At Center For Family Services, staff are recognized as the most valuable and greatest resource. The top workplace team at Center For Family Services consists of highly experienced experts in a variety of fields. Trusted staff are changemakers and thought leaders and are often the leading voice in how services are designed to best serve those in need. 

The Expert Angle offers an outlet for highly talented staff to share their knowledge with you. This forum is a place where content experts share information on topics that most closely resonate with the work they do. The Expert Angle is a collection of blog entries where our staff can explore the various entities of Center For Family Services’ mission and programs from the point of view of an expert in that role. The blog is a platform to help communities, individuals, and other social service professionals to learn and grow. 

Experiencing a Mental Health Crisis? 988 Lifeline is Available to You and Your Loved Ones

Posted on: | By: Zero Suicide Committee
The need for an emergency response can often come when we least expect it. When you fall down and can’t get up, you can call 911 for help. When you think someone is breaking into your home, you can call 911 for help. If you have or know someone who has been in a situation like this, you know how important it is to have a life saving service come to your assistance with just the push of three buttons on your phone. But what about mental health crises that arise when we least expect it?Every year millions of mental health crisis calls are made to 911. While there is a response available to help…
Blog Tags: Mental Health Assistance, Crisis Hotline, Accessible Care, Mental Health Crisis Signs, Emergency Response, Counseling and Behavioral Health Services

The Power of Resiliency

Posted on: | By: Donna Wess, LPC, LCADC Senior Program Director - Outpatient Zero Suicide Committee
“I can be changed by what happens to me.  But I refuse to be reduced by it.”  –Maya AngelouI love this quote by Maya Angelo. It sheds awareness to the fact that while everyone faces challenges, experiences trauma, and goes through difficult situations it does not need to define who you are.  When I think of the people receiving services at Center For Family Services, the one skill that I hope they strengthen is their resilience.  I want the children and adolescents, as well as the adults, we work with to be resilient.  I want them to be able to cope with all that life…
Blog Tags: Resiliency, Finding Strength, Self-awareness, Self-Regulation, Mental Agility, Strength of Character, Connection, Optimism

Coping with Stress

Posted on: | By: Carlos Erazo Project Coordinator - STOP School Violence
Ever felt stressed out? Did you ever think to yourself,” Oh wow what a week or day!”. Everyone faces stress from time to time and being an adult by no means exempts us from feeling a mixture of emotions on a regular basis. When we experience some ups and downs all sorts of emotions may come out, and dealing with these big emotions can increase our stress levels to an overwhelming feeling.Long-term stress can build up and cause adverse impacts on our mental health. In the suicide prevention field most of the time professionals focus on everyone else being safe and being in a good mental state…
Blog Tags: Managing Stress, Coping Mechanisms, Healthy Activities, Suicide Prevention, Techniques for Stress, mental health

Checking In On Your Mental Health: Tips and Resources

Posted on: | By: Zero Suicide Committee
There is so much going on in the world. Our newsfeeds are overloaded with updates of a lingering pandemic, shortages, the latest political drama, and horrific events taking place around the corner and across the globe. At times, it seems as if we are just getting used to the chaos.But, that doesn’t mean we aren’t impacted in some way. Maybe you have noticed that you aren’t sleeping well, maybe you find that you are easily irritated, or you feel more down than usual.  Maybe you are avoiding your friends and family. Or, maybe, like so many, you just feel overwhelmed.May is Mental Health…
Blog Tags: Mental Health Awareness, Responding to Stress, Tips For Managing Stress, Stress Management

Suicide Risk During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Posted on: | By: Heather McBeth, LCSW & The Zero Suicide Committee
Often times we associate depression symptoms as a risk factor for suicide. This is certainly an unfortunate truth but did you know that suicidal ideation is also relatively common among pregnant and postpartum women? When a common person hears of a woman being pregnant you typically associate that as a time of their life in which they are filled with joy and anticipation of meeting their new baby but for some women it can actually be one of the riskiest, and scariest times of their lives as suicide has emerged as one of the leading causes of death among new moms. While it is important to…
Blog Tags: Postpartum, New Moms, Suicide Prevention, Pregnancy Risks, mental health, Maternal Risks, Postpartum Mental Health

Grief In Spring

Posted on: | By: Amy Romaine, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, ACS, ATCS, BC-TMH , Clinical Supervisor, Grief and Traumatic Loss Services
Spring is often a time of rebirth or renewal. Nature begins its dance towards warmer weather here in the Northeast. People take stock of their homes and often engaging in some kind of “spring cleaning”: dusting off the radiators, cleaning out a pantry, reorganizing a closet. Sometimes folks take a look at their fix-it list and tackle minor repairs that have been lingering for a while. Occasionally those repairs require breaking or taking apart the object in need of repair to assess the root of the problem. There’s often a sense of hope or unburdening in these activities. Hope that the change…
Blog Tags: Managing Grief, Healing Process, Repair Methods, Dealing With Grief

Signs Your Child May be Depressed and Ways to Help

Posted on: | By: Staci Fattore, LCSW
While all children and youth go through different moods and emotional responses to daily challenges, coping skills like exercise, deep breathing, talking with friends and family, and listening to music usually help us feel better. However, when it becomes harder to manage our feelings; when we have difficulty going to work or school; when we do not want to see our friends and feel hopeless, these are all signs and symptoms of depression and may require an appointment with your doctor.  Depression can be experienced by anyone at any time. According to the World Health Organization (WHO),…
Blog Tags: Parent Tips, Childhood Wellness, Depression In Children, Youth Mental Health, mental health, Childhood Depression

What it Means to be a Social Worker

Posted on: | By: Richard Stagliano CEO, Center For Family Services
Social work has been part of my life for over forty years now. Part of what led me to the path of social work was the social unrest of the 1960’s. I found myself wanting to help advance social justice and better the lives of marginalized groups of people. My religious beliefs and family upbringing also motivated me to get involved in the field of psychology and mental health. When it comes down to it, I, like many others, was inspired to become a social worker because I wanted to make a difference, and have meaning in my life. The profession of social work is over 100 years old and has…
Blog Tags: Social Workers, Passion and Career, Helping Profession, Clients in need, Helping Services, Make a difference, Social Work practice, Caring career, Wellbeing and behavior, Advocacy

Handling Compassion Fatigue

Posted on: | By: Sile J. Keane, LCSW Vice President of Behavioral Health Services
Ever feel like you have nothing left to give?  Do you come home from work and feel exhausted? Have you found that you might tend to “snap” at your co-workers or people in your personal life?  Do you find that you procrastinate on things when feeling overwhelmed or unmotivated?  These can be signs of compassion fatigue.  For those who have careers in the helping profession, this is a very common experience Compassion fatigue is the term used to describe the emotional effect of helping others and taking on the emotions of their experiences in life.  We feel their…
Blog Tags: Compassion Fatigue, Careers in Care, Social Worker, Maintain Work Life Balance, Compassion and Social Workers, Fatigue Resources, Resources For Social Workers, Self Care

Dealing with the Winter Blues: Practical Solutions Part IIl

Posted on: | By: Richard Lange, Ph.D., LPC, LCSW
Be Still. Years ago, there was a food fad called a macrobiotic diet. It no longer exists as it is nutritionally unsound. However, one aspect of the diet remains: eating food from the season. If you followed this diet, you then would eat the food of the season:  spring, you would eat strawberries, lettuce, and berries and summer, what is available, moving through fall produce and finally in winter eating more root vegetables, and grains. While this diet is not recommended, there is some value in considering that seasons affect our emotional state.  We feel so blah in the winter…
Blog Tags: Mindfulness, Winter Tips, Seasonal Benefits, Positive Thinking
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