Teaming Up For Mental Health

On July 18, Entertainment & Media Communication Institute of the Entertainment Industries Council (eic), in collaboration with National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and KTVU as well as other media and community partners, sponsored the “Picture This: Mental Health in the San Francisco Bay Area” forum, held in Oakland, California.  The focus of the gathering was to bring the media, entertainment industry, and mental health community together to talk about media portrayals of mental health and related issues.  Kavoos Bassiri (RAMS CEO) and Christine Tam, LCSW (RAMS Director of Peer Counseling Services) were invited to participate in this forum.  The forum’s goal is to work together (media and mental health community) in partnership in order to have positive, accurate, diverse, respectful & personal stories of mental health be portrayed in the media.  Representatives from the media, entertainment industry, state & local community partners, mental health professionals, and consumer advocates held roundtable work groups and engaged in discussions to come up with action items on which they plan to work together to promote mental health and stories on mental/behavioral health in the media.  In moving forward, there are plans to publish findings and recommendations from this forum to inform other media outlets in the San Francisco Bay Area and nationally on changing social perception on mental/behavioral health and related issues. 

You can check out RAMS CEO being interviewed by KTVU's Dave Clark:



Click HERE if you are unable to view the video above.

Click HERE to view video clips from the forum and interviews with other organizations and representatives, and follow @MediaTEAMup on Twitter and visit TeamUp online!

Introducing the Awardees of the Inaugural 2013 Staff Awards for Outstanding Service

RAMS is thrilled to announce the awardees of the first annual Awards for Outstanding Service!

To be considered for this recognition, anyone working at RAMS may be nominated by anyone within the agency. A diverse committee representing staff and management personnel reviewed all nomination submissions.

The awardees were announced during the July 2013 all-staff meeting, at which they were presented with a certificate. Awardees were also given a cash prize.


Consumer/Community Advocate Award: This award honors an individual who has been an outstanding voice for consumer empowerment by promoting client centered decision-making & change, access to information & resources, and creating relationships that foster hope, safety, and a sense of self-efficacy. S/he is mindful not only of consumer needs, but also of the needs of the larger community. S/he goes above and beyond the “call of duty”, outside her/his regular responsibilities to advocate on the behalf of the organization, consumers, their communities, and the “cause” at large.

Awardee: Colleen Wong, MA

Colleen Wong is a bilingual and bicultural Mental Health Consultant working at the RAMS Fu Yau Project. During her six years at RAMS, she has positively established trusting and effective relationships with child care sites and the community. In her nomination, an example was given in which she worked with an extremely challenging child care site and how she has fostered confidence in both teachers and parents by modeling effective techniques with children as well as offering training and psycho-education. This has led to many successes including children gaining a more stable environment, parents finding jobs through her workshops, and sites enhancing their infrastructure. In her nomination, she is remarked as having “opened up conversation [at sites]. No topic is off the table.” In addition to the remarkable work at Fu Yau, Colleen also volunteers her time at the Boys and Girls Club and the Asian American Donor Program. She has shown “admirable efforts in serving her community... Colleen makes her goal very clear and that is to create a beautiful world for our children through patience, empathy, and understanding.”


Excellence in Service & Cultural Competency Award: This award honors a skilled & compassionate individual who exemplifies the values and ideals of RAMS’ mission in her/his work & interaction with staff, consumers, and the community. S/he has given superior, sustained commitment to quality services, along with unwavering dedication to serve the organization (including other staff, consumers & their communities) with professionalism, integrity, respect, and humility. This individual is not only skilled at what s/he does, but also values diversity, is able to conduct self-assessments, manage & embrace the dynamics of difference, acquire new cultural knowledge, and adapt to the cultural context of the people s/he serves. S/he has a lasting positive impact on the organization and the communities.

Awardee: Paul Walsh, MA

Paul Walsh is a Mental Health Counselor at the Broderick Street Adult Residential Facility where he exhibits great enthusiasm for clinical work and very motivated to help clients in any way he can. Having started with Broderick in 2009, he quickly established connections and therapeutic alliances with clients including those who may be “difficult to reach”. His warm, compassionate, and non-judgmental relationship style fosters trust and, through it all, he continually demonstrates self-reflection and a mindful intention in all his work. In his nomination, there were two specific examples that clearly demonstrated his extraordinary efforts in providing care to clients, one being a case in which he providing instrumental support in working with a client get reconnected to the family after being estranged for many years, and then organizing an out-of-state visit. It is noted that his deep care and willingness to go “above and beyond” is just the standard for him and that he has made “profound impact on the BSARF program and in the lives of the clients we serve”.


Rising Star/Leadership Award: The award honors an individual that has shown exceptional promise in leadership by demonstrating their skills within the organization and our communities. S/he has shown accomplishments in improving the operations of a program, the administrative/supportive functions, and/or the lives of consumers and community we serve using an effective and efficient approach. This individual leads the way with fresh energy, strong ability, and steadfast commitment.

Awardee: Christine Tam, MA, LCSW

Christine Tam is the Director of the RAMS Peer Counseling Services and is a bilingual & bicultural licensed clinical social worker with many years of experience providing dedicated & culturally competent services to underserved communities. She has shown leadership in workforce development services at RAMS, specifically the Peer Specialist Mental Health Certificate, Outpatient Clinic Peer Counseling Services, and the recent transition of Empowerment Services. In her nomination, she was remarked as having led and trained those interested in and providing peer counseling services to a higher level of development, both professionally and personally. She has navigated Outpatient Clinic personnel and collaborated with program directors in designing, implementing, and supporting the creation of the Peer Counseling Services component. Christine has demonstrated exceptional advocacy skills having been involved in peer services and workforce development sector in the larger community. Prior to her current role, she also served in RAMS roles of Mental Health Counselor and clinical supervisor, as well as clinical consultant for Asian Pacific Islander Family Resources Network. Also, in her nomination, she is remarked to be “continue[ing] to help enhance the lives of consumers and the community (including RAMS community) with enthusiasm, steady, quiet and positive energy”, and exhibiting perseverance and effective problem-solving skills. She has over and over again shown exceptional promise in leadership!

Congratulations to the awardees!  RAMS is excited to be able to have this annual recognition.

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

The National Conference on Mental Health: A Wrap-up

To receive more background information on the National Conference on Mental Health, held at the White House on June 2, 2013, click HERE.

The White House Blog also provided a write-up of significant events at the conference, click HERE to read their post.

Watch President Obama's Opening Remarks at the Conference:

"The brain is a body part too; we just know less about it.  And there should be no shame in discussing or seeking help for treatable illnesses that affect too many people that we love.  We've got to get rid of that embarrassment; we've got to get rid of that stigma."

-President Barack Obama 

RAMS, Inc. was honored to take part in this important conversation and national advocacy on mental health.  We are more than ever committed to this cause and will continue to work with other organizations, healthcare providers, advocates, and consumer groups locally, statewide, and nationally in order to raise awareness, reduce the mental health stigma, and reach out to those with mental health issues in need of support.  We want to insure that mental health is an integral part of healthcare delivery - there is no health without mental health!

The Obama Administration also launched a new online resource MentalHealth.Gov, aimed to provide one-stop access to U.S. government mental health and mental health problems information.  We encourage you to visit this website and share this great resource with others.

RAMS at the White House National Conference on Mental Health

RAMS CEO Kavoos G. Bassiri was an invited attendee to the National Conference on Mental Health, held at the White House on June 3, 2013.  Here are some pictures from the event:

President Barack Obama addresses the guests and the nation:






Panel presentation and discussion facilitated by U.S. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at White House Mental Health Conference:



Kavoos G. Bassiri with former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy, who was also a chief sponsor of Mental Health Parity Act:


With Dr. Alvin Alvarez, Associate Dean at San Francisco State University and RAMS Board member, and Daphne Kwok, Chair at the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders and Executive Director of Asians and Pacific Islanders with Disabilities of California



Mental Health Conference at the White House

RAMS President & CEO Kavoos G. Bassiri, LMFT, CGP, will join President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for a conference on mental health for launch of a national dialogue to reduce stigma and address the barriers that prevent people from seeking mental health services because of the shame, fear, and secrecy associated with mental illness & their treatment.

On Monday, June 3, 2013, President Obama and Vice President Biden are hosting this conference to discuss how state, local and tribal governments, mental health advocates, educators, health care providers, faith leaders and consumers can collaborate to eliminate mental health stigma so that the millions of Americans suffering from mental health problems will not hesitate to seek help.  Also, President Obama has asked U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to launch a national conversation to increase understanding and awareness about mental health.

“While millions of Americans struggle with mental health problems, those who need help are too often afraid to ask,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney stated at a White House press briefing on May 15.  Mr. Carney further emphasized that the conference on June 3 will focus on helping those struggling with a mental health problem recognize the importance of reaching out for assistance.

RAMS is truly honored to be invited to participate in the White House conference and join this national dialogue & advocacy effort. 

Click HERE for more details about this exciting event.

APA Heritage Month Closing Night Celebration Hosted by API Circle

Once again, RAMS is very pleased to be a community co-sponsor of the exciting  API Circle event, held on Friday May 31.  After very successful events in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Mateo, API Circle is headed back to where it all started 3 years ago!

When: Friday, May 31, 2013,  6pm - 9pm
Where:  One Ferry Plaza, San Francisco (behind the Ferry Building - close to Embarbarcadero BART/Muni)
How much: Cost to attend is Free!
FB: http://tinyurl.com/apicircle-may2013
RSVP at http://apicircle-may2013.eventbrite.com/

This year, we are honored that the API Circle event will be highlighting RAMS as well as another organization GOPIO Silicon Valley (Global Organization of People of Indian Origin), a non-partisan, secular global organization engaged in promoting the well being of People of Indian Origin, enhancing cooperation and communication between Indians living in different countries.  Let's celebrate the closing night of Asian & Pacific American Heritage Month together!   You can definitely expect the same features … • GREAT people to mix and mingle with • TERRIFIC co-hosts and co-sponsoring organizations • highlighting & supporting AWESOME API community non-profits and their work • WONDERFUL performances • FUN raffle prizes (every attendee gets a free ticket!)  There will also be • DELICIOUS complimentary Thai food while supplies last (and for sale downstairs) • WONDERFUL samples from Jade Chocolates for the early birds   And there will be no cover charge! Festive ethnic attire is encouraged but business, business casual, or even just casual are fine ... please come as you are! See you soon - and please remember to invite your friends to join in too! Steering Committee Claire Chang | Kavoos Bassiri | Keesa Ocampo | Manufou Liaiga Anoai | Mary Nicely | Stephanie Balon Wong | Tamiko Wong Co-Hosts Ajay Bhutoria | Al Perez | Alisha Woo | Arnold Mew | Clifford Yee | Dairian Wan | Derek Lang | Diana Lin | Doreen Lew | Eric Lau | Frank Chui | Ivan Cheng | Gemmy Tsai | HoChie Tsai | Jen Low | Jenny Yu | John Tam | Jonathan Leong | Ken Pascal | Kyle Oura | Melanie Lew | Michael Lok | Paul Miyamoto | Pearl Wong | Roji Oyama | Ron Lee | Rose Chung | Ryan Takemiya | Sheetal Ohri | Sourichanh Sirch Chanthyasack | Steven Lee | Suzie Lee | Susie Willemsz-Geeroms | Taiko Fujimura | Ted Fang | Thanh Huynh Sponsor Serramonte Subaru Media Sponsors Diya TV | Hyphen Magazine | KAXT1 Community Co-Sponsors Asian American Donor Program (AADP) | Asian American Theater Company (AATC) | Asian Americans for Community Outreach (AACO) | Asian Business Connectors | AsianWeek Foundation (AWF) | ASPIRE - Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education | Chinatown YMCA | Coalition of Asian American Government Employees (CAAGE) | Corporate Asian American Employee Network (CAAEN) | Filipino American Arts Exposition | GOPIO SIlicon Valley | International Lao New Year Festival (ILNYF) | JPMorgan Chase Asians & Pacific Islanders Reaching for Excellence (AsPIRE) San Francisco Bay Area Chapter | Laotian American National Alliance (LANA) | Miss Asian America | Nihonmachi Street Fair | OCA - East Bay | OCA - San Francisco | Pacific Asian American Women Bay Area Coalition (PAAWBAC) | RAMA | Richmond Area Multi-Services - San Francisco (RAMS) | San Francisco Asian Professionals | San Francisco Global Vietnamese Film Festival | South East Asian Cultural Heritage & Musical Performing Arts (SEACHAMPA) | TaiwaneseAmerican.org | Taiwanese American Professionals - SF / Bay area (TAP-SF) | the it's ok campaign | Wa Sung Community Service Club Prize Donors Aaron Lum | Chili Pepper Event | Chinatown YMCA | Frances Kai-Hwa Wang | Kavoos Bassiri | Keesa Ocampo | Manufou Liaiga Anoai | Peoples Bank | Taiko Fujimura | Tamiko Wong Vendors and Tablers ASPIRE - Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education | Corporate Asian American Employee Network (CAAEN) | Jade Chocolates | Serramonte Subaru | Sumofish | Taiko Fujimura  List current as of 5/21/13   RSVP at http://apicircle-may2013.eventbrite.com/ To learn more about Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, check out APA Heritage Foundation's page: http://apiaheritagesf.org/history.shtml The API Circle is an alliance of San Francisco Bay Area Asian & Pacific Islander American leaders and organizations with the mission to create meaningful relationships and collaborative efforts that are cross-generational, ideologically neutral and diversely representative.