Health Beat - Spring 2018 - 13

Salina Regional Offers

a Continuum
of Mental
Health Care
Salina Regional's psychology doctoral
internship faculty and students.
From left: Claudia Canales, Ph.D.,
Dawn Opitz-White, Psy.D., Ryan
Poling, Psy.D., Jenny Holcomb, intern,
Andrew Crisco, intern, and Jeremy
Morris, Ph.D., program director.

traumatic injury like a stroke or the
loss of a limb, which can lead to anxiety
and depression. Psychologists become
part of the team to treat these issues,
creating a more holistic approach to
patient care."
Jenny Holcomb, a current intern in
Salina's program, says she's gaining a
lot of new experiences.
"I've never had the opportunity to
work in a hospital setting," Holcomb
says. "It's nice to have a perspective
from the doctors and nurses; that
allows us to work together to help
patients. As a training facility for doctors, nurses and therapists, Salina
Regional has a culture of education and
there's a willingness to take the time to
explain things to students."
Andrew Crisco, the other current
intern, appreciates the variety of exposure he's getting.
"You really do develop a solid base of
broad knowledge," Crisco says. "It's not
just one orientation. The exposure to
adults, children-it's always something
different. It's a great environment for
an intern."

Benefit to the Community
Interns also have the opportunity to
participate in a wide variety of programs
to educate the community about mental

health issues. They've made presentations to high school staff members about
warning signs to watch for in students,
participated in support groups and
assisted the foster care system. They
provide charity care for patients who
are unable to pay for services and have
taken part in crisis intervention training and crisis debriefing for healthcare
workers and first responders.
"We're able to collaborate with a
number of different agencies within the
community in order to achieve better
care," says Claudia Canales, Ph.D., a
graduate of the program who has stayed
in Salina and joined the program's faculty. "In many ways, Salina still feels
young in the psychotherapeutic field. In
large cities, psychiatric care is mostly
specialized. But within this market and
setting there's so much opportunity
for expansion."
Salina treats patients from a wide
area in north central and western
Kansas and beyond.
"There are very few clinical psychologists in the state, and outside of a practitioner in Hays, there's very little access
to care between Salina and the Colorado
border," Morris says.
That's changing, slowly but surely,
thanks to programs like the clinical psychology doctoral internship. 1

When problems don't go away or a
feeling of hopelessness arises, seeking care from a professional can
often change one's outlook. Salina
Regional Health Center offers a full
range of mental health care services
including inpatient psychiatric care,
intensive outpatient care through
a service called New Options and
routine outpatient care through
Veridian Behavioral Health.
Inpatient care is usually warranted when a patient needs close
supervision because of a crisis,
or when there is concern patients
may become a danger to themselves or others. Once stabilized,
patients receive group and individual therapy, recreational therapy
and other interventions designed
to improve daily function. Family
involvement is encouraged as part
of the treatment process.
New Options is an intensive outpatient program for patients who
no longer need inpatient monitoring
or those whose symptoms have
become so severe they're struggling to maintain their place in life.
New Options uses group therapy,
individual treatment and medication management three mornings
a week to help patients become
productive again.
Veridian Behavioral Health's services are geared toward individuals
and families struggling with common life problems such as depression, anxiety, marital problems,
parent-child conflicts and grief.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GETTING HELP
Visit srhc.com/services/psychiatric.php to learn more
about Salina Regional's mental health treatment options.

srhc.com

http://www.srhc.com/services/psychiatric.php http://www.srhc.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Health Beat - Spring 2018