Products and Resources Catalog

To address the educational and vocational needs young people experiencing psychosis, the CEDAR Individualized Vocational and Educational Support and Training (CEDAR InVEST) is an approach that helps clients get back on track with educational and vocational goals. CEDAR INVEST coaches are Bachelor’s level clinicians or college student volunteers that are supervised by a licensed clinician. In this brief, we describe some of the strategies that INVEST coaches use to help clients meet their education and vocational goals. Many of these strategies can be implemented by providers outside of a coordinated specialty program (CSC) like CEDAR – such as therapeutic mentors, vocational specialists, peer advocates, or other undergraduate or Bachelor’s level program staff.

Employment and Substance Use Disorders: The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Model Employment and Substance Use Disorders: The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Model Webinar Webinar Summary This webinar will provide an overview of the evidence-based practice known as Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Supported Employment and its use in developing Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) for individuals with substance use disorders (SUD).  While the majority of the research on this EBP has been conducted with individuals with serious mental illness, the practice is being adapted to provide high quality employment supports to individuals with SUD as well as co-occurring SUD and mental illness.  Presenters will describe the principles and evidence based for IPS, as well as infrastructure needs and implementation strategies and some case examples. Watch webinar  Presenter Information Lou Kurtz, M.Ed. Co-Director, Great Lakes MHTTC Louis Kurtz is currently the Co-Director for the Great Lakes Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC).  He has previously worked for the Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities in a variety of roles as well as at Eastern Kentucky University.  From 2010 through 2015 Lou served as the mental health lead for the Kentucky IPS Supported Employment program – more recently he has conducted fidelity monitoring for local IPS programs in Kentucky and provided consultation services for a national Supported Employment Demonstration project. Bob Meyer, MS. ISyE Technology Transfer Specialist – STR/ORN Bob Meyer is currently the Technology Transfer Specialist with the STR-TA region covering MN, WI and IL.  Bob was the state trainer for the Wisconsin Individual Placement and Support (IPS) project, a team effort with the Department of Health Services, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the UW-Madison Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education.  Bob worked with the IPS program in Wisconsin from 2010 to 2018, from the first three pilot sites, through expansion to community mental health programs that number has grown to over 65 sites in 26 counties – the average employment rate for individuals in the program also increased from 18% to 47% over that time.  

  It is estimated that 14-23% of women will experience depressive disorders during pregnancy; many of which will be misdiagnosed, undiagnosed and go untreated. This slide deck provides a brief overview of perinatal depression. An accompanying podcast enhances the slide content. To have the slides automatically advance in line with the presentation:       Select “Slide Show” from the menu bar Select “From Beginning” Once playing, do NOT advance slides on your own or the recording will stop Authors Maridee Shogren

Training and Technical Assistance Needs Findings from a Survey of Professionals Who Serve Individuals with Mental Illness in Region 8 The Mountain Plains MHTTC team conducted an electronic survey in March 2019 to identify the mental health technical assistance and trainings needs of Region 8. The survey was distributed electronically to individuals in Region 8 who serve persons with mental illness. Results presented in this report will help the Mountain Plains MHTTC staff better collaborate with providers and stakeholders throughout the region. Additionally, the survey results will inform the development of new products, training materials, and technical assistance requests. The report identifies aggregate training needs as well as state specific requests and variation between rural and urban respondents. Authors Shawnda Schroeder Thomasine Heitkamp

This webinar explores low-barrier services for young adults of transition age experiencing or at risk for behavioral health challenges. Presenters discuss how low-barrier services can improve engagement and will identify strategies for integrating low-barrier policies and practices into organizational standards. Throughout the discussion, presenters provide examples of promising approaches that have been adopted by local communities, including the development of drop-in centers and peer-to-peer programs. Learning Objectives: Define low-barrier access in the context of behavioral health services. Explore the links between access to services and engagement in behavioral health treatment for young adults of transition age. Identify examples of model low-barrier access programs. Learn best practices and practical strategies for integrating low-barrier services into agencies serving young adults.  

Webinar Summary The Great Lakes Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) is part of a national network funded by SAMHSA to provide training and technical assistance (TA) to mental health treatment providers in Health and Human Services Region 5, which covers Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.  Join our introductory webinar to learn more about our team, the structure of our Center, and regional training and TA needs. Hear more about our supplemental initiative focused  on school-based mental health will also be presented.  You will also learn to access training and TA through your state provider association. 

Culture shapes every aspect of patient care, influencing when, where, how, and to whom patients narrate their experiences of illness and distress, the patterning of symptoms, and the models clinicians use to interpret and understand symptoms in terms of psychiatric diagnoses. Culture also shapes patients’ perceptions of care, including what types of treatment are acceptable and for how long. Even when patients and clinicians share similar cultural, ethnic or linguistic backgrounds, culture impacts care through other influences on identity, such as those due to gender, age, class, race, occupation, sexual orientation, and religion. Culture affects the clinical encounter for every patient, not only underserved minority groups, and cultural formulation therefore is an essential component of any comprehensive assessment. Cultural misunderstandings, biases, and communication gaps between providers and patients also contribute to disparities in the care of diverse populations, including by race/ethnicity, religion, gender identity, and sexual orientation, suggesting person-centered cultural evaluation may help reduce care disparities. The purposes of this webinar are to understand the rationale, development, and content of a novel approach for conducting cultural assessments: the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI); and to discuss training resources and implementation strategies for integrating the CFI in diagnostic and treatment planning.

The current sociocultural climate and discourse in the United States elucidates the importance of understanding our humanity while fostering deeper cross-cultural relationships. As the nation demographically represents a multitude of cultures, our ability to engage in thoughtful and meaningful discussions on cultural issues, remains ever present. This webinar addresses why cultural humility matters in our work as service providers, the current literature on color-blind racial ideology, and implicit bias. The webinar provides insight into the importance of understanding one’s own limitations in ideologies as a way to enhance our service as cultural workers, both personally and professionally.

Dr. Michael Hoge of the Annapolis Coalition provides an overview of the Ohio Workforce Recruitment and Retention Learning Collaborative in this one-hour webinar, presented on March 28, 2019. 

Michelle Zechner, PhD, LSW, CPRP is an Assistant Professor at Rutgers-School of Health Professions, Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions. She has focused her 25 year career on supporting the recovery of people with mental illnesses and their families. She has worked in a variety of community and inpatient settings, including nursing homes, outpatient mental health services, state psychiatric hospitals, and community services for older adults. In her current role she has focused on implementation of evidence-based psychosocial practices in psychiatric hospitals, developing and testing health and wellness promotion interventions in community settings, teaching students, training diverse mental health staff on best practice interventions for older persons with mental health conditions, and conducting research. Dr. Zechner’s research includes the development of multi-domain wellness programs for people with mental illnesses, promotion of and adherence to physical activity in people with mental illness, use of peer health coaching strategies and identifying best practices for use with older adults with mental illnesses. She has co-authored peer-reviewed and technical publications on health promotion for persons with mental illness, and has presented her work at local, national and international conferences. She is passionate about supporting older adults with mental illnesses to improve their mental and physical health.   Part 2 of the webinar addresses the following learning objectives: Discuss evidence based practices (EBPs) for age onset depression Identify EBPs and best practices for programming for older adults with serious mental illnesses Discuss wellness as a framework for developing new programming Explore knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for working with older adults    Click here to view a recording of the webinar delivered on March 27, 2019.  Click on the download link above to access the webinar slides. 

Suicide Prevention for Primary Care Physicians March 26, 2019 Learn more about the toolkit which offers the support necessary to establish the primary care provider as one member of a team, fully equipped to reduce suicide risk among their patients. Recording Suicide Prevention Toolkit

This one-page (two-sided) informational document gives an overview of Indiana's mental health infrastructure, funding, and major conferences in 2019, effective March 2019.

This one-page (two-sided) informational document gives an overview of the Illinois state mental health infrastructure, funding, and major conferences in 2019, effective March 2019.

Introducing the Great Lakes MHHTC News, our electronic newsletter! Our premier issue includes an introduction to some of our team members and invites readers to review our needs assessment survey and visit our website.   Great Lakes MHTTC News February 2019

Powerpoint presentation that provides an overview of the New England MHTTC's work.

The World Health Organization has stated the “single most important barrier to overcome in the community is the stigma and associated discrimination towards persons suffering from mental and behavioural [sic] disorders.” In response, researchers collected data in North Dakota utilizing an existing and nationally validated instrument for measuring stigma. This brief presents the results of the survey and implications for communities.   On November 20, 2020, Sage Journals published an article based on this product entitled, "The Role of Rural and Urban Geography and Gender in Community Stigma Around Mental Illness." A subscription may be required for full access. Authors Shawnda Schroeder Thomasine Heitkamp Chih Ming Tan

Overview of the Great Lakes MHTTC School Supplement: Goals Focus areas Staff

An overview of SSW-MHTTC Cultural and Linguistic Competence training offerings.

This one-page (double-sided) document gives an overview of the Great Lakes MHTTC, our goals, and key personnel. 

In an effort to better understand the needs of providers within Region 5, the Great Lakes MHTTC surveyed providers in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Our partner subcontractors in each state (provider associations known as “nodes”) assisted us in sending the survey link to providers within their association e-mail list as well as to other behavioral health providers in their state. This 22 -item survey asked respondents to rank the importance of various training and technical assistance topics from a list of commonly used mental health evidence-based practices.