well, we have eight strategic initiatives at samhsa. one of them is indeed trauma and justice, making it clear that we believe that we have to deal with trauma as an integral part of the behavioral health strategy to assist people in need of services. so the strategic initiative lead is lar quong dr. lar quong, appointed to that role by pamela hyde, the administrator of the substance abuse and mental health services administration, with the focus on working not only with issues of domestic violence but also working with the issues of the criminal justice system because, indeed, as i mentioned, it's not the abuse excuse, it is trying to break the cycle. we spend a lot of money reincarcerating individuals who have primary issues that have never dealt with, so especially in nonviolent situations. we wanted to break that cycle and, as dr. harris pointed out, we also want to create a workforce that has a stable appreciation of traumatic phenomenon so that, again, we don't blame the child, we don't blame the wife, we don't blame the spouse wh

joan gillece, project director and principle trainer, samhsa national center for trauma-informed caree, md; tonier cain, team leader and director of peer/consumer involvement, samhsa promoting alternatives to seclusion and restraint through trauma-informed practice, rockville, md; dr. h. westley clark, director, center for substance abuse treatment, substance abuse and mental health services administration, u.s. department of health and human serviceses, rockville, m; dr. maxine harris, ceo and co-founder, community connections, washington, dc. dr. clark, what is trauma and how do we define trauma? the definition of trauma is a little ambiguous, but it's tied to specific adverse events that a person may experience or a community may experience, including disasters, physical or sexual abuse, or witnessing the above-mentioned. it's of that nature, it could be psychological as well as physical, and there are a wide range of issues associated with the definition. very good, and what are the various sources of trauma? well, the sources are similar to the precipitant. it could be from a rel

well, samhsa has eight strategic initiatives. we are focusing on everything from prevention right straight through to several different populations. we are looking at trauma and justice issues. we are looking at the military, because the military right now and the military families are really using the services that we have and are showing signs of both mental illness issues around depression and anxiety and suicide as well as addiction. and we know a little bit more about addiction, but we are really learning now some of the other areas of mental health. we're also focusing in on health electronics, technology so that we can start to speak to each other across all systems. so the doctors, physical doctors can talk to your psychiatrist. and we can ... and therapists can talk to other therapists, not only in the united states but across the world where there has been some other advances. and we're doing several other issues. we are looking at the recovery, which i know that you... this is why we are all here, to look further into

we have a saying in samhsa, which is, "behavioral health is essential to overall health." and that is our goal, is to help our country understand: by looking at and treating and preventing and intervening into behavioral health, substance abuse, and mental health issues, we will save our country a lot of money and a lot of health. and dr. greene, it really goes beyond the treatment of mental illnesses and alcohol and drug use disorders, correct? i mean, there are other complicating factors of individuals that have those problems that then develop or may already be in the dna of the person that has those problems and then the problems are exacerbated, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, is that correct? yes, the patients who have a mental health disorder may have other chronic illnesses and, as such, when they don't take care of their mental health, they may not take care of their overall body's health, too. other things may get ignored, and whenever you ignore a problem and let it fester, you can imagine that the cost to health care becomes triple that which you could ha

(music) go out of your way to find out what faces and voices and samhsa and your local organizations are doing for next year, for 2012, and-and do what you've got to do, you know, to get out there and say "hey, yes. we're in recovery. we do recover. we are active, productive citizens in your community. hear us." (music) it's such a special day in so many different ways. it's a community coming together, out in the sunshine in the city of providence, to say to all the residents of our great state that people in recovery are important, that the message of recovery and hope is possible for anyone. (music) from where it came from and taking recovery out of church basements and shadows, and putting it right in the biggest block party in the city of providence, it's mind-boggling, it's astounding, it's awesome. members of the recovery community in rhode island have all come out, and we've had wonderful speakers and a great day of celebration of the value and importance of support for people who are in recovery. actually seeing recovery in the heart of providence, on main street, bringing t

we have a saying in samhsa, which is, "behavioral health is essential to overall health." and that is our goal, is to help our country understand: by looking at and treating and preventing and intervening into behavioral health, substance abuse, and mental health issues, we will save our country a lot of money and a lot of health. and dr. greene, it really goes beyond the treatment of mental illnesses and alcohol and drug use disorders, correct?

(music) for a copy of this program or other programs in the road to recovery series, call samhsa at 1-800-662-help, or order online at recoverymonth.gov, and click multimedia. [applause] >> not a sunny day, a joyous day. good morning, everybody. we are under some time constraints because they are l -- mayor lee and members of the board have some additional responsibilities and i want to give them the opportunity to say a few words. there are a number of community leaders alike to a knowledge as well. i want to express gratitude for the court of appeals ruling today that strikes a devastating blow to the legal defense of proposition 8. the well reasoned decision reveals marriage discrimination for what it is. discrimination. it powerfully affirms the constitution goes a promise of equal protection under the law. this fight began eight years ago, almost to the day when they are gavin newsom will lead decided to issue licenses to same-sex couples. [applause] shortly after, san francisco would distinguish itself as the first government in american history to strike down marriage laws that

the definition for behavioral health for samhsa is we are taking the substance abuse and mental health prevention, intervention, and treatment programs, and we are encasing it within the disorder realm. so substance abuse, prevention, intervention, and treatment are exactly the same, same levels, and so is mental health. we are finding that mental health properties for prevention, especially, are very similar to the properties of substance abuse, and treatment is different in one respect, but the intervention to get people into treatment is very similar. it is similar, but there are differences between the treatment aspect of substance use disorders and mental illnesses, correct? yes, there are. we have different treatment centers for substance abuse. we often have centers for treatment. in mental health, mental health services are delivered by many different realms. we have medical homes that deliver services, we have community centers that deliver services. you don't see traditional structures like in the substance abuse world for treatment. dr. greene, what is the magnitude of menta

in fact, we do have a faith-based program at samhsa. the objective is to educate members of the faith community about a wide range of issues-mental health issues, substance abuse issues, and trauma- because we find that the ministers, the rabbis, the imams, the religious leaders do want to know because they're unable to have a positive impact if they're not aware of some of these issues. we don't ask people to change their philosophical or theological beliefs. we do want them to be familiar with some of the negative consequences that do result from physical abuse, sexual abuse, a violation of trust that happens in households, as miss cain pointed out. and i think it's significant what happens when you tell. were you believed? were you told to keep those dirty little secrets in the house, as dr. harris said, and how you were soothed when you told. there's many folks that we've worked with, many women in the criminal justice system were very clear when they were told they were not believed. they were told to keep that secret in the house.

and samhsa was very helpful in that and provided us with a grant to train our residents and our staff about screening, brief intervention, and referral for treatment. so when a patient comes in on whatever service... they may not have come in for an alcohol or substance abuse problem, but the results of the discussion may have been screening that patient just to see, is this person at risk? and once you have done that, you really go through a process of educating the residents and staff about how you can have open-ended questions, affirmative listening, reflective listening, that really allows a person to open up and tell you what is going on. now we know physicians and health care personnel are very busy, so the training was a consinct one, but it was effective. and the studies, especially in the trauma literature, show the reduction at the moderate-risk drinkers was very impressive, by allowing the physicians to come in and do these screenings and brief intervention. and the big thing we emphasize is that we are not telling the patient what to do. we are letting them know, we are gi