The Crisis Podcast: Recent Episodes
Travis Atkinson
The Crisis Podcast provides an in-depth analysis of behavioral health crisis services from the thought leaders, advocates, and subject matter experts that design and operate these critical services. Hear from the brightest minds in emergency psychiatric care on what services and systems bring the most hope for effective mental health treatment and suicide prevention.
Adam Graham is a licensed professional counselor, consultant, advocate, and author of the book "Turning Point: How to Make the Most of Mental Health Conversations." Adam has helped communities across the country to improve their threat assessments, develop mobile crisis teams, and assess the safety net of care. He has consulted for Google and the FBI, and he is passionate about training and helping others in crisis.
Cherene Caraco is the CEO of Promise Resource Network, a peer-run organization operating over a dozen services in North Carolina. Cherene has grown up in the behavioral health system, both as a provider and as a service recipient. As a suicide attempt survivor, Cherene leverages her experience to develop and operate trauma-informed treatment options to people experiencing emotional distress or mental health crisis.
Learn more about Promise Resource Network at www.PromiseResourceNetwork.org.
ANNOUNCEMENT! The 2023 National Crisis Services Conference is coming to Charlotte, North Carolina! Learn more at www.crisiscon.org.
Jennifer Battle, MSW, is the Vice President of Community Access and Engagement for The Harris Center in Houston, TX, one of the 37 Local Mental Health Authorities in Texas. The Harris Center is one of the 200 crisis call centers in the country answering the 988 crisis and suicide prevention line.
Jennifer is a Mental Health First Aid, ASK about Suicide to Save a Life, and SafeTalk Trainer and supervises the Community Training Department for The Harris Center. In collaboration with the Houston Police Department, Houston Fire Department, and Houston Emergency Communications Center, Jennifer supervises the Crisis Call Diversion Program. This team routes people calling in through emergency services who have stated they have a mental health concern away from a law enforcement or EMS response and to a more appropriate level of care through local behavioral health options.
Jennifer is the past president of the National Association of Crisis Organization Directors.
Jennifer is a proud Social Worker and teaches as adjunct faculty at her alma mater the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She also enjoys teaching Bachelor level social work classes at the University of Houston - Clear Lake and University of Houston – Downtown
Follow Jennifer on Twitter at @Battle4Justice
Justin Chase is the CEO of Solari Crisis & Human Services, a national crisis call center provider based in Arizona. Over that past 7 years, Justin and his team have made amazing strides in delivering high quality support and care to those experiencing one of the worst days of their life.
Justin's journey is an incredible one--from working with people discharged from the state psychiatric hospitals to macro social work adventures to save funding for behavioral health services, and from working for a health plan to working at some of the leading behavioral health crisis providers in the country.
To learn more about Solari, visit www.solari-inc.org.
To learn about the National Association of Crisis Organization Directors, visit www.NASCOD.org.
To learn about the International Council for Helplines, visit www.CouncilforHelplines.org
to Learn about the American Association of Suicidology, visit www.suicidology.org.
In this episode Travis interviews crisis consultant Myranda Green. Myranda has spent much of her career working in crisis residential services as a direct support professional, case manager, and director, opening new programs across the state of Michigan and adding first-of-their-kind co-occurring services to existing programs. Myranda talks about the critical place that peer supports have in the crisis workforce, the importance of preserving agency and choice in treatment, and the ability to carry a vision forward in even the most dire of circumstances.
To learn more about the Crisis Residential Association, including the 4th annual Crisis Residential Conference (October 12-14 in Louisville), visit www.crisisresidentialassociation.org.
Emily Blomme is the Executive Director of Foundation 2 Crisis Services in Cedar Rapids, IA. Foundation 2 operates the statewide crisis line for Iowa, as well as mobile crisis and dispatch services.
To learn more about Foundation 2 Crisis Services, visit www.foundation2.org. To learn more about he Crisis Residential Conference taking place October 12-14 in Louisville, KY, visit www.crisisresidentialassociation.org. To download the Roadmap to the Ideal Crisis System, visit https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/031121_GAP_Crisis-Report_Final.pdf?daf=375ateTbd56.
Beverly Ryskamp is the Chief Operating Officer at Network180. During her career in public behavioral health, Beverly has led conversations around system improvements and been a contributing author to legislative advocacy. In this episode, Beverly talks about the public behavioral health system in Michigan, the story of HB5832 that authorizes Crisis Stabilization Units in Michigan, and other efforts to enhance crisis services.
Hudson Harris is a mental health mastermind, suicidologist, and resiliency expert.
In this episode, Hudson teaches me new words like "ikigai" and preaches a powerful sermon on return on investment in crisis services.
To learn more about ikigai, go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai#:~:text=Ikigai%20(%E7%94%9F%E3%81%8D%E7%94%B2%E6%96%90)%20(pronounced%20%5B,one's%20ikigai%20resulting%20in%20satisfaction
American Association of Suicidology: https://suicidology.org/
Suck It Suicide & Six Feet Over: https://www.sixftover.org/about/
Pete Hilen is a husband, father, licensed therapist, and crisis services advocate. Pete works for Telecare Corporation, one of the largest crisis residential providers in the country. Pete also serves on the board of the Crisis Residential Association. In this episode, Pete talks about his recovery journey, his passion for crisis services, and his admiration for the resiliency of behavioral health professionals. (And he gives accountants a bit of a hard time.)
In this episode, Travis interviews Dr. Debra Pinals, a psychiatrist and leader in the behavioral health crisis world.
To read her Beyond Beds and Beyond Border papers, visit www.nasmhpd.org.
In this episode, Travis emerges from the depths of social lockdown to provide an update on the crisis system landscape in 2020 and beyond.
For more information about the Crisis Residential Conference taking place virtually October 14th & 15th, visit www.crisisresidentialassociation.org/conference.
In this episode, recorded at the 2019 Crisis Residential Conference, Dr. Debra Pinals presents on the importance of a behavioral health crisis continuum in effective service delivery, as well as lessons learned from other countries in mental health policy.
Dr. Debra Pinals is the medical director of behavioral health and forensic programs for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Pinals is also a clinical adjunct professor at the University of Michigan Law School. She serves as the director of the Program in Psychiatry, Law, and Ethics and as a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School. Dr. Pinals has also written several seminal papers on the behavioral health crisis continuum in collaboration with the National Association for State Mental Health Program Directors and the Treatment Advocacy Center.
Download the NASMHPD/TAC papers for free at www.nasmhpd.org.
In this episode, Travis shares a panel discussion from the 2019 Crisis Residential Conference on the use of substances like tobacco, marijuana, and controlled substances during crisis residential treatment.
Moderated by Dan Maccia (Community Research Foundation), panelists include: Dr. Scott Madover (Telecare), Myranda Green (Hope Network), Dr. Bruce Baker, and Holly McNerney (Community Research Foundation).
Hear a quick update from Travis on The Crisis Podcast and a new offshoot podcast starting addressing COVID-19 matters.
Sergeant John Wittkowski is the Phblic Information Officer for the Grand Rapids (MI) Police Department. John talks about the evolution of empathy in law enforcement towards people with mental health and addiction issues. He shares about his police department’s journey to bringing CIT training to officers, and the mentors and community partners that have left a lasting influence on him.
Amelia Lehto is a crisis call center expert, a suicide prevention guru, an advocate, and a social media influencer. Amelia has worked in mental health and suicide prevention for over 10 years. She has been heavily involved with organizations like the American Association of Suicidology, Kevin’s Song, and Six Feet Over. Amelia also has a personal connection to suicide, losing her best friend to suicide at age 13.
Dr. Bart Andrews is a suicide prevention specialist and mental health advocate. He is a Ph.D psychologist and the Vice President of Telehealth and Home and Community Services at Behavioral Health Response in St. Louis, MO. Bart is also a suicide attempt survivor and board member of the American Association of Suicidology.
Jessica Pirro is the executive director of Crisis Services in Buffalo, NY. In this interview, Jessica shares her story of finding her place in domestic violence response work, her natural empathic tendencies, and her tireless efforts to improve collaboration in her hometown and beyond.
Lyndsay Martin has served her community as a behavioral health clinician, advocate, and change agent for nearly 15 years. She is responsible for much of the innovative changes in her crisis programs that transformed them to be the premier crisis residential programs in the country. In this episode, Lyndsay shares about her experience managing crisis services, the importance of aftercare, and how to make a career out of crisis services.
In this trailer episode, host Travis Atkinson explains the content, format, and purpose of The Crisis Podcast.