NatCon17 Is Coming & I’m Going on an Airplane!!!!
In behavioral health, you have to keep learning
So much is happening in the behavioral health world right now that it’s hard to keep track - potential public health funding changes, the potential for Big Data in mental health, new controversial medications and debates about the underlying causes and best treatments for depression, schizophrenia, addiction
and more. And when I have a difficult time keeping track of everything,
I go to a great conference. This has been true since my graduate school
days, when the one to two annual conferences our lab group would attend
energized and informed me well into the next year of research and
discovery. Conferences are the places where I get exposed to new ideas
to inform and expand my views - they’re my fountain of youth for ideas.
This year, I am going to Seattle to attend NatCon17, the annual conference put on by the National Council for Behavioral Health. I’ve been wanting to go for years, but it’s just never worked out (too busy doing my Alternatives clinical and office work to get away). This year I’m making it, and I’m excited! My primary focus is obviously on addiction, and NatCon has a whole track dedicated to this topic along with nearly 30 sub-topics, ranging from medication-assisted treatment to housing solutions,clinical workflow and supervision tools. But tracks related to children, youth and families, public policy, criminal justice and crisis response are incredibly important for those of us on the ground as well. NatCon rounds out the incredible content with talks by experts on marketing, outcomes measurement, and quality improvement that will be sure to help those in the field who are either new to these topics or seeking a fresh look (aren’t we always?).
I’m attending at least two days of the conference, and truthfully, I sometimes lose steams after the first two days of a conference this jam-packed. But where else can you get to see Kimberly Johnson (Director of SAMHSA), Judy Collins, Patrick Kennedy, Maia Szalavitz and Vivek Murthy (our Surgeon General) all in one place?! It’s going to be entertaining and educational at the same time!
In preparation for the conference, I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to have a short conversation with Linda Rosenberg, The Council’s President and CEO. We addressed some of the topics I believe are the most important this year, especially with the new introduction of the GOP’s AHCA (American Health Care Act), which aimed to substantially cut funding for Medicaid and remove the mental health coverage requirements for our most vulnerable. Thankfully, the AHCA didn’t garner enough support to warrant a vote in the House of Representatives last week. But Linda, feeling that Trump’s new budget is the most draconian since WWII (in terms of cuts to entitlements) is wary of the implications that such a budget might have on the poorest and the neediest. Linda feels that there is an unfair view that “anyone who is getting entitlements is living “high on the hog” even though Medicaid by and large covers the most critical aspects of health care—two-thirds of nursing care days for those who have run out of money and one-quarter of childbirths are paid for by Medicaid. My wife Sophie and I actually had our first child with the help of Medical when I was still a starving graduate student, so I know firsthand the level of support these programs provide. This new turn in the AHCA is especially worrisome given the most recent Surgeon General’s report on the addiction crisis that finally cemented, or “vindicated and corroborated” as Linda put it, what we in the field have known for decades.
When the discussion moved to addiction treatment modalities, things got interesting. While Ms. Rosenberg is supportive of 12-step treatment, saying that “we did what we knew” for a long time, she seemed to also fully recognize that alternative strategies like medication-assisted treatment (which she believes might be getting a little too much attention at the moment), cognitive-behavioral therapies, and breaking the stigma are vital to improving care for addiction. All in all it was clear that Ms. Rosenberg,and the Council in general,are at the forefront of advocating for the sort of attention that mental health requires, especially in this time of uncertainty.
When I get to NatCon17, my plan is to get a few moments with some of the big speakers in order to get their take on the challenges we are facing in this interesting time of ever-increasing knowledge coupled with very slow change in actual care. It should be obvious that without organizations like the National Council and others, the voices of those of us working hard to change mental health and addiction care in this country would be drowned out by interest groups and political wrangling.
This is what conferences like these were created for. I’ll be writing more follow-up pieces after the conference, armed with new knowledge. I can’t wait to see you all in Seattle!
This year, I am going to Seattle to attend NatCon17, the annual conference put on by the National Council for Behavioral Health. I’ve been wanting to go for years, but it’s just never worked out (too busy doing my Alternatives clinical and office work to get away). This year I’m making it, and I’m excited! My primary focus is obviously on addiction, and NatCon has a whole track dedicated to this topic along with nearly 30 sub-topics, ranging from medication-assisted treatment to housing solutions,clinical workflow and supervision tools. But tracks related to children, youth and families, public policy, criminal justice and crisis response are incredibly important for those of us on the ground as well. NatCon rounds out the incredible content with talks by experts on marketing, outcomes measurement, and quality improvement that will be sure to help those in the field who are either new to these topics or seeking a fresh look (aren’t we always?).
I’m attending at least two days of the conference, and truthfully, I sometimes lose steams after the first two days of a conference this jam-packed. But where else can you get to see Kimberly Johnson (Director of SAMHSA), Judy Collins, Patrick Kennedy, Maia Szalavitz and Vivek Murthy (our Surgeon General) all in one place?! It’s going to be entertaining and educational at the same time!
In preparation for the conference, I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to have a short conversation with Linda Rosenberg, The Council’s President and CEO. We addressed some of the topics I believe are the most important this year, especially with the new introduction of the GOP’s AHCA (American Health Care Act), which aimed to substantially cut funding for Medicaid and remove the mental health coverage requirements for our most vulnerable. Thankfully, the AHCA didn’t garner enough support to warrant a vote in the House of Representatives last week. But Linda, feeling that Trump’s new budget is the most draconian since WWII (in terms of cuts to entitlements) is wary of the implications that such a budget might have on the poorest and the neediest. Linda feels that there is an unfair view that “anyone who is getting entitlements is living “high on the hog” even though Medicaid by and large covers the most critical aspects of health care—two-thirds of nursing care days for those who have run out of money and one-quarter of childbirths are paid for by Medicaid. My wife Sophie and I actually had our first child with the help of Medical when I was still a starving graduate student, so I know firsthand the level of support these programs provide. This new turn in the AHCA is especially worrisome given the most recent Surgeon General’s report on the addiction crisis that finally cemented, or “vindicated and corroborated” as Linda put it, what we in the field have known for decades.
When the discussion moved to addiction treatment modalities, things got interesting. While Ms. Rosenberg is supportive of 12-step treatment, saying that “we did what we knew” for a long time, she seemed to also fully recognize that alternative strategies like medication-assisted treatment (which she believes might be getting a little too much attention at the moment), cognitive-behavioral therapies, and breaking the stigma are vital to improving care for addiction. All in all it was clear that Ms. Rosenberg,and the Council in general,are at the forefront of advocating for the sort of attention that mental health requires, especially in this time of uncertainty.
When I get to NatCon17, my plan is to get a few moments with some of the big speakers in order to get their take on the challenges we are facing in this interesting time of ever-increasing knowledge coupled with very slow change in actual care. It should be obvious that without organizations like the National Council and others, the voices of those of us working hard to change mental health and addiction care in this country would be drowned out by interest groups and political wrangling.
This is what conferences like these were created for. I’ll be writing more follow-up pieces after the conference, armed with new knowledge. I can’t wait to see you all in Seattle!
