Methodology/Theoretical Framework

Trauma Informed Care

Appleseed is committed to the trauma-informed care model both in treating its clients as well as promoting a trauma informed agency culture.

Trauma-informed care shifts the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” A trauma-informed approach to care acknowledges that health care organizations and care teams need to have a complete picture of a patient’s life situation — past and present — in order to provide effective health care services with a healing orientation. Adopting trauma-informed practices can potentially improve patient engagement, treatment adherence, and health outcomes, as well as provider and staff wellness. It can also help reduce avoidable care and excess costs for both the health care and social service sectors.

Trauma-informed care seeks to:

Realize the widespread impact of trauma and understand paths for recovery;
Recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma in patients, families, and staff;
Integrate knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices; and
Actively avoid re-traumatization.

There are a number of benefits to using a trauma-informed approach, not only for clients but also for providers and staff. Many clients with trauma have difficulty maintaining healthy, open relationships with a health care provider. For clients, trauma-informed care offers the opportunity to engage more fully in their health care, develop a trusting relationship with their provider, and improve long-term health outcomes. Trauma-informed care can also help reduce burnout among health care providers, potentially reducing staff turnover.

Source: Trauma Informed Care Implementation Resource Center

Motivational-Interviewing (MI)

Appleseed believes that the concepts in Motivational Interviewing of collaboration, evocation, autonomy align with overall mental health excellence.

“MI is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication with particular attention to the language of change. It is designed to strengthen personal motivation for and commitment to a specific goal by eliciting and exploring the person’s own reasons for change within an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion.” (Miller & Rollnick, 2013, p. 29)

The most current version of MI is described in detail in Miller and Rollnick (2013) Motivational Interviewing: Helping people to change (3rd edition). Key qualities include:

MI is a guiding style of communication, that sits between following (good listening) and directing (giving information and advice).
MI is designed to empower people to change by drawing out their own meaning, importance and capacity for change.
MI is based on a respectful and curious way of being with people that facilitates the natural process of change and honors client autonomy.

It is important to note that MI requires the clinician to engage with the client as an equal partner and refrain from unsolicited advice, confronting, instructing, directing, or warning. It is not a way to “get people to change” or a set of techniques to impose on the conversation. MI takes time, practice and requires self-awareness and discipline from the clinician. (Miller & Rollnick, 2009)

While the principles and skills of MI are useful in a wide range of conversations, MI is particularly useful to help people examine their situation and options when any of the following are present:

Ambivalence is high and people are stuck in mixed feelings about change
Confidence is low and people doubt their abilities to change
Desire is low and people are uncertain about whether they want to make a change
Importance is low and the benefits of change and disadvantages of the current situation are unclear.

Source: MINT Excellence in Motivational Interviewing

Systems Theory

Appleseed believes that viewing all persons through the lens of the systems that impact their day to day function is critical to fully implement excellent and holistic care.

Systems theory is an interdisciplinary study of systems as they relate to one another within a larger, more complex system. The key concept of systems theory, regardless of which discipline it’s being applied to, is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. What this means is that when holistically examining how smaller systems come together to affect the greater complex system, certain characteristics of the whole—the complex system—can not be easily explained or rationalized when looking singularly at any one of its systems—its parts.

A holistic approach to an individual’s personality, choices and hardships is important when it comes to successful social work. A social worker must look at all factors that come together in a unique way to shape their experiences and who they are. Social workers may employ Systems Theory to understand problems like child abuse, family issues and community dysfunction as they relate to individuals’ personal issues, such as anxiety, low self-esteem, self-harm or relationship issues. Based on systems theory, multiple practices have been created that are specific to social work.

Source: https://www.onlinemswprograms.com/social-work/theories/systems-theory-social-work/

Recent Updates

An issue that many high schools face today is students vaping. In the past the go to consequence for vaping, tobacco, or nicotine use was out of school suspension. More recently, Crestview High School has been adopting more restorative justice approaches as a response to student misbehavior. Appleseed Community Mental Health Center has helped us provide these kind of options for our students. Part of the response to students vaping has included having our students work with Jeremy Smith. Jeremy has addressed the social and emotional issues that are so closely connected to the misbehavior. Not only has this helped get the students back on track, but we have also been able to keep students in school.

Methodology/Theoretical Framework

Recent Updates

March is Social Work Month

February is Black History Month

Groundhog Day