Clarion Psychiatric Center

It's #ThankfulThursday and we are grateful for our Unit Coordinator, Arin. She works on one of our adult inpatient units and is celebrating her 20 year anniversary with CPC. She knew that she wanted to work in Psych when completing her clinical rotation at CPC during nursing school. "My heart has always been for the hurting, struggling people in this world. To witness our patients regain their hope, wellness, and quality of life from admission to discharge is so humbling and I am honored to be a part of that process." For the first 10 years, Arin mainly worked on the child/adolescent unit and then transferred over to the adult unit as Unit Coordinator and also worked in Risk Management during several of those years. Congratulations Arin on celebrating 20 years with Clarion Psychiatric Center! 👏

It's #FeatureFriday! Meet Angie, currently she is our Unit Coordinator on our Adult Inpatient Unit, but she has worked in many roles over the past 25 years. She started as an MHT then passed her boards for nursing and became an LPN. She has worked on the adult and child/adolescent units, the partial program and former RTF program in addition to assisting with collecting data and doing audits for risk management, quality management and performance improvement as well as worked with medical records and utilization review in the past. Angie really enjoys her current role "The patients and the teamwork displayed by staff is why I enjoy my job. The patient’s mental health matters to me. Being able to display empathy and kindness towards the patients during their stay is the most rewarding part of my job. I want to provide hope to all my patients. I work with an amazing team of staff that have their own individual strengths and compassion and I couldn’t do what I do without them. I am truly grateful to be able to help others in my position at CPC." Thank-you Angie, for helping our patients on their recovery journey for the past 25 years!

It's #FeatureFriday! Meet Amber, Certified Recreational Therapist. Amber has worked in the Allied Therapy Department for two years. Amber uses her creativity to incorporate recreation and leisure-based interventions into her treatment groups. Her favorite part of working at Clarion is the ability to work within a multi-disciplinary team. Amber explains, "Mental Health is so very near and dear to my heart being that I have personally struggled and have loved ones who have struggled and even lost their battle to mental illness. This led me to pursue a career as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) where I can implement a multitude of physical, musical, artistic and relaxation modalities in a way that benefits my patients' therapeutic needs." Congratulations, Amber, on your two year anniversary! 🥳

Congratulations to Char A., on her promotion to Lead Mental Health Technician! Char started at CPC in March 2023, and has displayed compassion, teamwork, and dedication to the promotion of providing excellent care to our patients.

#MeetTheTeamMonday presents, Kayla, DNP, MBA, MSN, RN, Director of Education & Training. Kayla is celebrating her 3 year anniversary in October. Kayla has the unique opportunity to work with each department in the hospital on a variety of projects and training opportunities, which help us enhance our workplace and the care we provide for patients. Kayla likes working at CPC for 2 reasons she explains "you won't find a more rewarding career than psychiatry. There is no more humbling experience than someone thanking you for giving them hope. Of all the things you can give someone in the world, the most important is a reason to continue in this journey of life and "you won't find an employer who cares about their patients and staff the way CPC does. . I have had so many unique opportunities working for this organization that I wouldn’t have had elsewhere. One that has been particularly meaningful is functioning as a Trauma Informed Care Master Trainer and training at different UHS facility each month on what it means to be trauma informed." Congratulations Kayla!

Meet the team Saturday presents, Sally, RN, Nursing Supervisor. Sally is celebrating her 4 year anniversary with CPC in October. She formerly worked in the areas of Oncology, Critical Care and Emergency Care. She enjoys working at CPC to help people overcome their struggles when they are at their most vulnerable. She comments, "Knowing you have made a difference to enhance someone’s everyday being brings me gratification and fulfillment in my devotion to nursing. I love working with the staff at CPC. They all have individual experiences that strengthen what they have to offer to our patients. They are cheerful, enthusiastic, and support each other as well as their patients. As a nursing supervisor I enjoy being in a position to support the staff and operations of CPC." Congratulations Sally!

It's #ThankfulThursday and we are grateful for our Board-Certified Music Therapist, Cara. She is celebrating her one year anniversary with CPC this month. Her favorite part of working at CPC is getting to see the patients' growth from the start of treatment to the end. Cara is always enthusiastic about helping others, she comments "Everyone comes in with a different story, and I like to think that we are all here to help them make it through this chapter of their book. The reflections they share in group invite all of us in to see the work that they have put in and I feel truly honored to be even a small part of their journey. I feel blessed that I get to help patients express themselves in less traditional ways to assist in developing various techniques to help them succeed. Every time I hear a patient say that Allied Therapy is their favorite part of their day, my heart sings a little. It is a such an honor to work for an organization that allows me to work in an environment that is filled with so many diverse specialties in one building. I strive for interdisciplinary teamwork and working at CPC allows me the space and support to do so." Congratulations Cara, and thank-you for helping our patients on their recovery journey!

We are proud of our facility and the mental health services we provide for our community. Our staff invite you to take a virtual tour of our facility and see how we may be able to help you with your mental wellness. We offer Behavioral Health treatment for Children, Adolescents and Adults. No-cost assessments are available, anytime of the day or night. Call us at 800-253-4906 or visit us online at clarioncenter.com.

Twenty-five of our staff are attending a three day training this week on #dialecticalbehavioraltherapy. They are learning the foundations of this evidence based practice to work toward enhancing our programming for patients. 3 of the 4 core DBT elements will be a part of our implementation; Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance and Emotion Regulation. Jessica, CEO comments, "I'm so proud of our team and how all of them continuously ask for more training to improve what we offer at Clarion Psychiatric Center!"

Meet, Tracy, Lead MHT, she is celebrating her 5 year anniversary at Clarion Psychiatric Center. Tracy was promoted last year to Lead MHT and a Verbal de-escalation instructor. Tracy comments "I love interacting with our patients and providing groups on ways to help them after discharge. I love being able to help people and watching them progress from admission to discharge is very rewarding. They leave with a thank you and a smile and you know you did something right." She also enjoys being able to guide and mentor other techs on the units. She originally started with CPC in 2001 and left in 2008 to have a matching school schedule with her boys. Once they graduated she returned as an MHT in 2019. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband Greg and their Chocolate Lab, Maverick on the farm. They raise 15 Black Angus and also have 4 granddaughters that keep them busy. Congratulations Tracy on your 5 year anniversary!