Episode 1: Responding a Mental Health Crisis

In the first of our special, 4-part series on Family Mental Health, we take a look at what you would need to know if your family experiences a mental health crisis. When do you ask for help? Where do you find help? What if it’s the caregiver who’s in need? And what if it’s a child who’s struggling?

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IN-STUDIO GUESTS: Joining us from Alaska's mental healthcare community we have three guests in the studio with host, Shana Sheehy. 

• Randee Shafer is a licensed Clinical Social Worker. She works as the Clinical Supervisor of the Providence Adolescent Residential Treatment Program which provides long-term mental health treatment for teenage girls. 

• Kimberly Pettit is a co-founder of the Psychiatric Emergency Department at Providence Alaska Medical Center where she is currently the Behavioral Health Manager. She also has a private practice in which she provides child custody mediation, adoption, and parenting coordination services.  

• Paul Cornils is the Executive Director of Alaska Youth and Family Network, a peer-run behavioral health agency that provides peer-to-peer support, advocacy, systems navigation and education to parents, children, youth and young adults.

LINKS FROM THIS PROGRAM:

• Denali Family Services
• Providence Psychiatric Emergency Department
• Providence Adolescent Residential Treatment Program
• Alaska Youth & Family Network
• List of Emergency & Crisis Services in the Anchorage Area
• Anchorage Police Department Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)
• Mental Health First Aid Training
• Maniilaq Association Behavioral Health & Wellness

WHERE TO FIND HELP: 

• Statewide Careline Crisis Intervention 24 hour hotline
• Anchorage Area Mental Health Service Providers
• Juneau Mental Health Directory
• Statewide Mental Health Facility Search
• Statewide Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Search

FEATURED STORIES:

- Training for crisis response - Contributor Jessica Cochran reports on two programs in Alaska that are training others to respond to mental health crises: The Mental Health First Aid Training program and the Anchorage Police Department's Crisis Intervention Team. 

- A tribal perspective - Evon Peter, Wellness Director at the Maniilaq Association in Kotzebue, spoke with Producer Sarah Gonzales about Native Alaskan perspectives on mental health.  

This series is supported by funds from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority and is a copyrighted production of the Content Producers Guild.

Listen to the whole series here.