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!

Recognitions well deserved!

On December 21, 2010, RAMS received three Certificates of Recognition from Sai-Ling Chan-Sew, LCSW, Director of the Child, Youth, & Family System of Care in the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

The RAMS Child, Youth, & Family Outpatient Services was recognized for

• Exceptional agency-wide compliance in providing a detailed picture of children, youth, and families served by completing the "Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths" assessment, and


• "For its commitment to the implementation of the Second Step program, a research based violence prevention curriculum that emphasizes the development of social and emotional skills to help students succeed in school and in life"

The RAMS Wellness Centers (Behavioral Health Services) program was recognized for

• "Its commitment to the implementation of Seeking Safety, an evidence-based, manual-guided cognitive behavioral therapy for co-occurring PTSD and substance abuse issues"

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to our program staff for all of their hard work and accomplishments!

We're known for our Cookies too!

A recent article in local neighborhood paper The Potrero View talked about the writer's journey "Hunting Dogpatch for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie". It just so happens that RAMS Hire-Ability's very own Cafe Phoenix is in the Dogpatch neighborhood, and we were listed amongst notable Potrero purveyors such as Serpentine and Mr & Mrs Miscellaneous as one of the chocolate chip cookie finds!

Cafe Cook/Trainer Phil Woods was interviewed for the piece by Potrero View staff writer Bill Slatkin: "Meanwhile, I checked out the cookie offered at the Cafe Phoenix, owned by [RAMS] Hire-Ability, the training and job placement nonprofit located south of Dogpatch on Indiana Street. Cook and baker Phil Woods produces a firm and tasty two-ounce cookie sold for $1.25, which ranks with the best in the neighborhood. And while recognizing there’s an art to doing it correctly, [Woods] emphasized what he called the “exact science” of using fresh ingredients in the precise amounts, baked at the ideal temperature for just the perfect amount of time. Those specs remain a trade secret."

This blog writer has also tried the cookies herself, and they are absolutely delicious, crispy along the edges, with a substantial chewines. Thank you, Phil!

To read the article in its entirety and discover more about where the GOOD chocolate chip cookies can be found in the Potrero, click HERE.

2010 Community Service Award from NCSPP

On December 3, RAMS was presented with the 2010 Community Service Award from the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology:

"In recognition of your longstanding commitment to advocating for and providing community-based, culturally competent, and consumer-guided services to the residents of San Francisco, and in deep appreciation for the high quality psychodynamic training that you provide to mental health service providers. Your program serves as a model for the compassionate, socially responsible, and culturally-informed practice of psychodynamic psychotherapy and training."

RAMS was recognized for its contributions to both patients and therapists-in-training, and for serving as an inspiration to those committed to providing psychodynamically-informed treatment to everyone, regardless of financial circumstance, immigration status, or ethnic & cultural background.

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.

NAMI Listens

Kavoos G. Bassiri, LMFT, CGP, President & CEO of RAMS, was invited to participate in the most recent National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Listening Session, which was a gathering to help NAMI better understand issues affecting the AAPI community and draft recommendations to move forward. The objectives for this meeting was to
- Bring together Asian American and Pacific Islander leaders (consumers, family members and providers) to engage in an open dialogue with NAMI regarding mental health in this community
- Elicit feedback and recommendations for NAMI to successfully engage AAPI communities
- Identify existing resources and opportunities to improve mental health education and supports for AAPI communities


21 people from all over the US with a variety of experiences and perspectives (people living with mental illness, family members, providers, researchers, NAMI and non-NAMI members), were invited & attended this event on November 4th & 5th in Los Angeles.

This Listening Session was organized by the NAMI Multicultural Action Center and facilitated by Jei Africa, PsyD, MSCP, CATC.