WELCOME BACK!

Since I opened my private practice in Westford, MA back in January 2014, I have been fully absorbed in the incubator phase of growing this practice. There were many steep learning curves, including the mastery of health insurance, medical billing, clinical regulations, and compliance with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a US law designed to provide privacy standards). Truly, upon going into private practice, I entered a new universe full of opportunity and danger.

It was exciting, exhilarating, and sometimes a bit frightening. I could not have gotten through this without my Army of Angels, that is, first my prayer partners, then my mentors, and the National Association of Social Work (NASW) Private Practice Special Interest Group. The old adage is so true, “It’s the TEAM WORK that makes the DREAM WORK.” Thank you all!

So there was very little time for extra creative activities, including writing this newsletter, television shows, poetry slams. Some of you wrote to me and asked about this newsletter, and I was touched to hear that you missed it! Sweet, and sad, because I was humbled by my limitations of time and energy.

During this time, however, I did write and publish a few clinical articles for the NASW FOCUS journal, and was interviewed in a few publications as well.

Fast forward to today…now that I’m in a more rhythmic flow here, and have “mastered” the business of the clinical private practice model, I am getting back to this newsletter and sharing more good information publicly.

Behavioral Health: Best Practices Research

During this incubator phase I have been doing post-graduate research on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (“DBT”), which is a psycho-education program that has been empirically verified by rigorous science to reap the most successful results for improving emotional health and wellness.

I hope to live long enough to see this DBT curriculum taught in elementary schools someday, as I believe it would transform our world as we know it.

I had the privilege of studying with Dr. Marsha Linehan herself, who consolidated and developed this system of Emotional Regulation, Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness and Distress Tolerance.

To that end, I have been facilitating a weekly DBT Skills Group for Women since November 11, 2015. Our group has witnessed some amazing turnarounds, shifts, transformations and releases of negative programming over the year.

The DBT group has three 14 week trimesters per year. In each section I cover DBT Mindfulness plus one other module. The group is limited to 10 participants, and we have an open enrollment period three times a year. If you or someone you know is interested in this work, they can contact me for the details.

There is also a free periodic “Discover DBT!” evening a few times a year to provide an overview of this work to the community. The evening begins with a meditation to access Wise Mind, and then is followed by a review of the main principles of DBT.

Yes, I’m excited to be returning to this creative medium — I do love to write, explore and share what’s happening in my little orbit in the Lisa Lab of Life, most definitely an adventure in psychospiritual healing and recovery!

I look forward to seeing you again or hearing from you via email, phone or social media. It’s all good!