YUMEHA Summer 2004 Newsletter
Yuma Mental Health Association (Yoo-may-ha)*
 Connecting Yuma's Mental Health & Counseling Professionals
 *not affiliated with American Mental Health Association
    
Brief Updates from:
Arizona’s Children Association
Arizona Counseling & Treatment Services
Catholic Community Services in Western Arizona

Cocopah
Conference & Workshop Info.

Crane School District

Excel

Gadsden School District


NAU in Yuma

OASIS
Yuma Elementary School District #1 & Arizona’s Children Association





Catholic Community Services in Western Arizona


  • New Director!:   Sarah Seneker, LCSW, is the new Executive Director of CCS.  
  • Job Openings at CCS:  Clinical Director (Clinical, Supervisory and Administrative Experience, and Aging Program Director (M.A. or B.A Budgeting Exp, Grant Writing Exp).
  • Shelter Expanding:   Safe House Domestic Violence Shelter - Expansion of facility.  40 Bed Facility, serving Survivors of DV, Sexual Assault, and Elder Abuse; both the documented and undocumented.  A 120 day emergency shelter services.  Provide wrap-around services with Case Management and Advocacy services.  Opening at the end of September.
  • CCS Training:  Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence provides a 40 hour training on Domestic Violence and Advocacy Services.  Guest speakers are survivors of Domestic Violence.  Educates and emphasizes what the survivor experiences.  Is a great training for all professions who work with DV.

Crane School District
Immediate opening in Crane District for one full-time school counselor.  Contact the director of Exceptional Student Services, Mr. Sal Rodriquez, at  373-3450 (srodrigu@apscc.org) asap.  Ideally, Crane would hire a certified counselor, but would consider hiring someone under emergency certification as long as they are reasonably close to completing a Master's in Counseling, and are in Practicum/Internship.


Job with Cocopah
The Cocopah Education Department is currently recruiting for the position of High School Counselor.  The main duty of the Cocopah High School Counselor is to act as a liaison and advocate for the students and family.  This is a supplementary position provided by the Cocopah Education Department for Yuma Union High School District.  Because it is not district position, you do not need to be a licensed school counselor to apply for the position.  Most of the Cocopah students attend either Cibola or Kofa, however there are a few students at the other surrounding high schools.  Because you will be working directly within the schools, this position is a great opportunity to gain experience and knowledge of the school counseling environment, as well as possible obtain internship hours.  If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please contact Troy Bergmann, Education Director, at (928) 627-4973.




Yuma Elementary School District #1 & Arizona’s Children Association
  • Yuma Elementary District # 1 has two counseling vacancies for the 2004-05 school year.  Castle Dome Middle School and Gwyneth Ham Elementary School each have an opening for a second counselor.  For more information, contact District One's Human Resources 
    office at 502-4330.
  • Yuma School District One in partnership with Arizona’s Children Association has been awarded a City of Yuma Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) in the amount of $50,000. The one year grant will bring the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program to Carver, Pecan Grove, Roosevelt, and Post Elementary Schools.  The program works to restructure the existing school environment reducing opportunities and rewards for bullying.  Prior to the start of the 2004-05 school year, a 1 1/2 day training will be provided to a staff team from each of the four schools.  Those teams will then work with their individual staffs to put the Bullying Prevention Program into place by improving peer relations and making their school a safe and positive place for students to learn and develop.   In addition to the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, the CDBG grant and Arizona’s Children Association will provide intensive counseling for identified students at Carver and Pecan Grove Schools.  A total of 475 hours of student counseling, 115 hours of consultation, and 75 hours of parent education classes (10 sessions at each site) will be provided between the two sites.
  • Carol Bickford, counselor at O. C. Johnson Elementary School has completed a "training of trainers" for the Olweus Bullying Prevention program.  If you are interested in conducting a training at your site, contact Carol at O. C. Johnson Elementary School, 782-3629 or e-mail her at:  cbickford@yumaed.org
  • Nineteen Yuma School District One site teams consisting of the principal, school nurse, school counselor, and a classroom teacher will receive a 2 1/2 day training in the Masonic Student Assistance Program prior to the start of the 2004-05 school year.  Site teams will learn how to work with other personnel at their school to identify kids at risk, gather the necessary information about the child, and then develop a school-based action plan appropriate to the specific needs of each child.  The MSAP model provides specific strategies for identification and intervention in the areas of academics, health, behavior, and attendance.  Successful MSAP implementation reduces referrals for discipline, 504, and child study and results in increased student success.     This is the first time the nationally recognized Masonic Student  Assistance Program has offered a district wide training--- Peggy Lund, plund@yumaed.org .
  • District One was recently awarded a $1.2 million federal grant entitled, "Comprehensive and Accountable Elementary School Counseling".  The grant will fund 5 counselors for 3 years at 5 downtown Yuma schools.  In partnership with NAU-Yuma, the emphases will be on enhancing classroom guidance activities and individual/group counseling, helping students with alternative thinking strategies when they encounter strong emotions, and bullying prevention.

  Arizona’s Children Association
Sheryl Derby  has been appointed as Clinical Supervisor for the Yuma office of Arizona's Children Association.  Ms. Derby will be supervising clinical services to clients referred by CPS, the Juvenile Court and School-based services.  Ms. Derby is a Certified Independent Social Worker.  Arizona's Children Association was awarded a contract to provide Foster Care and Adoption services to the Department of Economic Security in District IV.  This contract, which may be renewed for up to five years, continues our services to foster and adoptive applicants in Yuma county and expands foster care services to La Paz and Mohave Counties.  Arizona's Children Association has received notice that our contract with the Yuma Superior Court has been extended.  Under this contract our agency provides Domestic Relations Education (The Impact of Divorce upon Children). Supervised Visitation as well as Monitored Visitation and Custody Exchange----Gary Arnold, GArnold@Arizonaschildren.org

  Crossroads Mission
"We officially began our facility expansion capital campaign with key employee interviews and campaign team development to approach the community with the need to build a new family shelter, a new women's drug treatment facility, a new men's transitional housing shelter, a new men's drug treatment facility, and a new learning center to help people get their GED. More details will be provided in time increments.  Basically we are looking to be prepared to meet the needs of the disadvantaged people of Yuma County (with a projected population base of 250,000)" . ----Charlie Allen M.Ed., Executive Director, Callen@crossroadsmission.org


Yuma High School District
The HS District has applied for grant funding from the USDOE for strengthening and improving crisis response and emergency management plans for all local high schools.  This is in partnership with City, County, YPD, YFD, AZCA, NAU-Yuma, and many other local partners.  Keep your fingers crossed.   

     The Yuma Critical Incident and Stress Management Team (YCISM) continues to evolve. A while back, the YCISM team received a 2-day, highly experiential training from the psychologist responsible for managing the schools' response to the Oklahoma City bombing, Dr. John Dudley. This past May a team of 40 CISM members plus another 64 counselors, law enforcement and fire personnel, attended a 2-day certification training offered by the International Critical Stress Foundation (ICSF), led by humorous and empowering instructor Vaughn Donaldson.  Attendees were very satisfied, and received their group intervention certificate.  The team overall is now very well prepared.  Last year was a trying and stressful year for YCISM, as the 4 sets of YCISM teams were unfortunately called out on several calls to local elementary, middle and high schools.  ---- Tori Bourguignon, tbourgy@cs.com ,

Gadsden School District
Thanks to a federal grant, the Gadsden District is in the process of hiring SIX new school counselors for the upcoming year.  Jose Urena, Jurena01@hotmail.com


 Heritage Counseling
Heritage Counseling Center continues to provide vocational rehab counseling (via Peg Kearns), psychotherapy (Pit Kolodinsky), and psychological evaluations (Dr. Jim Parker) to Yuma area veterans.  Treatment emphasis is on helping vets work through personal concerns that might inhibit or hinder vocational goals. Peg Kearns, peg@hunteremployment.com

Excel
Excel’s Challenge Course, known as “Ropes,” has recently been expanded to include an advanced level as well as a climbing tower.  This program has been utilized by customers of Excel and can also be used by the community, school groups, and others who are interested in providing team-building and enrichment activities.  For more information contact Brian Guess.  His email address is bguess@excelgroup.org .

     Excel programs are expanding yet again.  Staff will be hired shortly to facilitate Child and Family teams which offer a holistic treatment approach.  Individuals with experience and interest in behavioral health and integrated community treatment are encouraged to apply.   Kay Eldridge & Annette Church, churchand@aol.com

AZCA
Arizona Counselors Association (AZCA), the state branch of the American Counseling Association, will be opening up a southwest (Yuma area) chapter in the fall.  The chapter would be responsible for quarterly meetings which update local counselors on professional news at the state level, as well as offering workshops put on by local counselors.  If interested in joining, or if you’d like to be a presenter of a workshop for CEU’s, contact Chapter Chair Mike Lee at mdl47@dana.ucc.nau.edu .  If you wish to become a member of AZCA, please click on <http:// www.azca.org> .  

     Tim Hoffman, Chair of the AZCA Governing Council and a private practitioner in Phoenix, will be offering a 3-CEU hour workshop in September dealing with awareness of new Board of Behavioral Health Examiner (BBHE) statute and rule changes which effect all of us in the counseling profession.  Tim will be sending us notice with more detail soon, but the essence of the workshop will relate to how the new BBHE changes will change the way informed consent is handled, treatment planning, progress notes & record keeping, etc.  More information out on this soon.
 

Arizona Counseling & Treatment Services
    (reprinted from Yuma Sun link)   A threesome with 28 years of counseling experience among them have opened a new behavioral health service.Arizona Counseling and Treatment Services, located at 2390 S. Avenue A, specializes in substance abuse counseling for individual, family and group sessions. It also provides a variety of educational programs, among them anger management, life skills training, parent and stepparent training, divorce management and dealing with grief and loss. Open-ended groups will also be started.
    The counselors will travel to a facility to provide onsite training for organizations. Services will be provided on a sliding-fee scale. Fran Nevlis has a master's degree in education with a counseling emphasis and is certified and licensed as a substance abuse counselor.  David Waples was certified as a counselor through the military and is in the
process of becoming licensed through the state. Andrea Franco has a master's degree in counseling and will be qualified to teach the educational groups as well as Nevlis and Waples.  They can be reached at 376-0220.         
  • See information about local counselors commenting on the licensure changes :


OASIS
     Southwest Counseling Services has reformed and been renamed Oasis Counseling Services.  Counselors mow include Juan Espitia (LCSW), Kim McDonald (CISW), and Ken Finlayson (M.A.-candidate).  Mr. Espitia is also the head of Clinical Social Work at YRMC.  This team will continue to offer a full-range of counseling and assessment services---  jespitia@yumaregional.org .

  



Conference & Workshop Info:
APA-related conferences: < http://www.yumasun.com/artman/publish/articles/story_11817.shtml>
ACA-related conferences: < http://www.counseling.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=CONVENTION >
AZ Social Workers:            < http://www.naswaz.com/home.shtml >
NAU-Yuma :

Northern Arizona University in Yuma continues to offer two counseling-related master's programs, including the Community Counseling M.A., and the M.Ed. in School Counseling.  Programs take 2 to 3 years.  The M.Ed. program leads immediately to the AZ K-12 Guidance Counselor certificate.  The M.A. program is fully aligned with the Board of Behavioral Health Examiner's (BBHE) curriculum for licensure as a professional counselor.  

NAU-Yuma recently purchased cutting-edge Neurotherapy or brain wave biofeedback equipment for use with a variety of clientele, although the primary purpose for which it has been used recently is Attention Deficit Disorder.  Pit Kolodinsky recently attended a 3-day certification and training program by the Othmer Foundation in Woodland Hills, CA, and will be gradually using the equipment for research purposes, and, ultimately, in the NAU Counseling Clinic.

The NAU Free Counseling Clinic will again be open for operation in the fall, with clients able to choose any of three nights per week, including one bilingual evening.  Pit Kolodinsky, Juan Espitia, and Tonya Koenig-Colsch will be providing live, real-time supervision via closed-circuit TV and earpiece to counselors providing services to the community.  The clinic is staffed by Master's students in Community or School Counseling who are nearing the end of their degrees.  In addition to foundational courses, all students have taken course work in Counseling Theories, Techniques, Legal/Ethical Issues, Group, and two from the following:  Child and two Adolescent Counseling, Marriage & Family Therapy, and Substance Abuse treatment.  Clients may attend for free for up to 10 weeks during the fall term, and in some cases, may continue on through May, if they wish, with those counselors in the community counseling program who will be progressing to their internship sites at local agencies (thus in some cases recently, clients have been able to attend consistently with the same counselor for up to 9 months. 

    The clinic is equipped to provide individual, marital and family counseling to clients with a variety of concerns, although due to the relative inexperience of the intern level counselors, the clinic does not work with the more severe disorders nor crisis situations, etc.  In addition, we offer play therapy, career testing, and clinical/personality testing.  During the past 3 years, we have had a waiting list each semester, so we anticipate more of the same this fall, and advise clients to call to reserve a spot early (the clinic will begin taking calls and reserving spaces beginning in August).  Visit the Counseling web site for flyers .--- pit.kolodinsky@nau.edu

Due to licensure changes, many folks will be needing to pick up some counseling courses in order to continue evolving in their profession.  This fall, every Master's level course in Counseling will be open enrollment , meaning, anyone with a bachelor's degree and who applies as a non degree seeking student can enroll for a $15 registration fee.  Contact student services for more information at 317-6433.  See the fall schedule (scroll to "EPS" courses at: < http://www.nau.edu/nauyuma/sched_fall04.html > ).  Applications to our programs can be mailed to you by calling John at 317-6432.  

Congratulations to the NAU-Yuma Counseling students who recently passed the National Counseling Exam (NCE) required by the Arizona BBHE for licensure:  Susan Karasek, Evonne Estes, Ken Finlayson, Margy Erskine, and Jenny Lambert!  These students will now only have to get their appropriate 3200 hours of post-graduate "work experience" and minimum of 50 clinical supervision hours required the BBHE to become LPC's, the credential that will allow them to practice independently. If you are eligible to take the NCE (see < http://www.nbcc.org> ) and are interested in taking the exam at NAU-Yuma in either October 2004, or April 2005, please contact pit.kolodinsky@nau.edu.  We need only 3 people to meet NBCC's minimum to administer the exam.  
NAU-Yuma


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