RAMS at SFIAAFF29

Once again, RAMS was proud to participate in this year's San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, held by the Center for Asian American Media. The festival features 108 films from around the globe, and is a mainstay of the San Francisco Arts and Culture calendar. It is an enjoyable and eye-opening way to learn about Asian Americans and Asian cultures.

Through the involvement of Dr. Ravi Chandra, Medical Director at RAMS Adult Outpatient Clinic as well as a blogger for the SFIAAFF column "Memoirs of a Superfan", RAMS served as a community co-presenter for two films at this year's festival: THE TAQWACORES (USA, 2010), which features young Muslim Americans on a quest for identity through punk rock; and ABRAXAS (Japan, 2010) which is about a Buddhist monk who is undergoing an identity crisis and depression - he invigorates himself by returning to his roots as a punk rocker.

Thank you Ravi and everyone who attended the event!

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

NAMI Listens... and NAMI Reports

RAMS is excited to share the Asian American & Pacific Islander Mental Health Report, newly released by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) on February 15, 2011. This was the result of Listening Session (which we blogged about in November 2010), where RAMS President & CEO Kavoos G. Bassiri joined with 20 other participants to discuss the unique needs of the AAPI community.

The resulting report documents the diverse experiences of this community when dealing with mental health issues, including the many barriers and gaps AAPI individuals and families face when accessing services. The report also offers important recommendations to help mental health systems address these barriers.

The report highlights statistics from the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) and National Asian Women’s Health Organization (NAWHO) posing concern:
• Asian American girls have the highest rates of depressive symptoms of any racial/ethnic or gender group;
• Young Asian American women ages 15 to 24 die from suicide at a higher rate than other racial/ethnic groups;
• Suicide is the fifth leading cause of death among Asian Americans overall, compared to the ninth leading cause of death for white Americans;
• Older Asian American women have the highest suicide rate of all women over 65; and
• Among Southeast Asians, 71 percent meet criteria for major affective disorders such as depression—with 81 percent among Cambodians and 85 percent among Hmong.

“Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders represent a rich diversity of languages and cultures” said NAMI Executive Director Michael Fitzpatrick. “They include traditions from China, India, Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines to name only a few. Mental health care must recognize cultural differences as well as common concerns inside our broader national community.”

Recommendations include:
• A national strategy of outreach and engagement using cultural messages, ambassadors and social media;
• A linguistically and culturally responsive mental health workforce, including recruitment of bilingual and bicultural members of the AAPI community; and.
• Recognition of cultural influences such as tight-knit family connections and individual and family desires to avoid stigma and shame from seeking treatment.

The Executive Summary can be downloaded HERE.
The Full Report can be downloaded HERE.

NAMI’s Multicultural Action Center convened the listening session. Participants included:
• Asian American Studies Program; California State University
• Asian Health Coalition
• Center for Education Empowerment
• Charles B Wang Community Health Center
• Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
• Chinese American Mental Health Outreach Program (NAMI New Jersey)
• Lehigh University
• NAMI Orange County
• NAMI San Diego
• NAMI San Francisco
• Pacific Clinics
• Peers Envisioning and Engaging in Recovery Services
• RAMS, Inc.
• U.C.-Davis School of Medicine
• Rethink BPD
• San Mateo County Health Department
• Union of Pan-Asian Communities and
• Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health

NAMI also put together this video with footage from the Listening Session, regarding Mental Illness and the AAPI community.

nami_aapi_520x288.mov

Update for the Peer Specialist Mental Health Certificate Program

It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of Christine Tam, MA as the Coordinator of the Peer Specialist Mental Health Certificate program, which is jointly operated by Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. (RAMS) and San Francisco State University’s Department of Counseling. This 12-week course is designed to equip students with the basic counseling and case management skills and knowledge for entry-level or advancement in peer counselor/specialist roles in the behavioral health systems of care. The program is funded by the Mental Health Services Act.

We would also like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to Mia Veroy who is transitioning from this Coordinator position and leaving RAMS at the end of February 2011. Ms. Veroy successfully spearheaded the start-up and implementation of the Certificate program as well as effectively served as the Vocational & Employee Development Coordinator at RAMS Hire-Ability Vocational Services. She has clearly exemplified what amazing things can be accomplished through teamwork, empowering consumers, and offering innovative opportunities to our consumers leading to self sufficiency. We value all that she has done at RAMS and for the San Francisco community for the past six years and wish her all the best.

Starting February 2011, Christine Tam is assuming the Coordinator role. She is a bilingual & bicultural clinical social worker with many years of experience providing dedicated & culturally competent services to underserved communities as well as demonstrating exceptional organizational skills. Ms. Tam has been working in the social service field for nearly ten years at various local community settings, and is also currently at the RAMS Wellness Centers Program as a Behavioral Health Counselor. She has unique expertise in working in school settings and with immigrant communities, including the Asian & Pacific Islander American population. Ms. Tam received a Masters of Art in Clinical Social Work from University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and earned her undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Economics from the University of Chicago.

We congratulate Christine Tam on her new appointment as the Coordinator of the Peer Specialist Mental Health Certificate program.

Meet RAMS - The Fu Yau Project

The Fu Yau Project is one of the many Child, Youth, & Family Services offered at RAMS. It is a collaboration of RAMS and Chinatown Child Development Center (CCDC) and is located at 720 Sacramento Street, in San Francisco's Chinatown district. This innovative program provides prevention and early intervention mental health services to the childcare community that cares for children, ages 0-5 years old. Services includes the following: On-Site Program and Child Observation; Clinical Consultation with childcare staff and families; On-Site Intervention with individual and groups of children; Parenting Classes and Support Groups; and In-Service Training for the childcare staff relating to child development and mental health related issues. The Fu Yau Project staff includes child psychiatrists, licensed and license-tracked clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, and marriage and family therapists, all of whom reflect the unique language skills and cultural competence needed to provide services for the children, families, and teaching staff of the childcare programs.

Through the Fu Yau Project, RAMS currently provides services at more than 44 childcare centers, 12 family childcare providers, four family resource centers, and one after school site, which are located in over nine San Francisco neighborhoods. The program's current client demographics include the following: 99% are low-income families with limited resources; over 80% of the families are of Asian & Pacific Islander ethnicity, many of whom are from China and have limited or no English-speaking skills; 12% are Latin Americans; 6% are African American.

The Fu Yau Project also distributes a semi-annual newsletter with great articles and tips on parenting and resources for the community. Check it out by clicking HERE.

Photo credit - Capt Kodak 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

Guest Post - Mia Veroy, Program Coordinator

Today's guest post is from Mia Veroy, Program Coordinator at both the RAMS Hire-Ability Vocational Services Employee Development Program as well as the new Peer Specialist Mental Health Certificate program being offered by RAMS and San Francisco State University. Started in Fall 2010, the Certificate Program's goal is "to prepare consumers and/or family members with the basic skills & knowledge for entry-level employment in the behavioral health system of care and with academic/career planning that supports success in institutions of higher learning".

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The Peer Specialist Mental Health Certificate Program - a collaboration between Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. and San Francisco State University’s Department of Counseling - is proud to announce its first cohort of graduates from the Fall Cohort of 2010.

This unique class offering, funded by the Mental Health Services Act, allowed both agencies to create a pioneering curriculum designed to prepare individuals for employment into the behavioral health system. After 12 weeks of intensive and rigorous training, the students are ready to increase the workforce and let their voices be heard. Engagement and retention was high, with 18 students successfully completing the course out of the 20 that were selected for the initial class offering. The program included weekly classes, quizzes & exams, job shadowing and volunteer experiences that each individual had to complete in order to pass this course.

The success of this program would not have been possible without the amazing support that was received from the San Francisco community that came in various forms, such as the contributions of valuable hours from our panel of guest lecturers who agreed to share their knowledge and expertise free of charge, as well as donations of food and supplies.

The Certificate Program had the opportunity to acknowledge all these contributions and honor the students’ accomplishments during the graduation ceremony held in December 2010. The presence of family members from as far as Alaska and Utah as well as having representatives from three generations truly made this event memorable. It was a fitting way to honor the level of commitment, focus, and determination of all the students who plowed through all obstacles imaginable just to finish this course.

Many of the graduates are now in the process of getting registered with the Employment Services of RAMS Hire-Ability as well as the State Department of Rehabilitation to begin the job search. For some students, it is a matter of following up on the job leads or offers already received from their job shadow sites as well as contacts from the Job Fair hosted by the program. Organized activities such as alumni events as well as advisory committees are in the pipeline and ready for implementation in the coming months to ensure that the graduates receive continued support and guidance. In fact, several of the graduates came to the recent Open House for the Spring 2011 cohort to show support for the program, but more importantly, to provide assistance to the new applicants, a testament to how they have eased into their roles as peer counselors.

With the amount of work that has been accomplished in the past year, there is still a lot more to be done, yet RAMS is filled with an overwhelming sense of renewed hope and faith in the future. The best is yet to come!

Meet the folks behind the Peer Specialist Mental Health Certificate Program (L-R): Angela Tang, MSW, RAMS Operations Manager; Mya Vaughn, PhD, Assistant Professor, SFSU; Robert Williams, PhD, Department of Counseling Chair, SFSU; Mia Veroy, RAMS Program Coordinator; Kavoos G. Bassiri, LMFT, CGP, President & CEO, RAMS.

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RAMS is now accepting applications for the Spring 2011 session! Click HERE for more information and for application forms & instructions.

Photo (at top) credit from jpellgen on Flickr