Page 27 - July Aug 2022 Newsletter Final_Neat

Continued from page 25 brutal orders against Afghans in a theater of war.
Although my own experiences with suffering were what had drawn me to medicine, I felt I had to cast off my per-
sonal pains and tangled identities to join the professional elite. I compartmentalized my personal identity away
from my professional one. I was afraid that if I did not, I might inadvertently fulfill my own needs at my patients’
expense and use our interactions to process my grief from being displaced by war. I did not see the utility of my inti-
mate pain in my role as a physician. I naïvely thought I could split myself off from my past and still remain whole.
After this patient encounter, I came to realize that my greatest strength, my finest therapeutic tool, was me—all of
me. And that an aptly placed personal disclosure, a moment of shared humanity between refugee and veteran,
could perhaps even save a patient’s life.
Along his road to recovery, my patient’s addiction, trauma, and deeds remained a part of him. But I wondered
whether his moments of darkness were what would eventually help him see even the faintest flicker of light. Just as
how I knew that without meeting him and encountering his pain, I may have never returned to myself.
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CSAP Legislative

Updates

The Children and Youth Behavioral

Health Initiative

Paul Yoder

As CSAP’s legislative advocates SYASL has reported in the CSAP Newsletter, in last year’s state budget the Chil-
dren and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative was announced with a $4.4B investment to enhance, expand and rede-
sign the systems that support behavioral health for children and youth.
The goal of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative is to reimagine mental health and emotional well-
being for ALL children, youth, and families in California by delivering equitable, appropriate, timely and accessi-
ble behavioral health services and supports with the following aspirations
• Advance Equity: ALL children, youth and their families have access to linguistically, culturally, and develop-
mentally appropriate services and supports

• Designed for Youth by Youth: Children and youth are engaged in the design and implementation of services
and supports; ensuring that programs center on their needs

• Start Early, Start Smart: The systems that support children, youth and their families act early by promoting pos-
itive mental health and reducing risk for more significant mental health needs and challenges

• Center around Children and Youth: Across all levels of government, child- and youth-serving agencies form
coordinated systems of care to deliver high-quality behavioral health programs responsive to the needs of youth
and their families

• Empower Families and Communities: People who teach, work with or care for children and youth are
equipped to recognize signs of poor mental health or substance use and know how to access supports

• Right Time, Right Place: Youth and children can access high-quality care and information when they need it —
including early mornings, evenings, and weekends and where they need it — including where they live, learn,
and play

Free of Stigma: Children, youth and their families can talk about their mental health and well-
Continued on page 29
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PSYCHIATRIC SOCIETY Page 27 July/August 2022