Sweetser recently hosted a number of Saco area legislators and soon-to-be legislators at our Saco Special Purpose School. We appreciate Senator Donna Bailey, Representative Lynn Copeland, Representative Maggie O’Neil, Hon. Drew Gattine, and Marc Malon for a great discussion around the state of behavioral health and a tour of our campus. We appreciate their passion for service and interest in our shared mission of providing help and hope to more of their constituents. Our students even whipped up some delicious goodies for them as part of our culinary experiential learning program.

On September 21^st, Sweetser’s Saco Campus held its annual Ruel Ricker Day Fair. The event honors Sweetser’s first farm manager, Ruel Ricker, who held the position from 1941 through the 1970s, and is the namesake for Ricker Farm. The fair gives kids at the Saco School a chance to play games, win prizes and enjoy a BBQ. Sweetser staff and board members volunteered at the event, running games, giving out prizes, and much more.

What a night at our 30th Annual Sold on Kids Auction held at River Winds Farm in Saco! Here are some highlights of our largest fundraiser of the year.

We appreciate the generosity and support of all the attendees, ticketholders, online bidders, sponsors, staff, board members, and volunteers who made this event possible.

With your help at our annual auction, we raised over $115,000 to help Maine children, families, and individuals receive the mental health support and services they need and deserve. 

We can’t thank you enough for making this event so successful as the proceeds directly support Maine people during their darkest and scariest moments.

Sweetser’s Training Director Matt Robinson speaks to Q97.9 about suicide prevention month and the free mental health first aid trainings that are available.

One in five Americans experiences mental illness each year. In Maine, by one estimate, one in six kids aged between 6 and 17 experiences anxiety and depression. On average, one person in the U.S. completes suicide every 11 minutes. According to the National Mental Health Alliance, 260,862 Mainers live in communities that don’t have enough mental health professionals.

This September, Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, is an opportunity for all of us to take a step back and reflect on how our friends, family and colleagues – and we personally – are handling the stresses of everyday life.

While the pandemic has shapeshifted in intensity and severity over the last few years, the mental scars of such a traumatic time period can still be felt.

The way we work has been changing. People are starting to return to regular social engagement, even if some of us are a little rusty on the small talk. The cost of everything is putting pressure on just about every household. Not to mention news headlines from around the country and around the world that can keep us up at night. There’s been a lot of disruption and change in a relatively short amount of time. It’s a lot to manage and handle by oneself.

Let us use this month for a mental health checkup. Neither anxiety nor depression know socio-economic bounds. They do not discriminate. While stigma attached with seeking help for mental health challenges appears to be fading, recognizing the signs of mental illness isn’t always easy.

There are a few common signs to look out for: feeling sad or withdrawn for long periods; drastic changes in mood or behavior, or intense worry that prevents regular activities are just a few. If you notice any of these signs in yourself or those around you, it’s important to be understanding, ask questions and connect with mental health professionals.

Luckily, free trainings are available to help us all better support individuals in our lives when mental health challenges arise.

Because of a grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration my organization, Sweetser, provides mental health first aid and psychological first aid trainings, free of charge, across our state.

Mental health first aid is an evidence-based training program administered by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing that teaches us how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges.

Just as performing CPR helps you assist an individual having a heart attack, mental health first aid helps you assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis. The course outlines risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, teaches strategies to help someone in crisis and non-crisis situations and offers information on where to turn for help.

Anyone dealing with young people, veterans, individuals working with veterans, frontline public safety workers like fire and police departments, all should consider undertaking training like this.

Developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the National Center for PTSD, psychological first aid has been used by the American Red Cross, first responders and law enforcement to train staff on how to respond to collective trauma experiences.

Since the start of the pandemic, the mental health needs of our first responders have been ever present. The need to better support individuals in roles that respond to and manage traumatic events is great.

Free mental health training could save a life, even your own.

Matt Robinson is Sweetser’s Director of Training.

Read full op-ed at Portland Press Herald: https://www.pressherald.com/2022/09/15/commentary-training-in-mental-health-first-aid-is-now-freely-available-lets-avail-of-it/ 

One of our school-based clinicians, Emily Ostrow out of Noble High School, spoke to Newscenter Maine around the anxiety students face going back to school, some mental health tips, and the importance of having trained staff like her role in schools.

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The future of behavioral health care may look more community-based, according to Van Bramer.

Sweetser has a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) as part of its services. Its offerings include outpatient mental health services and substance use screening, a mobile crisis-response team, case management and peer-support services.

CCBHCs have garnered national attention after the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) allocated $2.16 billion to mental health initiatives and to expand CCBHCs nationwide.

“We want people to be able to stay in the community. We want them to have some symptom relief,” Van Bramer said.

Part of this is helping patients find roles in their community, whether that be a job or volunteer opportunity.

Over Van Bramer’s 30 years in the industry, she said that care has evolved to emphasize value now.

“It’s more about values than volume now. We used to always report on how many people were coming to us,” she said.”I think now, we really want to know that what we’re doing makes a difference.”

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Sweetser partners with independently licensed clinicians dedicated to assisting Mainers with mental health and/or substance use issues. As part of the partnership, our affiliates have access to regular referrals, support with billing and processing claims, assistance with managed care, and much more.

Q: How long have you been in the profession as a whole? What are your credentials, education, background?

A: I have been a Substance Abuse Counselor for 24 years and a Christian Counselor for 17 years. I am an educator and have taught credentialing classes for Soldier On, Addictions Care Center of Albany, Sweetser, and NYS EAP. I have a Doctorate in Theology and Counseling. I am an ordained minister, counselor, mediator and hold a National Substance Abuse Professional License. My credentials are: Th.D., CASAC II, LADC, SAP

Q: How long have you been an affiliate provider with Sweetser?

A: I have been a Sweetser affiliate since 2016.

Q: What made you want to become an affiliate?

A: I moved to Maine in 2014 after having a career in New York as an addictions counselor, Christian Counselor and Educator. I owned and operated a private practice in New York for Christian Counseling. When I moved to Maine a friend of mine was a Sweetser affiliate and referred me to the affiliate program.

Q: What are the benefits to your business by being affiliated with Sweetser?

A: The benefits are the ability to manage your own schedule and clientele. I do enjoy the support that Sweetser provides to their affiliates and engage in the group supervision for affiliates.

Q: Would you recommend being an affiliate provider to someone else?

A: Keep up with your supervision, training, learn to do your own accounting, and keep track of your paperwork! Sweester is always willing to help when you reach out for help—that is a benefit!

Q: What drives you to continue serving your clients?

A: I enjoy seeing the positive changes that happen in people’s lives as a result of counseling!

Learn more about the benefits that come with being a Sweetser Affiliate.  

Are you a therapist interested in becoming a Sweeter Affiliate? Contact Jan Dubois at jdubois@sweetser.org or by calling 207.294.4477.