Cenpatico Blog

“The holidays can be difficult for anyone going through major life changes or economic issues,” said Terry Stevens, CEO of Cenpatico and a former child and family therapist. “There are many ways to inspire a more positive mood, and people shouldn’t simply resign themselves to feeling sadness.”

Stevens offers these five tips for combating the holiday blues:

Talk Things Out – Many adults experience “holiday blues.” If you’re not able to compensate for it in some other way, or feel that the “blues” might be drifting into depression, seek professional help through your physician or your community behavioral health agency.

Start New Traditions – If you’ve recently lost a loved one, if the holiday season is the anniversary of such a loss or if your living situation has changed in the past year and you are away from loved ones, try to start new traditions. These may not seem like much at first, but if you are able to repeat them over the next few years, they’ll begin to feel comfortable.

Participate When You Can – If you’re feeling blue, it’s difficult to have enthusiasm for social outings. Participate at a level that feels comfortable to you, but try not to isolate yourself entirely. A little participation might pick up your spirits.

Take Care of Yourself - Media messages can be overwhelming. This might be a good time to spend evenings with a good book or quiet music instead of watching television.

Volunteer Your Time - There are many social service programs for people in need during the holidays. Taking time to participate, if only for a few hours, can be a good way out of the doldrums.

This entry is filed under News.

AUSTIN, TEXAS– (Nov. 17, 2009)– Cenpatico was recently named as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas 2010.  This awards program is a project of TEXAS MONTHLY Magazine, the Texas Association of Business (TAB), the Texas State Council of the Society for Human Resource Management (TSC-SHRM) and Best Companies Group.

“We have an exceptional group of talented individuals at Cenpatico who are committed to our mission that ‘Together we can inspire hope for a better life’,” said Sam Donaldson Ph.D., CEO and President of Cenpatico.  “Our company is constantly growing and changing and we recognize that it’s crucial to preserve a culture where our employees feel valued, encouraged and have room to grow.”

This statewide survey and awards program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in Texas, benefiting the state’s economy, its workforce and businesses.

Companies from across the state entered the two-part process to determine the Best Companies to Work for in Texas.  The first part consisted of evaluating each nominated company’s workplace policies, practices, and demographics.  This part of the process was worth approximately 25% of the total evaluation.  The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience.  This part of the process was worth approximately 75% of the total evaluation.  The combined scores determined the top companies and the final ranking. Best Companies Group managed the overall registration and survey process in Texas and also analyzed the data and used their expertise to determine the final rankings.

Cenpatico will be recognized and honored at the Best Companies to Work for in Texas awards ceremony on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at the Texas Association of Business 2010 Annual Conference.  The final rankings will be announced at the luncheon.

This entry is filed under News.

It is hard to believe, but here we are in the eleventh month of 2009 and the busy holiday season is about to be upon us.  Before we become engrossed in all of the festivities, let us each take a moment to reflect on the important work that we are a part of at Cenpatico.

November is Children’s Mental Health Month and a time of Thanksgiving.  Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to express my thanks to all of our providers, caregivers and dedicated behavioral health staff to making the world a better place for the over one million children who are our members. It is important to remember that everything we do from the time we read our first email of the day, process a claim, run a report, take a phone call or attend a meeting, we are engaged in a process with the goal of providing needed services to vulnerable people, many of them children.

While our industry is taking a hit in the media as of late, it is my belief that we can be very proud of the work that we are doing.  Our time, energy and the majority of our resources are spent ensuring that members access good care and making sure that our providers are paid appropriately for doing so.  We know that services and supports for our members is what facilitates recovery and that behavioral health issues need not be life-limiting.

I am particularly grateful at this time for our providers who are the closest to our members and carry out some of the most important work imaginable.  I experienced this in a very personal way in the last month when a dear friend of almost 30 years and Cenpatico provider in our Kansas market, died unexpectedly.  At his memorial service the room was packed with people whose lives were changed by this dear man.  Most touching were the numbers of young people who came forward to pay tribute to a clinician who they felt literally saved their lives by listening, providing counsel and direction and most important, by inspiring hope.  They told of a man who went above and beyond the therapy session to intervene with caseworkers, teachers, employers to advocate for them.   The impact of his work was not celebrated on a daily basis and he did not seek recognition for it.  However, his legacy lives on in the thousands of lives he impacted through his work.   It is my hope that we can all feel that we are a part of such work as well.  So thank you all, for your dedication and hard work for our members.  Throughout the county people are better off today because of you.

Marsha McMann MSW

Director of Foster Care STAR Health

This entry is filed under Blog.

The Cenpatico Summer 2009 Quarterly report is now available which you can find in our Newsletters section or by clicking here. In this report we look at our Decision Making Process, Letting the Guidelines be the Guide, and Making Time for Members.

Past quarterly reports are also available on the Newsletters page.

This entry is filed under News.

Actress Glenn Close along with the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation (CABF), Fountain House, and Garen and Shari Staglin of IMHRO (International Mental Health Research Organization) have started Bringchange2mind.org in order to battle the stigma of Mental Illness.

Close, who’s sister and nephew both suffer from mental illnesses, started the campaign in hopes of providing people with misconceptions about mental illness quick and easy access to information that combats stigma and to provide people with mental illness access to information and support. (Listen to Glenn and Jessie’s story)

Actor/Director Ron Howard and singer/songwriter John Mayer have also contributed their talents to help this movement. Howard directed Bring Change’s first PSA which can be viewed here. Mayer’s song “Say” has become the anthem for the movement.

Bring Change is also asking others to share their story. Send them a video and it may be picked to be featured on the site. People can also share their story by going to Bring Change’s Message Board.

Bring Change 2 Mind is supported by many major mental health organizations including our friends at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Mental Health America, The National Institue on Mental Health (NIMH), The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and many others.

Cenpatico applauds Ms. Close and all that are working, as we do each day to Inspire Hope, Bring Change, and advocate Recovery, Resiliency, and Results.

This entry is filed under News.