A Message from AJ Horvath, Interim President and CEO
The Board of Directors for any non-for-profit has both a tremendous responsibility and an important role for the organization. The National Council of Nonprofits describes the roles and responsibilities of a board in the following manner.
“Board members are the fiduciaries who steer the organization towards a sustainable future by adopting sound, ethical, and legal governance and financial management policies, as well as by making sure the nonprofit has adequate resources to advance its mission.”
At West Central Behavioral Health, we have a dedicated group of professionals volunteering their time to advance our mission. Board members do more than just come to meetings, they serve on committees, interface with the community and provide sound counsel to leadership on a variety of matters. I want to recognize this dedicated group of individuals and thank them for their thoughtful and excellent guidance during their terms of service with the organization.
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WCBH Board of Directors Spotlight |
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Anne Page
Retired Health Care Finance Executive
Anne Page leaves the West Central Board this month after serving nine years in the leadership role of Secretary/Treasurer. She retired in 2014 after serving as Vice President of Regional Finance at Dartmouth Health and a career in healthcare finance and public accounting. Dr. Will Torrey, Chair of the West Central Behavioral Health Board of Directors stated, “Anne has been a wonderfully engaged and effective board member who has provided skilled governance over the organization’s financial health for nearly a decade. We will miss her presence on the board’s leadership and are very grateful that she will continue to offer advice and historical perspective on the finance committee as a
non-board member.”
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Andrew Smith, PhD (Pictured top)
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine
Andrew Smith, a faculty member at the Department of Psychiatry at Dartmouth Health and Geisel School of Medicine, brings to the Board an interest in, and willingness to advocate for, Veteran’s wellness coupled with a passion for community mental health. With an undergraduate degree from Penn State, Smith received his PhD from Virginia Tech and is a Pat Tillman Military Scholar.
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Courtney Porter, MSW, M.ED., LSSW
(Pictured bottom)
School Social Worker SAU 6
Courtney (Court) Porter, a sixth generation Claremont, NH native, and currently serves as the school social worker for the Claremont school system. A UNH graduate, Courtney was selected Citizen of the Year (2019) and Social Worker of the Year (2020). Porter joined the Board in hopes of “honoring and removing the stigma of mental health, especially for youth."
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Improving Quality of Lives and Working Through
Life's Challenges
Our Claremont Adult Outpatient Clinic team provides individualized behavioral treatment for individuals ages 18 and over. One of the evidence-based behavioral health treatments used is Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).
DBT was developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan and is used to treat individuals with borderline personality disorder, PTSD, depression, and substance use disorder. Treatment is a combination of individual therapy, to reinforce skills and commitment, along with group skills training. Group therapy is focused on the four modules of DBT, which are mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation. DBT involves therapy, not medication.
Following the acquisition of these skills and stabilization, clients are supported to address trauma-related symptoms to ensure long-term success.
From clevelandclinic.org “Dialectical” means combining opposite ideas. DBT focuses on helping people accept the reality of their lives and their behaviors, as well as helping them learn to change their lives, including their unhelpful behaviors.
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with contributions from
Andrew Smith, PhD
If you are lonely, you are not alone.
But feeling more connected is within reach and could help improve
your health.
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Upcoming ASIST Training
with Granite Hope Veterans Coalition
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Careers at WCBH
We are hiring!
Pictured: Sue White, Director of Human Resources at WCBH.
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Congratulations to the City of Lebanon on the opening of the new low-barrier seasonal homeless shelter. We are grateful to be partners with cities that are committed to being part of the solution for those who struggle with being unhoused.
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Do you like what we're doing in our community? We're a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) charitable organization serving clients in the Upper Valley and Sullivan County, NH with clinics in Lebanon, Claremont, and Newport. No gift is too small. Visit our Giving page to learn more about gifts of stock or securities, or to designate West Central as a beneficiary in your will or estate plans.
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Sharing is caring...would someone you know benefit from To Our Good Mental Health newsletter?
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West Central Behavioral Health’s mission is to promote the health and quality of life of individuals, families and communities by providing treatment for mental illness and substance use disorders, while helping to reduce the stigma associated with these challenging conditions. |
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