A Publication by PA Treatment & Healing

www.pathtochange.org

June 2009, Volume 1, Issue 20

From the President’s Desk..

The Source of the Infection

Recently I was told a story about a horse that was seriously injured.  Its journey back to recovery reminded me so much of our mission at PATH. One day, the horse accidentally kicked a wooden fence, wounding its leg very badly.  His owner applied some ointment and bandaged the wound.  After a week, instead of getting better, the horse continued to get sicker and sicker. Eventually it went down.  The owner called the vet and explained the situation.  The vet prescribed a strong antibiotic for the horse to take twice a day orally to kill the infection. 

Despite this action, the horse still continued to be sick.  Desperate to save his horse, the owner loaded him onto the trailer and drove him to the animal hospital.  The vet determined the infection to be so serious that he needed to operate right away to save its life.  He sedated the animal and began to operate on the wound.  After digging and cutting away, he found and removed a chunk of wood that was imbedded deeply beneath the surface of the infected wound.  Without getting to the true source of the wound, the horse really had little to no chance of getting better. The oral antibiotics provided minimal help.   

For me the injury to the horse’s leg equates to the emotional wounds that are driven deeply within our clients’ hearts. They are very real and toxic but often not outwardly visible.  Many of our clients have been prescribed a therapeutic equivalent of an ointment or antibiotic; but until they receive treatment aimed at the true source of the infection, their wounding will continue to worsen and infect their thoughts, feelings, and all their behaviors and actions.  Although it is never pleasant to dig in and uncover the root of the emotional wound, it is absolutely necessary in order for our clients to truly heal.

I have shared this analogy with several of my clients and they indicated that it helped them to visualize that they too have been treating the symptoms of the wound, hoping to get better, instead of going to the source of the infection and cutting it out.  Our clients emotional hurts, like that chunk of wood, must be uncovered, brought to the surface and excised in order for complete healing to take place. No other form of treatment will have quite the same impact or effect.    

“…lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many will be defiled” (Hebrews 12:15)

 All my best,

Jerilyn

Jerilyn A. Keen

President

Board of Directors

Timothy Gage

Chairman  

Jerilyn Keen

President  

Joseph Pugliese

Director

Fred Martin

Director

Mary Tiffin-McGarrity

Director  

Chris Bingaman

Director

Dr. Chris Boyatzis

Director  

Gene McCarty

Treasurer

Erica Frey

Secretary

Advisory Committee

Jerilyn Keen

Scott Constantini

Stephen Gaito

Robert Vanderwall

William Rossnock

Joseph Talarico

Dr. Liz Ciaravino

Thomas Bell

William Weber

Larry Weidman

John Gigunto

Matthew Yonkin

Mental Health Director- Dr. Frederick Maue

Medical Director- 

Dr. Vikas Passi

Psychological Consultants

Dr. Matthew Emery & Associates

Dr. Antoinette Hamidian

Roger Smothers & Twin Tier Psych Services

Dr. Sara Camaerei

Lycoming Therapuetic Wrap Around Services, Inc.

Pamela McCloskey

Dr. Hugh Smith & Associates

Karen Livingood

Dr. Elizabeth Ciaravino

Dr. Jennifer Hartey

Dr. Kenneth Kindya

News from our Corporate Office…

We are excited to share that we recently received word that the Middleburg Halfway House is now a PA Association of County Drug and Alcohol Administrators, Inc. (PACDAA) approved Halfway House!  We are now able to contract with any Single County Authority (SCA) within the state of PA!  We have been working hard at getting the word out to the 49 SCAs within the state and have received calls of interest from Somerset, Bradford/Sullivan, Delaware and Franklin/Fulton D&A Abuse Commissions.! We are anticipating to develop new working relationships for the 2009-2010 contract year with several of the SCAs to provide this much needed service within the state!  We also had the pleasure of hosting Dora Housekeeper, Franklin/Fulton, at the Halfway House on June 18, 2009.  She seemed very interested in the program and extended an invitation to attend their yearly provider training to present the Halfway House to all those in attendance!  The Caron Treatment Center, Wernersville , PA has also expressed an interest in the Halfway House and has since added our facility to their list of potential referral sources for pending discharges!

The Halfway House also recently received word that we were awarded an additional $11,603 worth of general Title I money for the 2009-2010 year!  The funding is to assist our qualified residents in excelling academically and therapeutically!  This money will be used to help pay for the teacher salary/benefits, curriculum, educational field trips, reference materials, etc!  

On June 3^rd, a fantastic Art Therapy Training was conducted by Deborah Kann Nelson, M.Ed., ATR-BC, CAC, at the Corporate Office!  PATH employees who attended this training were taught therapeutic artistic activities to use in the treatment of their clients and were also given the opportunity to participate in the activities themselves during the training. The trainees overwhelmingly felt as though this training gave them lots of great ideas and expressed their excitement to take what they learned back to the Centers! Many people also shared that they would be very interested in an advanced Art Therapy Training to learn more techniques and activities!  

On June 10^th, the Clinical Supervisor’s gathered for their monthly meeting and a discussion was held regarding the recent OMHSAS licensing review. The Clinical staff were also given accolades for their hard work throughout the past year!  It was a great day of collaboration and the Clinical staff are looking forward to great things in the coming year. The upcoming July meeting is scheduled to be a “work session” where the Clinical Supervisors will be updating and developing our curriculum.

President Jerilyn Keen continued to strengthen PATH staff’s knowledge of the Path of Life Model as she held another successful Relationship Based CBT Training on June 24^th! President Keen walked through the model and discussed how to use it to help heal clients and get them on the path to change!  Those who were in the training expressed that they now have a better understanding of the model and feel more equipped to walk their clients through the pain and anger of their past and to help them start the healing process.  

Client’s Corner (A Brief Client Testimonial)

I have come a very long way. I want to say thanks to PATH for helping me find out who I really am and for teaching me how to be a man. PATH also taught me life skills, budgeting my money, and spending money wisely. They also made my recovery really strong and taught me that I have to get a sponsor and surround myself with positive people. I want to say thank you to the whole PATH team because, no matter what, you helped me- if you know it or not.

J. M.

PATH Client

Middleburg Halfway House

This is “What’s Happening” at our Centers…

PATH - East Stroudsburg: The East Stroudsburg center held our end of the year Awards and Graduation Ceremony on June 10^th and it turned out be a wonderful event again this year! We successfully said goodbye and congratulations to our 6 seniors and gave out various achievement awards to many deserving students!  We were excited to have over 40 parents in attendance, along with several representatives from referring districts and agencies! Many of the parents of our graduates shared how the Alternative Education Program and its staff members helped their children to reach this huge milestone. Mrs. Standiford’s class recently completed a full wall mural of the solar system for an end of the year science project and it looks great! (See pictures.) Our Day Treatment and Intensive Adolescent (IA) clients are busy working on our journal entry and poetry contests that end on the 19^th! Case Workers, Micah Ash and Randy Greene, have been putting a lot of energy into their groups with the clients! The groups have been focusing on emotional intimacy, gratitude, and life changing events. We are excited about the impact these groups will have on the kids and appreciate their hard work!

PATH - Honesdale: We were happy to end our Alternative Education Program (AEP) school year on a very successful note! Out of the 19 students who were enrolled in the program, 26% are graduating, 42% are being recommended to return to their home school district, 16% have met their goals but still need to complete the remaining time on their suspension! Our AEP staff did a tremendous job in ensuring all of the students met their academic requirements for the year! Great Job Team! Both the students and staff enjoyed our end of the year festivities as we held a celebratory BBQ on June 4^th and then congratulated our seniors with a small graduation ceremony the following day!

On June 6^th, our clients participated in a Revitalization Project in Prompton Dam in Wayne County. Regional Director, Scott Constantini, Livio Viola, and two of our clients worked alongside other volunteers to help the Forestry Service Department with this event. This project involved dropping trees into the lake as a way of restoring the eco-system. Our clients are also planning to help with the local Habitat for Humanity’s annual yard sale on June 26^th-27^th.  Our clients have assisted with this event for the past two years by helping with set up and we are happy to help again this year! The Day Treatment staff have also been busy preparing for the upcoming transition to summer hours and developing group schedules and activities for the next two and a half months. The staff are working hard to keep a strong normative culture as clients are being continually added and discharged at this time.

PATH - Milton: The Milton Center has been busy working to develop the relationship with new referral source Northumberland County MH/MR!  Recently, Regional Director, Robert Vanderwall, and Program Manager, Jonathan Sharpe, were able to meet with staff and supervisors from Northumberland MH/MR to promote the Intensive Adolescent Program.  Since then, the Milton center has been excited to see several referrals from this agency!  As usual, our team is working hard to provide the highest quality services to all of the individuals that have been referred to the program.  In the Alternative Education Program, Teacher Kurt Eck and his students finished their physics class with a Rocket Launch!  All of the clients were given the opportunity to design and build their own model rockets!  The entire class then launched their rockets in a field.  The students were responsible for tracking trajectory, height, and velocity of all of the rockets launched and students whose rockets performed especially well received awards!  Students found out that hard work pays off as all of the students whose academic performance was above expectations were recently treated to a day at Hershey Park as reward!  The students had a blast riding the coasters and dodging the rain!  To celebrate the graduation of our seniors, the staff arranged a special day at Halfway Dam where a Commencement Ceremony and lunch took place. Congratulations to our graduates!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

PATH - Scranton: The Scranton Center would like to thank their Alternative Education Program staff for doing such a wonderful job providing our students with an excellent education curriculum! The students were also able to enjoy a variety of extracurricular activities throughout the year including: basketball tournaments, art projects, and ice cream socials! Our center said goodbye to 4 graduating seniors this year who we are very proud of! Congratulations  “Fluffy” (Dave), “Chubs” (Ryan), “Twigs” (Alex), and “Freaky” (Keith)! A graduation ceremony was held in the school gym where staff, clients, and the parents of the graduating clients were in attendance. Thank you to everyone that contributed to the success of this event! Our staff members are now busy completing end-of-the-year paperwork and preparing for the start of another great school year in September! The summer has started out with a therapeutic bang in the Intensive Adolescent Program! Our clients have been working hard with staff on learning and applying the Path of Life model to their treatment goals. The clients have also been engaged in power modeling groups and activities in which all available staff in the building have been participating! These groups and activities have been promoting diversity and helping to build a sense of community and camaraderie between the staff and clients.

PATH - South Montrose: Our clients recently had a great time at our annual End-of-the-Year Field Day BBQ! The students were able to participate in basketball and dodge ball and had a lot of fun!  We are all happy to be wrapping up another successful year and would like to wish the students who are returning to their home school districts in the fall the best of luck!

PATH - State College: The State College Center is working hard on expanding and creating relationships with referring agencies! Our center was also happy to be recognized at a recent local county meeting where a little bit about our program, approach, and the different programs we offer was shared with those in attendance. Our staff members are very excited about the summer schedule they have created consisting of educational and therapeutic activities. We are planning on visiting the Nature Center; taking trips to natural landmarks such as the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon and the PA Nation Military Museum; and doing lots of community service! Our clients are also going to be getting the opportunity to meet several of the players from the State College Spikes, the Single “A” affiliate of the Pittsburg Pirates! Over the next few weeks, the Spikes players will be visiting our center to talk to the clients about overcoming obstacles and perseverance. Our clients will then be attending a game in July where they will be throwing the first pitch! The clients also recently completed a community service project of cleaning up the Oakwood and Bald Eagle state park.  We are also scheduled to clean up at the Black Moshannon state park, help at an Arts Festival, and clean up at the State College Spikes stadium. Our center would like to congratulate Clinical Supervisor Jessica Montrella and her husband on the birth of their daughter, Isabela Rose!  Both mother and baby are doing great!

PATH - Williamsport: The Alternative Education Program’s 2008-2009 school year has come to a successful close! On May 22^nd, our seniors finished the year by presenting their senior projects to a panel of judges. The students presented projects on landscaping, recycling, journalism, and mural painting. Overall, they were a success! We would like to congratulate our graduating seniors for a job well done! On June 3^rd, the AEP students and staff traveled to Hershey Park and, despite the rain, everyone had a wonderful time! To wrap up the school year, the students participated in vocational skills training. Students had lessons in the culinary arts, carpentry, and even clerical organization! We would like to thank the AEP staff for all of the effort they put in to making this year a great one! We hope everyone has a wonderful summer and we look forward guiding students on a positive path to change in the 2009-2010 school year! Due to the continued referrals we have been happy to be receiving for the Intensive Adolescent Program, the Day Treatment staff would like to welcome two new members to the team; Social Worker, Christie Peck, and Community Monitor, Clayton Steward.  Special thanks go out to Clinical Supervisor, Cleveland Way, for all his hard work and dedication over the past month!  The Day Treatment Community has started its summer hours and all are looking forward to the change!

OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM

Each month we feature a member of our Management Team as a way to honor their dedication and commitment to making our Agency the very best it can be!  This month we highlight

Denise Scott, Clinical Director

Denise graduated from Bloomsburg University with a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Sociology and then went on to earn a Master’s degree in Exceptionalities. She is also currently working on earning her PhD. in Human Services with a concentration in non-profit administration at Capella University and is only a year away from completion!. Denise is a Certified Addiction Counselor Diplomate and has gained an extensive background in drug & alcohol counseling through her years of experience.  Denise began her career in the field of social work in 2001 as a substance abuse counselor at White Deer Run.  In 2003, she also began working as a Mobile Therapist for Keystone Service Systems. Denise then left her position at White Deer in 2004 and became a Case Manager for the West Branch Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission.  In 2005, Denise also became a consultant for Northumberland County Drug and Alcohol.  Denise then began working for PATH as a Clinical Supervisor in 2007 and continued with that position until last November, when she was promoted to Clinical Director due to her continuous hard work and expertise.

Denise is also involved in the community as she is a part of the Lycoming County  Underage Drinking Court Advisory Committee. In the little bit of free time this working girl has left, Denise enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and spending time with friends! She loves to learn and challenge herself to become better at whatever she does. Denise is also a fan of the Eagles and the beach!  

Denise’s thoughts on PATH’s mission and purpose: “Path has been instrumental in serving the youth across the state of Pennsylvania for over 25 years. The mission of the organization recognizes the areas of need for youth facing emotional and behavioral difficulties. Our diverse population requires a broad approach that encompasses all areas of need within the family. Working with the American family and for the American family will lead our youth toward a brighter future, guiding them on the Path to Change.”

PATH has made another giant stride in concreting our presence in the community! On Thursday, June 25th, President Keen and Corporate Business Manager, Joshua Weisen, accepted a donation of $1000 from Sam's Club!  The event was held in honor of the re-opening and remodeling of the Sam's Club store in Muncy. In attendance was the mayor of Muncy, Anthony G. Rizzo, members of the corporate team for Wal-Mart, the Muncy Legion Color Guard, and several other non-profit organizations and businesses in the community that were also grant recipients. Over $17,000 in local grant donations were made by Sam's Club/Wal-Mart during the ceremony. President Keen gave a brief thank you speech for the donation where she took full advantage of the opportunity to shed the Bethesda name that we have been associated with and claim our presence publicly as PA Treatment and Healing.  Staff from the Corporate office and Milton center occupied a stand with information pamphlets, a large display with information about our programs and pictures to show our programs in action.  Thank you to Heather Bickhart, Michele Barrows, Erica Frey, Tiffany Hesseck, and Jon Sharpe for volunteering their time to help with the information stand and allowing us to make a presence at the event for two days! PATH will continue to strive for opportunities and donations in the coming year as we continue to take strides and opportunities to build community relationships and strengthen our program one step at a time!

President Jerilyn Keen, Human Resources Manager - Heather Bickhart, 

& Corporate Business Manager - Joshua Weisen

Corporate Business Manager, Joshua Weisen, would like to give a standing ovation to the PATH company for an accident fre e month from May 8th, 2009 to June 6, 2009!!! Great job team and great job to the Safety Committee for relaying the information back to their sites and keeping everyone informed and safe! Let's keep this trend alive and kicking!

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH….

The following staff were also nominated for Employees of the Month for June:

Ø  Dolores Frick, Teacher’s Aide, Honesdale

Ø  Michael DiMattia, Day Treatment Supervisor, Scranton

Ø  Brenda Darrow, Teacher’s Aide, South Montrose

Ø  Megan Coatman, Secretary, State College

We thank these staff for their dedication to our Agency!

Welcome to our family...

Clayton Steward, Community Monitor, Williamsport

Christie Peck, Social Worker, Williamsport

“The more a man knows, the more he forgives.” - Catherine the Great

 

 

Simply donate your empty ink cartridges 

& PATH will earn $3.00 for each one!

July 8, 2009 - Clinical Supervisors (work session)/D&A Meeting - E. Frey & Michele Barrows

July 15, 2009 - Manager’s Meeting - J. Keen

July 22, 2009 - Dean’s Meeting - AEP Training

July 29, 2009 - Individual & Group Counseling - E. Frey & J. Keen  PCB

August 5, 2009 - Trauma and Loss - Denise Scott  PCB

Interested in receiving daily reminders, sports scores, weather forecasts, or even daily jokes on your cell phone?  Check out this awesome service by going to the PATH website at www.pathtochange.org and clicking on the post it mobile logo under the news section!