Tag Archives: mental health

Enhancing Mental Health Treatment with Psychotherapy

By Lacy Taylor, MA, LPC, Mental Health Therapist at Southwest Behavioral Services. Turn on the television and on almost any channel and within an hour or so you will see at least one commercial for a medication for the treatment of a mental health condition. Prescription medication for mental health disorders began development around the [read more]

Are Our Children, The Ambassadors of Our Future, At Risk?

by Valerie Herber, APNP, PMHNP-BC, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner at Southwest Behavioral Services “Marijuana is harmless!”, “I won’t get addicted!”, “Everyone is doing it!” or even, “I could be doing worse!” If you’re a parent of a teenager who is using marijuana or you accidentally fell upon your child’s “stash” while cleaning or looking [read more]

You’re not alone in your SADness

By Jennifer Miller Kass, MSW, LCSW, Behavioral Health Administrative Director at Southwest Behavioral Services  With all the fog that has fallen on our picturesque community lately, it can be hard to feel excited about getting out of bed or finding motivation. Gloomy and dreary winter weather has this effect on many of us. The days are [read more]

Steps to Helping a Loved One Adjust to a Nursing Home

by Stephanie Gile-Contreraz,CSW & Cindy Reading, RN, BSN, ADON at Epione Pavilion When your loved one comes to need 24-hour skilled nursing care, you’re faced with difficult and stressful decisions. A move to a nursing facility presents a big change in your life, yet it’s an even bigger one in your loved one’s world. Getting [read more]

Eight Simple Steps to A Better Night’s Sleep

By Noelle Hebgen, RN, Director of Inpatient Behavioral Health at Southwest Behavioral Services We have all been there. Lying in bed at night, exhausted from the day’s activities yet unable to turn our mind “off” and fall sleep. If this describes you, you are not alone. According to the National Sleep Foundation, 75% of American [read more]

New Massage Therapy Services at Southwest Health

Southwest Health welcomes licensed massage therapist Aurora Buschkamp, ATC, LAT, LMT, who is now providing a full range of sports, therapeutic, and relaxation massage treatments within the Orthopedic Institute at the organization’s hospital campus in Platteville. Also a certified athletic trainer, Aurora is trained in deep tissue, hot stone, Swedish, prenatal, sports massage, and post [read more]

Know No

By Jaime Collins, Director of Marketing and Communications It’s been buzzing through social media like an angry hornet. News about recent sexual assaults and their clueless, sexist, misogynistic, violent, and criminal perpetrators is everywhere. And it’s shocking. But our goal should not be to make Facebook explode or to shock people by detailing the damages [read more]

Who’ll Conduct the Rape Exam?

Special To The Washington Post – May 19, 2016 By Terri Slapak-Fugate, Director of Emergency/Urgent Care and the SANE Program Manager at Southwest Health As an emergency-room nurse in southwest Wisconsin, I sometimes encountered patients who had been sexually assaulted — and I was expected to help conduct an exam to collect and preserve DNA evidence, [read more]

When worry becomes too much

by Jennifer Miller Kass, MSW, LCSW at Southwest Behavioral Services We all know life can be stressful at times. But what if simple worries become too much to handle? For people with constant worry or anxiety, life can be an endless round of stress, disrupting sleep, reducing productivity, and wreaking havoc on relationships and even [read more]

Animal-Assisted Therapy at SBS

By: Dana Groom, Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist at Southwest Behavioral Services As the activities director, I continually look for new and different activities and programs to incorporate into our busy days at Southwest Behavioral Services (SBS). My goal as a recreation therapist is to facilitate fun, educational, and interesting activities that not only bring joy [read more]