Home > Articles by: Megan Finnegan

Author: Megan Finnegan

By

Scott, Shari, MA, LCPC, LPC, NCC, CISD, TBH-BC

Shari Scott has served in the helping profession for over 18 years, with her early work including 12 years conducting investigations on allegations of child abuse/neglect with the State of Missouri Children’s Division. In 2011 she went to grad school and obtained a master’s degree in counseling two years afterward. Since then, she has worked in psychiatric emergency rooms, inpatient and outpatient at psychiatric hospitals, grief support centers, and private practice. Shari is currently licensed in Missouri and Kansas, nationally board certified, and maintains certificates in Critical Incident Stress Response, Mediation, and Tele-behavioral Health. Shari is currently working on a PhD with an emphasis on research and grief while she maintains full time work as a therapist in private practice in Kansas City. Shari specializes in grief and provides therapy to those who are struggling with the loss of a loved one due to suicide, homicide, child death, and sudden death. She also serves as a consultant to local schools who have suffered the loss of students to suicide by providing presentations and tips on managing grief reactions. When she isn’t working with grief, Shari enjoys speaking at seminars designed to teach the helping professional how to recognize and cope with signs of stress and burnout.

Presentation(s): 

In the Aftermath of Pediatric Suicide: A Look at Before and After

By

In the Aftermath of Pediatric Suicide: A Look At Before and After

Speaker(s):

Shari Scott, MA, LCPC, LPC, NCC, CISD, TBH-BC

Presentation: Suicide slipped into the top ten as far as causes of death in the United States (according to the CDC). Deaths among school-aged children and teens continue to be on the rise; so much so, that suicide has statistically risen to the second leading cause of death among people aged 10-34. Suicide traumatizes those left in its path, but what do we do when those traumatized include an entire school and its staff? This presentation covers statistics compiled for nearly 3000 pediatric suicides to expose precursors and commonly missed signs of suicide in youth. Also explored are common grief reactions, statistics, red flags in youth, and how to “get grief right”.

Objectives:

  1. Examine 3000 pediatric suicides to determine factors, causes, and warning signs
  2. Identify red flags in suicidal youth
  3. Explore educational program ideas to reduce the incidence of suicide
  4. Identify ways to care for suicidal youth
  5. Identify steps to take following suicide/death of a student
  6. Describe survivor’s guilt and guilt related to suicide
Scott_Pediatric SuicideDownload
By

Wilson, Dani

Dani Wilson is the Youth Engagement Specialist for SOC-CESS. She recently received her Masters in Public Health from St. Louis University and has worked on a number of public health research initiatives. Ms. Wilson is a youth leader in the area of mental health, using her personal story of mental health recovery to engage you in pursuing treatment and succeeding in life long recovery.

Presentation(s): 

SOC-Community for Early Signs & Symptoms: Engaging the Community is Early Intervention of Psychosis

By

Stevens, Amy

Ms. Stevens is currently the Chief of Children’s Community Operations for the Western Region, Missouri Department of Mental Health, Division of Behavioral Health. Ms. Stevens provides leadership for the provision of state funded children’s services with a multi-county region in Central Missouri including collaboration with state and private mental health providers. Ms. Stevens is one of two Chiefs of Children’s Operations supporting SOC-CESS.

Presentation(s): 

SOC-Community for Early Signs & Symptoms: Engaging the Community is Early Intervention of Psychosis

By

Smyser, Melissa

Ms. Smyser is currently the Chief of Children’s Community Operations for the Central Region, Missouri Department of Mental Health, Division of Behavioral Health. Ms. Smyser provides leadership for the provision of state funded children’s services with a multi-county region in Central Missouri including collaboration with state and private mental health providers. Ms. Smyser is one of two Chiefs of Children’s Operations supporting SOC-CESS.

Presentation(s): 

SOC-Community for Early Signs & Symptoms: Engaging the Community is Early Intervention of Psychosis

By

Woodruff, Jodi, PhD

Dr. Woodruff is an Assistant Professor of Research at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Missouri Institute of Mental Health. She has 15 years of experience teaching psychology courses at the University level, both in-person in virtually. Additionally, she has presented her research at both national and international conferences and regularly provides continuing education training to mental health and primary care provider audiences.
Ms. Chapel Presented research virtually in 2020 at the Richard Macksey National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium at Johns Hopkins University.

Presentation(s): 

Care at the Crossroads: Strategies for Clients with Concurrent First Episode Psychosis and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities

 

By

Mueller, Cynthia, PhD

Dr. Mueller has worked in the field of mental health for 33 years and is currently the Project Director for System of Care-Early Signs and Symptoms. This SAMSHA grant focuses on the treatment of early signs and symptoms of psychosis in children and youth ages 9-17. Previously, Dr. Mueller worked for 32 years in the Department of Mental Health, working in both the Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Division. She developed an expertise in the support of people with co-occurring Behavior Health and Developmental Disabilities. In addition to the SOC-CESS grant, Dr. Mueller was involved in the St. Louis City/County SOC grant, Transitions, as the St. Louis Regional Center Director. She also served as the Principle Investigator on the Healthy Transitions Initiative (SAMSHA grant) in western Missouri.

Presentation(s): 

SOC-Community for Early Signs & Symptoms: Engaging the Community is Early Intervention of Psychosis

By

SOC-Community for Early Signs & Symptoms: Engaging the Community is Early Intervention of Psychosis

Speaker(s):

Cynthia Mueller, PhD

Jodi Woodruff, PhD

Melissa Smyser

Amy Stevens

Dani Wilson

Jill Richardson

Presentation: This presentation provides the current outcomes of a four year grant through SAMSHA that has focused on the development of services and supports for the early detection of sign and symptoms of psychosis. Modeled after successful programs in Australia and Europe, SOC-CESS aims at identifying pre-psychosis symptoms early in children and youth such that the trajectory of their life can be positively influenced. More than twenty years of research has shown that early intervention in psychosis can dramatically reduce the both the length and severity of psychosis and the long term effects of this mental illness.

Objectives:

  1. Review of research in early signs and symptoms of psychosis
  2. Identify early signs and symptoms of psychosis
  3. Introduce treatments and supports for children and youth identified as at risk for psychosis
  4. Discuss implications for the expansion of mental health services to include screening, assessment, and treatment of children and youth at high risk for psychosis
Mueller_PPDownload
By

Quandt, Mary, MPH

Mary Quandt serves as Program Coordinator for the Technology Assisted Care Continuation for Substance Use Treatment (TACC) and Housing initiatives. To this role she brings skills and experience in research, grant writing, coalition-building, and evaluation. Prior to BHN, Mary worked with the Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation (WWHF), where she piloted a new standard-of-care texting intervention to reduce prenatal substance use and to provide support for breastfeeding mothers. She also helped coordinate a state-wide collaboration of nurse educators, engaged vulnerable populations in participatory program development, and applied rigorous research methods to evaluation of WWHF programming. From 2013 to 2015 she served in the U.S. Peace Corps (Albania), where she worked with diverse stakeholder groups – from village clinics to the Ministry of Public Health – to implement USAID-funded trainings for rural nurses on breast and cervical cancer screening. Mary received her Master of Public Health from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and her Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was selected to be a 2019 Fellow of the New Leaders Council, the leading progressive leadership development institute for young professionals in the United States. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Program and volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri.

Presentation(s): 

Technology Assisted Care Coordination Texting & Telecoaching for Recovery

By

Riedel, Edward, MSW

Edward Riedel has worked in the field of mental health for over 30 years. He is currently a Project Director at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health a division of the University of Missouri-Saint Louis where he has worked for the past 10 years. His role at MIMH includes conducting evaluation research of programs, agencies and systems and implementation of innovative treatment strategies. He is also a state trainer for Mental Health First Aid conducting instructor certification training across the state and supporting implementation of the program. Prior to that Mr. Riedel worked for 22 years in Community Mental Health Centers and hospitals as a clinician, program director and Vice President. Mr. Riedel graduated with his Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Missouri Columbia and has been an adjunct clinical instructor for UMC’s graduate school of Social Work. He has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Missouri since 1995.

Presentation(s): 

Technology Assisted Care Coordination Texting & Telecoaching for Recovery