our clients dealing with Mental health/substance abuse, health behaviors (including contribution to chronic medical illnesses), life stressors and crises, stress related physical symptoms, and ineffective patterns of health care utilization
- Care management has improved as the team is working together under one umbrella and it is easier for us to collaborate with one another rather than attempt to contact an outside provider. This doesn’t mean we don’t collaborate with outside providers, as that is an essential part of the work we do. Building community relationships that are supportive of the work we do, but offer different and better options for the clients we serve is imperative to providing quality care
We are living in unusual time in uncharted territory. We must adapt new and better ways to help the clients we work with to overcome and heal from these unusual circumstances where traditional mental/behavioral health services are not able to address the complexity and multiple ways this impacts us. Therefore, it’s time to RISE & Shine together adapting to the new normal with Integrated Therapeutic Services that are a Holistic Approach to Healing and Wellness.