Vol. 19 No. 1 March 2005

Dear Reader,

In discussing the continuing struggle to care for acute psychiatric adult patients in my last News Digest column, I wrote that a "result of the state's 'reinvestment' in Lynchburg is a 42 percent increase in homeless people, many of whom are patients who were released from state psychiatric hospitals." This statement is misleading.

Instead, I should have written that because of the closing of state hospital beds and lack of services in the community, many patients are not receiving appropriate psychiatric care and are ending up homeless. I did not mean to imply that state hospitals are not doing a good job because they are.

By the time you receive this newsletter, we all will have a good idea of funding provided by the General Assembly for the care of the mentally ill and substance abuse patients in Virginia. We hope we will see some re-sults from our efforts to improve the resources for their care.

To your health,

Bill Semones
Vice President

Reduce stress by taking control
Change: Taking a positive outlook
By Cynthia Read Laurrell, Executive Director Employee Assistance of Central Virginia, Inc.




Process is longer, more difficult
Sudden loss complicates grief

Rev. Mark W. Beck, M.Div., M.Ed.





In quest for meaning, clergy can help
Grief and its impact on spirituality

Rev. Julie Flores, M.Div., Chaplain, Hospice of the Hills

Coping skills to help in healing
 
A child's grief
 
Routine helps sense of security
Children need support in time of loss

Cris Pacho, L.C.S.W., Family Therapist, Bridges Treatment Center




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