One in five adults nationwide – or about 14,000 adults right here in southwest Wisconsin – experiences mental illness in any given year. In addition, one in 10 children lives with a serious mental or emotional disorder. Even before COVID 19 according to Mental Health America, the prevalence of mental illness and suicide were on [read more]
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]
By Pam Brookens, Community Education Manager at Southwest Behavioral Services When faced with bad news and challenges, we’ve all received advice to “stay positive.” The greater the challenge, the more this glass-half-full wisdom can come across as pollyannaish and unrealistic. Sometimes it’s difficult to stay positive no matter how hard we try, yet learning to [read more]
by Jennifer Miller Kass, MSW, LCSW When we think of wellness, we too often think only about physical wellness, diet and exercise. In reality, there are eight dimensions of wellness: physical, social, financial, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, occupational and environmental. Each dimension of wellness is related to the others. While pursuing optimum health and over all [read more]
