Parents in Partnership, for our alumni community, is chaired by Jerry and Peg Sturman as a parent-run and Wellspring staff supported program for parent assistance and education. Its purpose is to help families deal with mental health issues through mutual support and shared resources. It is also a way for parents who care about children and families to join with Wellspring in its mission. Parents in Partnership is not a clinical group, but rather an association for mutual aid. It is in the process of establishing a website for communication and exchange, and will develop a schedule of program offerings – discussion groups, presentations and relevant publications. Its goal is to create a community of parents with common experiences who can support each other, offer help to families considering Wellspring for their child, share experience with other families in transition, and be of help to Wellspring directly in pursuit of its mission.

If you are interested in registering or learning more about these new programs please contact Christina Reddington in our Community Relations Office at christina.reddington@wellspring.org or 203-266-8027.

Wellspring’s 7th Annual Fundraising Gala, Saturday, April 28, 2012

Join friends of Wellspring as they come together and celebrate at “Home Is Where the Art Is” – Wellspring’s 7th Annual Benefit Auction. The event will take place at The Washington Club Hall in Washington, CT. To learn more please contact Wellspring at 203-266-8000.

Over the years Dr. Murray has spearheaded clinical and educational projects at Wellspring and the Arch Bridge School and has played a key role in executive management and strategic planning. His intrinsic understanding of Wellspring’s relational treatment model, services and educational programming has made for a seamless transition supported by the entire Wellspring team.

“I look forward to continuing to develop Wellspring and the Arch Bridge School as a leader in Residential, School and Outpatient Services in Connecticut,” shared Dr. Murray in a recent interview.

Dr. Murray holds master’s degrees in Organizational & Industrial Psychology, Clinical Practice and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology. His previous roles at Wellspring included creating the residential children’s services and directing the clinical and counseling dimensions of the Arch Bridge School. Prior to joining Wellspring, Dr. Murray worked and trained at a number of hospitals and agencies including the Connecticut Valley Hospital, Hamden Mental Health Services, Griffin Hospital Outpatient Clinic and Elmcrest Psychiatric Institute.

Wellspring co-founder Richard Beauvais said: “Dan has been with Wellspring for the past twenty years and as Chief of Professional Services was responsible for the clinical excellence of the organization, a job at which he excelled. We are confident that in the role of Chief Executive Officer Dan will continue to strive for excellence and shepherd Wellspring through to the next stage of its growth.”

As the new CEO, Dr. Murray will oversee the clinical, educational and administrative programs and departments at Wellspring and the Arch Bridge School. Much of his energy will be focused on assuring the continued quality of the organization’s not-for-profit offerings, while continuing to develop community, state and regional relationships to provide Wellspring’s unique services and trainings.

While officially departing his role as Chief Executive Officer, Harvey Newman will stay on as a Senior Consultant with Wellspring through the spring, focusing on special projects before he moves toward a well-deserved retirement.

The Parent Support Group (PSG) and Multi-Family Group (MFG) are clinical in orientation and a fee will be set for both. Both groups will provide ongoing clinical support for families who completed treatment or school at Wellspring. They will offer a continuation of the kind of clinical support familiar to families from the Adolescent and the Arch Bridge School Programs. For families whose children were in either the Children’s or Adult residential programs at Wellspring, these groups provide an opportunity to process with other parents common issues and concerns facing families, particularly around discharge and transition. The Middlebury groups will be led by Ann Watson, who has run the PSG and MFG in the Adolescent Program for many years and in Rye by Melodee Morrison, LCSW, a Wellspring Board Member and mother of a former resident. Ann Watson will also assist initially with the NY groups to help build a bridge to this new location and format.

If you are interested in registering or learning more about these new programs please contact Christina Reddington in our Community Relations Office at christina.reddington@wellspring.org or 203-266-8027.

To learn more about the re-launch of Parents in Partnership please click here.

You can learn more about ARTA and other member organizations by visiting their website at: www.artausa.org

Members:

Academy Street Community Residence

Appleton Continuing Care Program at McLean

Austin Riggs

CooperRiis, Healing Farm Community

Forty Seven Main Street, Inc.

Gateway Homes of Greater Richmond

Gould Farm

The Greystone Program; Friends Hospital

Hopewell, A Therapeutic Farm Community

Hundred Acre Homestead

Institute of Living/Buckingham House: formerly Institute Health Care, Inc.

Lakewood Center

The Menninger Clinic

Merry Meadow Farm

Newman Community Residence

Parents’ Foundation for Transitional Living, Inc.

Pasadena Villa

Project Transition

Rose Hill Center

Skyland Trail

SLSHealth: formerly Supervised Lifestyles

Spirit of Gheel

Spring Lake Ranch

Spruce Mountain Inn

TCR

Angelus House, The Wellspring Foundation, Inc.

WestBridge Community Services

Whitemarsh House

Wild Acre Inns

Windhorse Associates

]]> http://wellspring.org/2011/08/09/american-residential-treatment-association/feed/ 0 http://wellspring.org/2011/08/09/from-a-former-resident-of-beauvais-house/ http://wellspring.org/2011/08/09/from-a-former-resident-of-beauvais-house/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:10:20 +0000 Christina Reddington (Wellspring Community Relations) http://wellspring.org/?p=1408 When I was at Wellspring, I had many hurdles to overcome.

I thought my life was over, but in fact it was just beginning.

I was given the tools I need in order to be healthy and free.

Thanks to Wellspring, when the world gave up on me.

I realized I didn’t HAVE to give up on me.

I graduated from wellspring with a High school diploma and that day was the best day of my life.

I will forever love Wellspring for Loving me.

A young woman’s testimonial about her experience in our adolescent girls program.

Here’s a short video announcing The Hatch of our first chick of 2011!

The video’s about twenty minutes long, so make yourself comfortable and enjoy!

About Brené Brown:
Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent the past ten years studying vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame. She spent the first five years of her decade-long study focusing on shame and empathy, and is now using that work to explore a concept that she calls Wholeheartedness. She poses the questions:

How do we learn to embrace our vulnerabilities and imperfections so that we can engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness? How do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection that we need to recognize that we are enough – that we are worthy of love, belonging, and joy?

You can learn more about Brené at her website www.brenebrown.com

Please feel free to leave your feedback in the comments section!

Just over a year ago we started our facebook fan page. It was a slow and quiet start, asking friends and family to become part of our digital tribe. But, before we knew it others were finding us on facebook and connecting with Wellspring.

I have had the pleasure of getting to know former residents of our programs, families whose children are in our care, colleagues from other treatment facilities, and countless others whose comments and messages enliven the digital community of our fan page. It has been a truly delightful experience.

Last week I spent a few moments catching up with a resident’s family. They shared with me that the Wellspring updates and photographs help them stay connected with our daily living milieu during this difficult time of being apart. Their words of encouragement were heartfelt, and provided me with a boost of energy to continue expanding our social media outreach.

Those of you who are reading this who are fans – I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support, encouragement, feedback, and “liking.” Without YOU our fanpage would not be the magical place that it has become.

Are you a fan of Wellspring on facebook? You can visit our fan page at www.facebook.com/wellspring and click on the “like” button.