May is Mental Health Awareness Month. At Anchor House, all youth and young adults are given a mental health screening during intake and can be connected to therapy, both onsite or offsite.
For Mental Health Awareness Month, we wanted to spotlight Carol Blum, PsyD, a clinical psychologist with 35 years of experience working with youth and young adults with anxiety, depression, ADHD and learning disabilities. She has been sharing her expertise in the mental health field as a volunteer with Anchor House. Carol discovered Anchor House through our Board Vice President Elaine Tanimura who spoke highly of the way our organization was run and how Anchor House was exploring expanding our mental health services.
Carol’s focus has been mainly working with Mereides Delgado, our Director of Young Adult Services, and the Anchorage Transitional Living Program (TLP) designed to help young adults 18-21 experiencing homelessness and aging-out of the child welfare system to secure housing and gain independence.
Carol’s guidance complements and enhances the mental health care and services Anchor House is offering these young adults.
Since September, Carol has been meeting with Mereides every other week to discuss the mental health challenges her residents are facing and provide strategies Mereides and her staff can use when addressing these challenges. Carol noted that many of the young residents are struggling with abandonment issues, depression, and PTSD. Carol offers her perspective as a psychologist on approaches staff can take as well as ones based on clinical research.
Carol has also been helpful in providing suggestions on how staff can navigate the dynamics in the house which can be difficult given that most residents have endured multiple traumas and are also learning to live together under one roof. She applauded Mereides and the Anchorage staff for taking her suggestions and “running with them.”
Another focus on the Anchorage TLP is for the young residents to develop goals. Together, with their Case Manager, the TLP residents create a case management plan. Each youth is actively involved in the development and planning of their personalized case management plan and identifying goals and specific methods for achieving them. “We want to present them with information to engage them in developing long-term goals, not just ones that are immediately pleasurable,” said Carol.
Carol also discussed how she is working with staff on recognizing signs of what may be more serious mental health issues like depression. For instance, if a resident does not want to get out of bed in the morning, some may view it as just typical teenage behavior. For our youth, Carol explained, “they might not believe in themselves.” Carol explained that since many of the youth have been mistreated and abandoned, they do not feel hopeful about the future, which is why goal setting might be difficult for them. Young adults in need of counseling for issues like depression are connected with a Therapist onsite at Anchor House or offsite if needed or requested. It is also why Case Managers use a Positive Youth Development approach when working with young adults like the ones in Anchorage which emphasizes self-determination and strengths, and consistently support them in identifying strengths and using those skills towards personal growth, development and success.
“I enjoy working with Mereides, sharing my experience and working in a different setting,” Carol said.
“Carol is such an asset to the work that we do,” said Kim McNear, Anchor House Executive Director. “With compassion and expertise, she brings her clinical skills to the heart of our mission, not only helping our youth but also our staff.”
We are thankful for Carol for volunteering her time and sharing with Anchor House her expertise.
