NEWS & NOTES

Note: Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center will observe Mental Health Awareness Month in May with stories of hope and recovery. Just like CPR training helps a layperson with no medical training learn life-saving skills, Mental Health First Aid helps a person with no clinical background know how to intervene when someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, such as contemplating suicide. That’s what Doug Stephens, a longtime Lawrence businessman, had to do when a friend

Patrick Schmitz knows he is joining some select company. Schmitz, 51, will become just the third CEO of the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center in nearly 40 years. He will succeed David Johnson, who is in his 17th year as CEO of the Bert Nash Center and is retiring the first of July. Johnson’s predecessor, Sandra Shaw, was CEO of the Center for more than 20 years. “I’m very excited,” Schmitz said. “The more I went through the process, and the more I found out about Bert

When his friend and mentor Maurice Joy asked him to join the Bert Nash Investment Committee in 1996, Bill Beedles didn’t hesitate to serve. “There was a resignation on the committee and he asked me to join, and I was thrilled to do so,” Beedles said. Then he was asked by Joy in 2010 to take over as chair of the Investment Committee. Again Beedles didn’t hesitate. “He didn’t have to ask twice,” Beedles said. “I was flattered.” Beedles went on to serve as the Investment Committ

Bert Nash offers a variety of group therapy options, depending on the evolving needs of Douglas County residents. One of the newest therapy groups is for transgender men and women. “We try to meet the needs of everybody who walks through the door,” said Amy Hammer, Adult Outpatient Program therapist who leads the new transgender group. The group started in January with seven people. “This is a group for transgender men and women who may have mental health concerns,” Hammer sa

When the Bert Nash Center was building its Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) programs in the 1990s, it received a lot of consultation and support from other program professionals who were ahead of the curve. Now, it’s returning the favor. “It feels very collaborative and collegial versus competitive and hierarchical,” said Juliet Nelson, who is the Bert Nash IOP/DBT team leader. “I think all of the practitioners who are sincerely invol