Mid-America MHTTC Newsletter
JUNE 2020
Greetings,

We've hit the halfway mark, so to speak, for 2020. The last few weeks have been challenging, we know; let's take this moment to celebrate our collective endurance. Despite the personal and professional challenges faced over the past few months, we have also seen opportunities to innovate and learn new things.

However, recent events have also heightened our awareness of the issues of equity and disparities that we see in some of our communities related to health, well-being and safety. As a region, we have a collective responsibility to ensure that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be physically and mentally healthy and safe. Although equity in access to quality services is important, we realize that we must also address the social determinants that impact outcomes. In our efforts, we strive to promote mental health equity for all and have provided some helpful resources that may support you in your work:


In this newsletter, we are also highlighting new MHTTC resources, upcoming training opportunities, our tenacious school mental health team, and integrated care team member Holly Roberts, PhD. Immediately following this message, you will find a link to our Pandemic Response page, full of vetted resources on topics such as self-care, telehealth and coping.

We hope you find something useful or uplifting in this newsletter. If you have any questions or comments, please reply to this email.

Take care,

The Team at the Mid-America MHTTC
UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAINING
We hope to connect with you through one of our events!
Nebraska School Mental Health Conference
June 4-5 | ONLINE
Making a Good Connection: Engaging Students and Families in School Tele-Mental Health Webinar
June 5 | ONLINE
Trauma Informed Schools Conference
June 29-July 1 | ONLINE
Midwest School Mental Health Virtual Conference
August 6-7 | ONLINE
HOLIDAYS & COMMEMORATIONS
Men's Health Month - June 1-30
PTSD Awareness Month - June 1-30
Father's Day - June 21
NEWS & UPDATES
New telehealth webinar series targets school-based mental health providers; final episode airs June 5
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted a particularly vulnerable population: children and adolescents, often cared for by school-based psychologists, counselors and social workers.

Throughout the provision of more generalized telehealth training, our Center and others across the MHTTC Network received a slew of questions from mental health providers on how to work with students. This led to the development of the three-part webinar series Making a Good Connection: Engaging Students and Families in Tele-Mental Health.

The first two webinars have already aired, drawing nearly 2,000 viewers, but you can watch the recordings and download the slides and FAQs at the website linked above. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive thus far, and our Center looks forward to taking part in the final installment.

The final webinar in the series airs at 12 p.m. CT June 5, and will cover Strategies for Addressing Trauma, Crises and Grief Through Tele-Mental Health. Click here to register.
New resource: TLC Tuesdays Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Throughout our hit series Telehealth Learning and Consultation (TLC) Tuesdays, we placed a heavy emphasis on answering attendee-submitted questions and distributing a weekly FAQ document. The document linked here is a compilation of 3-5 frequently asked questions from each installment in the series. Download.
New resource: Telehealth Toolbox for School Personnel

The Telehealth Toolbox for School Personnel is a practical and concise guide to implementing telehealth into your routine as a mental health provider working with students. Access the toolbox.
Quarterly newsletter to highlight events and products from three Mid-America TTCs
Across the U.S., the SAMHSA-funded Technology Transfer Center (TTC) Network operates in three distinct yet coinciding fields: mental health, addiction and prevention.

Honoring these overlapping interests, our Center has joined colleagues at the Mid-America Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) and Mid-America Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC) to produce a quarterly newsletter highlighting our region's events and products, as well as any cross-collaborations.

The idea came up during a late-April meeting of the Mid-America TTC Advisory Board.

"Because of our interrelated work, we thought that a quarterly newsletter produced across our Centers would help us to stay better connected and informed, keep our audiences and stakeholders apprised of our efforts throughout the region, and highlight our collaborations," said Mid-America MHTTC Project Director Brandy Clarke, Ph.D.

For more information, keep an eye on your inbox.
Mid-America MHTTC, Mid-America PTTC launch podcast for behavioral health providers
The Mid-America MHTTC and Mid-America Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC) in late May launched a podcast entitled 20-Minute Tips: A Podcast for the Behavioral Health Workforce.

The podcast is geared toward behavioral health (BH) and substance use disorder (SUD) providers. During each episode, podcast hosts from the Mid-America ATTC interview a subject matter expert on a specific topic and explore tips designed to help the behavioral health and SUD workforce.

The first episode features Dena Sneed, director of the Center for Trauma Informed Innovation at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, for a discussion on the importance of self-care for BH leaders.

You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or on one of the platforms listed here.
AREA OF FOCUS SPOTLIGHT
School Mental Health
Our school mental health team has been working nonstop to address a new slate of challenges facing school-based mental health workers. From taking on a leadership role in the production of Making a Good Connection: Engaging Students and Families in School Mental Health to its rapid development of telehealth quick-guides, as well as continued (now-online) training of providers in regional schools and districts and conference presentations, our specialists have demonstrated their commitment to ensuring that mental health providers are equipped to reach their students as best they can during this new normal.

It may come as no surprise, then, that our team has much in store for the next few months: for one, a second phase of the Making a Good Connection webinar series will debut in August, focusing on the transition back to school. Additionally, we have plans to host new learning communities that will be open to schools and districts in HHS Region 7. If you haven't already, check out our school mental health team's latest work, and keep an eye out for additional communications from us pertaining to upcoming webinar series, applications for learning communities, and other resources.
Each newsletter we highlight our work in one of our core training areas: school mental health, integrated behavioral health in primary care, serious mental illness and behavioral health workforce development.
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
Holly Roberts, Ph.D., LP
Holly Roberts, Ph.D., LP, is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the Munroe-Meyer Institute for Genetics and Rehabilitation at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. A licensed psychologist who works in an integrated pediatric primary care clinic, Dr. Roberts contributes her expertise in integrating behavioral health into primary care practice as a faculty trainer on our Center's integrated care team.

As part of her role with the Mid-America MHTTC, Dr. Roberts is working on the development of integrated care content in topics such as essentials in establishing and maintaining integrated care practice, as well as the use of telehealth as an access point for behavioral health services. She is also working with our team to develop training modules in integrated care and partnering with other MHTTCs to produce a telehealth series focused on behavioral health access in rural and frontier areas.

In her spare time, Dr. Roberts says she loves spending time with her husband, Jason, three children, and cat and dog. Since the pandemic began, she says, "We have completed several home improvement projects, played a lot of board games and put several puzzles together." She also enjoys hiking, playing ice hockey, and photography.
Each newsletter we shed light on an exceptional contributor to Mid-America MHTTC's mission.
You have reached the conclusion of this issue. Thank you for reading!
Mid-America MHTTC | 402.552.7697 | MHTTCnetwork.org/midamerica
The Mid-America Mental Health Technology Transfer Center is a SAMHSA-funded program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The Mid-America MHTTC provides training in evidence-based practices to the four-state area of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. 
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