Community Voices: Stories From The Frontline

All RAMS staff, interns, and trainees are invited to this presentation & discussion at the 10th Annual Evelyn Lee Diversity and Cultural Competency Training:

Community Voices: Stories from the Frontline 

Friday, November 13th, 9am – 12pm 

State Building, Milton Marks Auditorium, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco

This presentation will describe grassroots efforts for community and capacity building, strategies for advocacy and community empowerment, and engagement with leaders and legislative groups.

PRESENTERS:  Gordon Chin, MSW, and Robert L. Okin, MD

Robert Okin, MD was chief of service at SFGH Department of Psychiatry; professor of clinical psychiatry at UCSF; and vice chair of the UCSF, School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry, where he oversaw the development of crucial services for San Francisco’s most acute & chronic patients with mental health conditions, including the SFGH Department of Psychiatry’s culturally focused inpatient units and Emergency Department Case Management Program (which received the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems’ Safety Net Award in 1999). He has been quoted numerous times in the New York Times, was featured on ABC’s 20/20, and in 2009, he received the American Psychiatric Association’s prestigious Human Rights Award.

Gordon Chin, MSW is the founding Executive Director of San Francisco’s Chinatown Community Development Center, serving in this position until his retirement in October 2011. He has been active in San Francisco’s Chinatown community for over four decades, and has served on many community and civic boards including the national boards of the Center for Community Change, the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, and the SF Public Utilities Commission. Mr. Chin was selected as one of six inaugural fellows for the Fannie Mae Foundation’s James A. Johnson Community Fellows Award, and was one of the community development leaders honored at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation’s Silver Anniversary with a Mike Sviridoff Leadership Award.

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If you have any questions about this training, please feel free to contact Angela Tang at angelatang@ramsinc.org or (415) 800-0699.

To view the flyer below, right-click and select any option to "Open".

A Day With Adam Phillips

RAMS was honored to present renowned author & psychoanalyst Adam Phillips in San Francisco on March 15.  Here is a video excerpt from that day, in which the esteemed author is interviewed by RAMS staff member Dr. Loong Kwok.

A Day with Adam Phillips

March 15, 2014

9:30 am to 4:30 pm

UCSF Mission Bay, Genentech Hall, Byers Auditorium

600 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94158

More From Adam Phillips

RAMS is very excited to present renowned author & psychoanalyst Adam Phillips in San Francisco on March 15!

A Day with Adam Phillips

March 15, 2014

9:30 am to 4:30 pm 
(Registration at 9:00am)

UCSF Mission Bay, Genentech Hall, Byers Auditorium

600 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94158

To register, use this link http://www.ramsinc.org/register.html

Click HERE to read more about the upcoming event.

Here are a few recent articles written about Adam Phillips, for your reading pleasure:

One Way and Another: New and Selected Essays by Adam Phillips – a review by Daniel Cohen in The Guardian.

Photo credit: Eamon McCabe

"How should we read psychoanalysis? Many of its great theorists – Sigmund Freud, Donald Winnicott, Jacques Lacan – trained as doctors, and their successors tend to follow the rigid formulae of academic papers. However, for Adam Phillips, a practising psychoanalyst who is also a perceptive literary critic, it is "more illuminating" to consider psychoanalysts as poets "rather than failed or aspiring scientists"."

This Is Your Life - A psychoanalytic writer urges us to just deal with it. By Joan Acocella in The New Yorker.
"Phillips, Britain’s foremost psychoanalytic writer, dislikes the modern notion that we should all be out there fulfilling our potential. In his new book, he argues that, instead of feeling that we should have a better life, we should just live, as gratifyingly as possible, the life we have. Otherwise, we are setting ourselves up for bitterness."

Tickling Our Minds: How Adam Phillips Changes Our Thinking.  By Robert McCrum in Newsweek.
"He was taken up by the pragmatic English as a servant of the dark arts who could somehow translate the mysteries of analysis into brilliant, readable, and seductive prose."

Second Selves - "Missing Out", Sunday Book Review.  By Sheila Heti in the New York Times.
"Phillips continued in that Bomb interview to express his hope for “a world in which there is less art and better relationships. . . . The only game in town is improving the quality of people’s relationships. Everything is about group life, and there’s no life without group life.” This seems indicative of how he wants his essays to function: less like art-objects (beautiful, stable things to be contemplated at a distance) than a training ground for how we might relate differently to the world and one another through how we relate to the text. Modeling relations in a safe environment is what many therapies do; it’s fascinating to see it work in a book."

The Q&A: Poetry as Therapy.  By E.H. in The Economist.
"Freud suggests not exactly that we speak in poetry, because poetry has line-endings, but that we potentially speak with the type of incisiveness and ambiguity that we're most used to finding in poetry. So, to put it slightly differently: the reading of poetry would be a very good training for a psychoanalyst."

Renowned author & psychoanalyst Adam Phillips in San Francisco

RAMS is pleased to present:

A Day with Adam Phillips

March 15, 2014

9:30 am to 4:30 pm 
(Registration at 9:00am)

UCSF Mission Bay, Genentech Hall, Byers Auditorium

600 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94158

ONLINE REGISTRATION LINK: www.ramsinc.org/register.html

Photo credit: Jerry Bauer

Adam Phillips is internationally acclaimed as an essayist, literary critic, cultural scholar, and practicing psychoanalyst. He is a renowned author who has been featured in The New York Times, The Economist, The New Yorker, The Guardian, and Newsweek to just list a few. Currently in private practice in London, he is the general editor of the new Penguin Modern Classics translations of Sigmund Freud as well as a regular contributor to the London Review of Books. He is also a Visiting Professor in the English Department at York University. Previously, he was Principal Child Psychotherapist at Charing Cross Hospital.

Adam Phillips is called “one of the finest prose stylists at work in the language, an Emerson of our time” by John Banville. He has published over 17 scholarly books and numerous essays on psychoanalysis, literature, philosophy, the history of science, sociology, politics, child psychology, and biography. The Guardian says “’Phillipsian’ would evoke a vivid, paradoxical style that led you to think that you had picked up an idea by the head, only to find you were holding it by the tail.”

This seminar includes a presentation titled “On Unforbidden Pleasures” analyzing, from historical to current day viewpoint, how particular behaviors are perceived in our society as acceptable and how that influences the individual’s wellbeing. This will be followed by a discussion on his latest book One Way and Another: New and Selected Essays, which focuses on psychoanalysis: its history, methods, and its preoccupations including desire, memory and narcissism. The seminar concludes with an in-depth interview examining the latest ideas about psychoanalysis and its application in working with culturally diverse populations in the community.

As a result of attending this seminar, the participant will be able to:

1. Understand how “unforbidden pleasures” impact the individual’s wellbeing
2. Learn how the psychotherapist shapes the therapeutic relationship
3. Learn about the application of psychoanalytic concepts and principles into practice in the community

Seminar Rates (Includes morning refreshments and lunch):

• $130/General
• $90/Former RAMS Staff/Intern/Trainee
• $65/Student
• Continuing Education: Additional $20
• On-site Registration: Additional $10

Space is limited so REGISTER NOW!

Continuing Education Credit:

Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. (RAMS) is approved by the California Psychological Association (RIC121) and California Board of Behavioral Sciences (PCE4601) to provide continuing education for Psychologists, MFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs. RAMS maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Course meets the qualifications for 6 hours of continuing education credits. Those arriving more than 15 minutes after the start time or leaving before the workshop is completed will not receive CE credit. CANCELLATIONS are subject to a $50.00 processing fee and must be received 10 days prior to be eligible for a refund.

For any questions, you may contact Angela Tang at angelatang@ramsinc.org and/or (415) 800-0699 ext. 200

Meet RAMS - Loong Kwok, PsyD, and Stephen Lugar, PsyD

Dr. Loong Kwok and Dr. Stephen Lugar - clinicians with the RAMS Child, Youth, & Family Services and clinical supervisors at RAMS, who also have private practices in San Francisco - recently presented at the 2013 Spring Meeting of Division 39 of the American Psychological Association, which took place from April 24-28 in Boston, MA.  They were part of a panel where five clinicians from varied generations and ethnicities attempted to place age and desire in a creative tension, titled, What Age is Desire?. Through their own personal and clinical stories they explored how aging affects the experience of desire, be it romantic, sexual, or otherwise. Other members of the panel included Drs. Michael Donnell, Stephen Hartman, and Bart McGee. The papers touched on the social contexts of aging and sexuality, touching on the meanings attached to bodies, ethnicities, generational differences, disease, and sexual mores.

Well-received at Division 39, the papers presented at the panel will be published in the upcoming issue of the journal Studies in Gender and Sexuality.

Click HERE to see more details about the APA Division 39.

UPDATE: The papers were published in Studies in Gender and Sexuality, Volume 14, Issue 2, 2013.  Click HERE for details.

Photo credit - Alfonsina Blyde

CALL FOR ACTION - Honoring Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day on May 10

Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. (RAMS) is reaching out to the California community to honor and recognize “Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day” on May 10th. The call for action is for community groups, organizations, coalitions, and associations; health advocates or individuals; and public officials & entities, public health departments, and other affiliates to acknowledge this day and the importance of mental health in the Asian Pacific American community by organizing an activity, making an announcement, and/or simply spreading the word to raise awareness.

Starting 2010, and each year thereafter, the State of California and City & County of San Francisco declared May 10th as Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day. This effort was spearheaded by RAMS along with State Senator Leland Y. Yee, Ph.D. and SF Board of Supervisor Eric Mar. Establishment of this day was overwhelmingly supported by many major local, statewide, and national associations and community coalitions. "Since May is already established nationally as the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month, instituting this day in May more closely aligns both awareness efforts," says Kavoos G. Bassiri, President & CEO of RAMS, Inc.

Approximately 25% of Americans in a given year are impacted by mental health conditions regardless of gender, age, race, religion and socioeconomic status, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). “Given the traditionally low rates of mental health utilization within this [Asian American] community, it is our belief that the creation of day to promote greater awareness of the mental health issues facing various Asian American and Pacific Islander communities is a critical and much-needed act of advocacy,” stated Dr. Gordon Nagayama Hall, President of the Asian American Psychological Association.

In honoring Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day in 2011, RAMS is holding an all day training event “Asian Pacific American Mental Health: Knowing Our Roots and Growing Beyond” in San Francisco. The event features an exciting panel of presenters: Dr. Alvin N. Alvarez, Dr. Jean Lau Chin, Dr. DJ Ida, and Dr. Stanley Sue, and facilitated by Kavoos G. Bassiri. Joining the moderated panel discussion is also Dr. Leland Yee, Psychologist and California State Senator. The presenters are recognized leaders, trailblazers, and legends in the field of mental health and working with Asian Pacific Americans. This training is funded by Mental Health Services Act and offered to the community through a collaboration of RAMS and Harm Reduction Therapy Center - Training Institutes.

Seminar - Through the Lenses of History and Trauma: Understanding Russian-speaking Immigrants

Together with the Harm Reduction Therapy Center, RAMS shall be presenting an upcoming training:

Through the Lenses of History and Trauma: Understanding Russian-speaking Immigrants

DATE: April 28, 2011
TIME: 9:00am to 4:30pm (registration at 8:30am)
LOCATION: Baha'i Faith, San Francisco Center, 170 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
REGISTER: Call or Fax form to (415) 821-0410
CONTACT: mhsatraininginstitute@gmail.com

The didactic seminar focuses on this phenomenon in the context of history and culture of the former Soviet Union, informed by the concept of transgenerational transmission of trauma. The presenter will discuss how one’s personal history and previous traumas (individual and societal) give unique personal meanings to experiences of immigration, dealing with associated psychological distress, and contribute to pathological symptoms.

Through film & case presentations and panel forum, there will be a facilitated discussion of the clinical and cultural aspects of the cases in the context of the trans-generational transmission of trauma and concepts introduced during the morning session. Discussion points include the panelists’ psychological insights into the film & case and share their thoughts on culturally typical family dynamics, rites of passage, and trans-generational relationships in the Russian culture.

Presented by Clinical Staff at RAMS: Alla Volovich, PhD, Artur Digilov, MD, Faina Samkharadze, MSW, Alexander Zinchenko, PhD
Film: “The Return” (2003) by Andrej Zvyagintsev

Click HERE to download the flyer.

MFTs/LCSWs: Meets qualifications for 6.0 CE Credits. HRTC is a provider approved by BBS.
Psychologists: HRTC is a provider approved by MCEP. Course Approval Pending.

The Harm Reduction Therapy Center (HRTC) has been engaged by the Community Behavioral Health Services (CBHS) to deliver a series of trainings in San Francisco on the topic of Cultural Sensitivity. Funded by Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), the project’s goal is to deliver 16 trainings aimed to improve the CBHS workforce’s understanding of the cultural & linguistic issues and needs that affect recovery and resiliency, and improve access to mental health services, for the following ethnic and cultural groups: African Americans; Latinos/as; Asians and Pacific Islanders; Native Americans; Russians; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Questioning (LGBTQIQ) consumers; Transitional Age Youth; and Older Adults. These trainings are between April 2010 to June 2011.

Photo credit - by n1colas on Flickr

Seminar - Psychology of the Web & Internet Addiction

RAMS is proud to present an upcoming seminar!

Psychology of the Web and Internet Addiction:
Symptomatology & Intervention
Presented by Guest Speaker Ofer Zur, PhD.
February 4, 2011
From 9:00am to 1:30pm (Registration 8:30am)
Full Life Center, 3535 Balboa Street, San Francisco

Dr. Ofer Zur is a consultant, licensed psychologist, writer, forensic consultant and lecturer from Sonoma, CA.

This seminar will review the emerging fields of Psychology of the Internet, Internet Addiction, and Online Gaming. It will focus on the increased tension between parents and children regarding internet use, overuse, and abuse. The fact that parents, by definition, are digital immigrants and children are digital natives creates multi-levels of misunderstanding, miscommunication, and inevitable conflicts. The lecture will discuss the true nature of multitasking, Internet use, over-use, and abuse, and online gaming, and will explore the application of the addiction model to Internet Addiction and Online Gaming Addiction. Additionally, it will provide information about assessment and interventions with those who abuse or become addicted to the Internet or to online gaming.

Click HERE to register online, or click HERE to download the flyer.

MFTs/LCSWs: Meets qualifications for 4 CE Credits. Richmond Area Multi-Services is a provider approved by BBS (PCE4601).
Psychologists: Meets qualifications for 4 CE Credits. RAMS is a provider approved by MCEP (RIC121).

Registration $40 priority through January 31 only (will increase to $50 February 1 onward & on-site) includes CEU Certificate

Photo credit: by Visibly Damaged on Flickr

RAMS at CAMFT 2011

We are pleased to announce that the RAMS Wellness Centers Program shall be represented at the upcoming 2011 California Association of Marriage & Family Therapists Annual Conference. The title of the presentation is “Lessons Learned: Providing Creative Tools for Working in School-Based Services to Meet the Needs of Diverse Youth”.

The annual conference, already in its 47th year, shall be held from May 12-15 in Burlingame, CA. RAMS Behavioral Health Counselors Ulash Thakore-Dunlap, MS, Shana Averbach, MS, Alissa Gunsberg, MA, Mia Gutfreund, MA, and Kin Leung, LMFT, as well as Program Director Kristin Chun, LMFT, shall be presenting Thursday May 12, on behalf of RAMS.

We are very proud and honored to have our work at the Wellness Centers recognized and showcased at such an esteemed event!

November activities

RAMS staff were quite active in the community during the month of November!

Program Director of RAMS Asian Family Institute Eddie Chiu, PhD, was a featured presenter at the Problem Gambling Regional Summit in Santa Rosa, held on November 19. This was part of the California Problem Gambling Technical Assistance and Training Project of the National Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse (NAPAFASA) intended for service providers and the general public to "Learn about the issue of problem gambling in California and its impact on individuals, families, and communities; Prevention and intervention methods and resources, including clinical treatment and resources for financial protection; and Current and future directions in problem gambling prevention, treatment, and policies." The two topics which Dr. Chiu spoke about were 1) Assessment and Treatment of Problem Gambling, and 2) Family Centered Problem Gambling Interventions.

RAMS Deputy Chief / Director of Clinical Services Christina Shea, LMFT, was interviewed together with Judy Young, Executive Director of Vietnamese Youth Development Center, for the Cantonese Journal weekly show on KTSF Channel 26. Interviewed by Anni Chung, Executive Director of Self-Help for the Elderly and co-host of the Chinese Journal (Cantonese show), the episode aired on November 20th. Ms. Shea and Ms. Young represented as co-chairs of the Asian & Pacific Islander Health Parity Coalition (APIHPC). They introduced the work and achievements of APIHPC, discussed the goals of APIHPC for 2010-2011 - media campaign on “de-stigmatization” of mental illness and service seeking behaviors, outreach/education of promoting mental health in API community, advising Department of Public Health on culturally competent services for API, and asking the API community for feedback and advice on service delivery - and spoke with the audience about considering the behavioral health helping professions as potential careers.

Photo credit - cbcastro on Flickr

Promoting Equality in Schools

The Wellness Centers program shall be featured in a presentation by RAMS Wellness Centers Behavioral Health Counselor Ulash Dunlap, MS, PPSC, at the 6th World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders. This will be held on November 17-19, 2010 in Washington DC.

The title of Ms. Dunlap’s presentation is “Promoting Equality in Schools: Lessons Learned in Working with Immigrant Youth”. Ulash Dunlap (Behavioral Health Counselor, RAMS, Inc.); Kavoos G. Bassiri (President & CEO RAMS, Inc.); Deborah Bryant (School District Nurse, San Francisco Unified School District - SFUSD); Kristin Chun (Director, Behavioral Health Services/Wellness Centers Program, RAMS, Inc.)

The presentation will explore how RAMS is successfully and collaboratively working on-site at the schools to support the mental health needs of immigrant students vital work which, in turn, helps to promote equality. RAMS provides the integrated behavioral health services component of school services, including mental health & substance abuse treatment. During RAMS tenure, students have been surveyed bi-annually by ETR & Associates (outside evaluator) to assess satisfaction with services. In the most recent survey of all Wellness Centers, results support that, as a result of meeting with a RAMS Counselor, there has been improved psychological well-being & skills around managing school & home life.

How can counselors and school-based mental health professionals serve immigrant youth in culturally appropriate ways? Grounded in both theory and practice in the schools, this presentation focuses on immigration trends, acculturation, stressors, mental health, language needs, health care, and challenges in working with immigrant youth in schools. Through case scenarios and lessons learned by RAMS and Wellness Centers staff, this presentation outlines the practical counseling, and collaborative and community interventions that culturally competent school counselors and mental health professionals may want to consider when working with immigrant youth.

Meet RAMS - Eddie Chiu, PhD

Dr. Eddie Chiu, Director of RAMS Asian Family Institute, was invited and presented at the 15th International Conference on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma, held in San Diego by the The Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma (IVAT), an international resource and training center at Alliant International University.

The presentation, given on September 11, 2010, was titled "Addiction, Trauma, and a Developmental Process of Treatment and Recovery". Dr. Chiu presented on the topic of Gambling Addiction and Domestic Violence in Asian American Communities.

Click HERE to read coverage from Sing Tao USA newspaper in Chinese

Photo credit: Ravages on Flickr

Presenting aplenty at AAPA and APA

The Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA) 2010 Annual Convention, "Expanding Our Horizons: The Next Decade in AAPI Psychology", took place on August 11 at University of San Diego, California. RAMS was well-represented at this illustrious annual event, with presentations from:

Dr. Katherine Eng, Psychologist at the Adult/Older Adult Outpatient Clinic:
"The Future in the Field: Effective Techniques and Programs in the Clinical Training of API serving clinicians", a panel presentation together with Helen Hsu & Jennifer Lee. The symposium presented best practice techniques and programs in the training of clinicians to work effectively with Asian American Pacific Islander populations.

Ulash Dunlap, Behavioral Health Counselor at the Wellness Centers program:
"Post-partum Depression Among Asian and Asian American Women: Cultural Considerations and Treatment", a panel presentation together with Juli Fraga and Denise Kwok. This session explored ways that mental health providers can provide better screening, early intervention, and clinical support for Postpartum Depression (PPD) among Asian and Asian American women.
and
"Creative and Culturally Responsive Outreach with South Asian American Populations" – DoSAA-sponsored, a panel presentation together with Nima Patel, Anjuli Amin and Razia Kosi. Therapists facilitated a discussion focused on building bridges to South Asian (SA) communities through the use of outreach services.

Poster sessions were also featured at the convention, including a presentation from RAMS and Alliant International University-CSPP, represented by Drs. Eddie Chiu, Director of Asian Family Institute, and Tai Chang from CSPP: "Training Asian American psychologists for the real world: Integrating program evaluation and clinical training in a community mental health setting" Chiu, E. Y., Ph.D., Chang, T., Ph.D., Okubo, Y., Ph.D., Adams, L. A., MA., Bassiri, K. G., MS., Kwan, K., Ph.D., Shea, C., MS.

The American Psychological Association (APA) 2010 Annual Convention took place immediately following the AAPA, August 12-15. RAMS staff Ulash Dunlap, together with co-presenters Anjuli Amin and Daisy Singla, gave a talk titled "South Asian Women through Multiple Lens: Health, School, and Religion/Culture". In an attempt to understand and shed light on the various acculturative processes that South Asian women encounter in their daily life, this symposium addressed three important areas for counselors to consider: school, health, and religion.

Let's give a round of applause to our distinguished presenters!

Photo credit: seretuaccidente on Flickr

Celebrating Mental Health in Diverse Communities

In celebration of Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, the National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Mental Health (NNED) offered a webinar to highlight minority mental health. This was a two-part series: One webinar was held on July 7, focusing on Latino & American Indian communities. The most recent was held on July 28, featuring Asian American, African American, and LGBTQ communities. These two webinars highlighted the ways communities across the country are celebrating minority mental health.

RAMS CEO Kavoos Bassiri, LMFT, CGP was one of the featured presenters at the July 28 webinar, together with DJ Ida, PhD, Executive Director of NAAPIMHA; Kathy Wright, Executive Director of the New Jersey Parents' Caucus; and Caitlin Ryan, PhD, ACSW, Director of the Family Acceptance Project.

Click HERE for more information on the webinar, on NNED, their upcoming presentations & events, and how to join the network.

Celebrating API Cultures

Together with RAMS and other API-focused service providers in the community, the Asian Pacific Islander Family Resource Network (APIFRN) held a Cultural Competency training on June 24, 2010 titled "Celebrating API Cultures". The aim of the workshop was to increase awareness of and sensitivity to the complexity of how culture of origin and immigration interface with family's priorities and needs. Panelists represented the Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Samoan, and Vietnamese cultures, and food selections from all ethnic groups were served for lunch.

This was the second time RAMS worked with APIFRN to put on this well-received training for commmunity providers; a similar training was previously done on April 8, 2010.

Cultural Competency is our Specialty

The Harm Reduction Therapy Center (HRTC) has been engaged by the Community Behavioral Health Services (CBHS) to deliver a series of trainings in San Francisco on the topic of Cultural Sensitivity.

Funded by Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), the project’s goal is to deliver 16 trainings in 2010-2011 aimed to improve the CBHS workforce’s understanding of the cultural & linguistic issues and needs that affect recovery and resil-iency, and improve access to mental health services, for the following ethnic and cultural groups: African Ameri-cans; Latinos/as; Asians and Pacific Islanders; Native Americans; Russians; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Questioning (LGBTQIQ) consumers; Transitional Age Youth; and Older Adults.

Due to our strengths as service providers with special focus in cultural competence with the A&PI and Russian-speaking communities, RAMS was tapped to provide two of these culturally-focused trainings: one focused on A&PI-Americans, and one focused on the Russian-speaking population.

The first training, "It Takes a Village: Culturally Sensitive and Community-Based Approaches in working with Asian & Pacific Islander Americans ", took place on May 20, 2010. Through didactic and case examples, presenters from RAMS provided an overview of cultural & clinical issues and current trends in working with the Asian & Pacific Islander community, including: Cultural Factors in Assessment; Culturally Adapting Psychotherapy; Domestic Violence; Problem Gambling; and working with Asian immigrant youth in school-based setting. Attendees were trained on how culture can affect the presentation of mental illness.

The second training, "Current Perspectives: Working with the Russian-speaking Community". was held on June 10, 2010. Through didactic and case examples, presenters from RAMS provide an overview of cultural & clinical issues and current trends in working with the Russian-speaking population, including: Nostalgia: Complex Reactions to Immigration; Psychiatric Care & Cultural Factors; Ethnocultural Factors in Substance Use/Abuse Counseling; and Wellness Practices. The Russian-speaking community constitute a significant & diverse racial group and it is critical that service providers have the under-standing of the cultural & clinical implications in serving this community. The Russian-speaking immigrants from the former Soviet Union often face challenges due to language & cultural differences and immigration issues, in obtaining behavioral health and social services.

With over 30 years of experience providing culturally competent services to the community, RAMS continues to play a key role in defining and implementing culturally competent mental health and integrated behavioral health services in San Francisco. The agency's philosophy of care reflect values that recovery & rehabilitation are more likely to occur where the mental health systems, services, and providers have and utilize knowledge and skills that are culturally competent and compatible with the backgrounds of consumers and their families and communities, at large.

Click HERE to read more about our Cultural Competence Philosophy and Practices.

Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche

June 2, 2010 was the 5th Annual Evelyn Lee Diversity and Cultural Competency Training, an annual event for all RAMS program staff (named in honor of the late Dr. Evelyn Lee, former Executive Director at RAMS).

This year, we had the honor of having esteemed author Ethan Watters as our featured presenter. His latest book is titled "Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche", which is described as revealing that the most devastating consequence of the spread of American culture has not been our golden arches or our bomb craters but our bulldozing of the human psyche itself: We are in the process of homogenizing the way the world goes mad. He is also a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Discover, Men's Journal, Spin, Details, and Wired. A frequent contributor to NPR, Watters' work appeared in the 2007 and 2008 Best American Science and Nature Writing. He co-founded the San Francisco Writers Grotto, a work space for local artists.

He was a featured guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Ethan Watters
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Click HERE for an essay written by Mr. Watters for the New York Times Magazine, titled "The Americanization of Mental Illness", which is also an excerpt from the book.

Joining him onstage was Kwong-Liem Karl Kwan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, SF State University, Dept. of Counseling, and formerly a tenured faculty in the Department of Educational Studies at Purdue University (1996-2005) and University of Missouri at Columbia (2005-2008). His research focuses on the development and assessment of counseling constructs specific to Asians and Asian Americans. Dr. Kwan is past program co-chair and conference co-chair of Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA) annual conferences. Serving as the event Discussant was Alvin N. Alvarez, Ph.D., Professor, SF State University, Dept. of Counseling; Member of the RAMS Board of Directors; Past President, Asian American Psychological Association; and Co-Editor of Asian American Psychology: Current Perspectives, the first textbook written to welcome those who are new to Asian American psychology, and includes contributors from the leading experts and emerging scholars and practitioners in the field.

UPDATE:
Here's a video of Ethan Watters as a guest on The Agenda with Steve Paikin. He is joined by Dr. Salman Akhtar, who was a featured speaker at an event presented by RAMS this past November 2009.

Meet RAMS - Christina Shea, LMFT

Christina Shea, RAMS Deputy Chief & Director of Clinical Services, was an invited speaker at the “International Spring Symposium: Immigration Trauma, Stress and Loss, and its Impact on Children and Families” as a community expert in the Asian immigrant experience.

This was held on April 28, 2010 in San Francisco, organized by the Child Trauma Training Institute.

Image Credit: "Prepararsi" by Alessandro Pinna

Meet RAMS - Brooke Miller, MFTi

Brooke Miller, MFTi, who is a Behavioral Health Counselor in the school-based Wellness Centers Program, recently published her piece “The Thing About The InBetween” in the CAMFT April 2010 newsletter. She also presented a workshop titled “Language of Body Image: Working With Women & Girls From Inside Out In Culturally Diverse San Francisco” at CBHS 1380 Howard on March 9, organized by the San Francisco Mental Health Board and GABHS (Gender Appropriate Behavioral Health Services) For Gals.

Brooke is also the intrepid blogger behind http://www.soapboxtherapy.com/. Go check it out!

The Wellness Centers Program is funded by the San Francisco Wellness Centers Initiative, which provides on-site medical/mental health & substance abuse counseling services & community resources to youth at San Francisco high schools & middle schools.

Meet RAMS - Ulash Dunlap, MFTi

Ulash Dunlap, MFTi, a RAMS Behavioral Health Counselor at the Wellness Centers Program, presented two programs – “Lessons Learned in Urban Schools: Conducting Groups With Latino and Asian Youth” on March 20, “Fearing the Knock of La Migra: Counseling Latino Immigrant Children in Schools” on March 21 – at the American Counselor Association Conference in Pittsburgh, PA.

Ulash shall also be presenting at the upcoming American Psychology Association conference in August, on “South Asian Women Through Multiple Lens: Health, School, and Religion/Culture”, and will be collaborating with RAMS staff on another proposal to present at the conference.

The Wellness Centers Program is funded by the San Francisco Wellness Centers Initiative, which provides on-site medical/mental health & substance abuse counseling services & community resources to youth at San Francisco high schools & middle schools.