MiraVista Behavioral Health Chief of Creative Strategy and Development Kimberley Lee joined “So That Reminds Me” hosts Chris Maza and Tyler Garnet on the latest episode.
Reminder Publishing photo by Dennis Hackett
On the latest episode of “So That Reminds Me” MiraVista Behavioral Health Center Chief of Creative Strategy and Development Kimberley Lee sat down with hosts Chris Maza and Tyler Garnet to talk all about the services MiraVista provides.
Lee explained that MiraVista, which is in Holyoke, is a “large standalone psychiatric hospital,” that was established in 2021 after Trinity Health decided to close Providence Behavioral Health Center and the owners of Taravista Behavioral Health purchased the building. She also talked about the growth of MiraVista over the years.
“Fast forward four years, we have grown exponentially. So, we offer 16 inpatient beds for adolescents who are between the ages of 13 to 17. If they are 18 and still attending high school, they will be admitted onto the adolescent unit,” Lee said.
She added that MiraVista has 88 beds for inpatient psychiatric treatment. In addition to inpatient services, Lee said MiraVista offers a variety of substance use related services.
“We also have a whole host of substance use programming as well. We have a very large opioid treatment program at MiraVista, we are dosing methadone, we are also dosing Suboxone, Vivitrol, Sublocade and Brixadi for other substances,” she said.
Lee added that MiraVista also offers one-on-one substance use counseling and an “intensive outpatient program,” that has morning and afternoon sessions Monday through Friday.
“It’s actually a lovely program that runs between Monday and Friday, so individuals attend at least three days a week,” Lee said. “It’s an opportunity for individuals to work together as a facilitated group with a master’s level social worker about their addiction, so understanding the disease of addiction.”
MiraVista also offers music therapy, art therapy and comfort dogs that come into the building. Additionally, MiraVista offers transportation for its outpatient services.
Lee added that MiraVista partners with other local organizations, including physicians’ offices, emergency departments, health and human services agencies and more.
“In terms of discharging patients, we also have to, and want to, maintain strong relationships with those individual agencies or entities that can then take our patients as part of a continuum of care,” she said. “So, working with other substance use programs or working with other nonprofit organizations, where when our patients leave us, they can have future helpful supportive services and programs.”
Lee also touched on the work that MiraVista did during May, which was Mental Health Awareness Month.
“Part of Mental Health Awareness Month is self-care and making sure that individuals are aware of how they’re feeling emotionally. So, we spent a lot of time during that month talking with staff and engaging with our staff on and around the concept of self-care,” she said.
To help raise awareness for the month, Lee added that MiraVista conducted a flag raising in Easthampton. While it was important to recognize the month, Lee said mental health is a topic that needs to be talked about consistently.
“While Mental Health Awareness Month gives us an opportunity for heightened awareness about how we are all feeling emotionally, it’s a conversation that should be had every day of the year, every month of the year, because mental health is indeed health,” she said. “I think back to those times in high school when it was test time or I was getting ready to present a paper, those butterflies would get going, suddenly my tummy would be upset, my head would hurt and that was because of anxiety.”
She added that it is important to talk about how you are feeling the same way you would about physical ailments.
“I think the more we can talk about it, the more we can erase that stigma that so many people still feel when talking about their mental health,” Lee said.
As June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, Lee talked about some of the unique challenges for men dealing with mental health issues.
“Men from an early age are really somewhat conditioned to be that rock, to be that sense of support, that individual help care for the family or who will be that sense of strength and will have to at all times appear to be strong, when in all actuality, openly talking about how men feel about their mental health,” she said.
Lee added that it is important for men to talk about their mental health with each other, in addition to speaking to professionals.
“There’s no weakness in that, if anything, it’s a sign of strength,” she said.
Lee also touched on the importance of helping adolescents with mental health over summer vacation with schools closing for the summer in the next couple of weeks.
“In school, young people have a sense of routine, they have consistency … they are really surrounded by a caring community of individuals who can support them and their mental health, and then suddenly here comes June and … suddenly that consistency is gone, that sense of structure and routine is gone,” she said. “Adolescents who really relied on those clubs or sense of community … suddenly that sense of community might not be at the same level or strength as it was at school.”
Lee said it is an important time for adult caregivers and the community to be aware of the young people in their lives and how they are feeling. For her own children, Lee said that even as adults they sit down once a week to ask how they are doing.
“It’s really just having somebody in your life you have a connection with and feel comfortable talking with,” she said.
Lee added that MiraVista’s motto for the summer is, “when school’s out, MiraVista is all in.”
To learn more about MiraVista’s services and to hear the full conversation, head to thereminder.com/our-podcast or search for “So That Reminds Me” on your favorite podcasting platform.
