Holz told me that the team began working with Suzanna back in March. Holz, who introduced King to Suzanna, was the leader of that team, and she’s employed by the People Concern, a full-service provider of housing and mental health services. Long before King met Suzanna, she was on the radar of an outreach team of social workers, psychiatrists, nurses and mental health specialists from city, county and nonprofit agencies. Suzanna’s case, in fact, is a study in how much work is involved in rescuing someone. And it would be a mistake to assume that simply medicating or arresting people can be a panacea. The woman in Silver Lake, by the way, was hospitalized and remains in treatment.īut there’s a tendency to think that simple solutions exist for a human catastrophe with a thousand different causes. I understand that frustration in a region where sprawling encampments and full-blown mental breakdowns are a common sight, and I do believe that in some cases, involuntary commitments are the only way to save lives. After the column ran, I heard from readers, as I often do on this topic, who said that if she was known to be using drugs and creating disturbances, police should have put a stop to it, and that if she was mentally ill and needed help, she should have been picked up and committed for psychiatric care. ![]() Last week I wrote about a homeless woman after Silver Lake residents alerted me that she was often naked and disoriented, and that she had been seen crawling across Sunset Boulevard, in grave danger. I’m sharing Suzanna’s story because in a county with 60,000 homeless people, three or four of whom die each day on average, it’s just so good to hear about a successful intervention. She said she feels “immensely” better and would be moving soon into her own apartment. She is living a new life, filled with dreams rather than despair. When I met with Suzanna a few days ago, it was at a Venice hotel, where she has been given temporary housing. Over coffee and doughnuts, Suzanna told King about the hip surgery she’d recently had and a bit about her mental health history. Her name was Suzanna, and she was in her mid-50s, living on the streets with a combination of mental health and addiction issues. “At some point I said, ‘Hey, can I buy you a cup of coffee?’ and she said yes,” said King. He recalls the woman continuing “to throw a fit” for a while, tossing a flashlight and backpack in his direction, but then the anger began to melt away. The doctor conferred with his traveling companion, outreach worker Katie Holz, and moved closer. She was limping badly and teetering on the curb, and King feared she might tumble into the path of speeding cars. “My usual approach is to give some distance,” said King, who studied the homeless woman’s behavior from afar before approaching. Pezzanite only consults with rescue organizations.Coley King, who practices street medicine for the Venice Family Clinic, wasn’t frightened by the angry and disoriented woman at Wilshire and Lincoln boulevards in Santa Monica, who was chucking her belongings in all directions. Website: Not available for behavior consultsĪssistant Curator of Behavioral Husbandryĭr. Heather Mohan-Gibbons, MS, RVT, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA, ACAAB Website: Katherine Miller, PhD, CPDT, CAAB Website: Blog: Please note that I am not seeing behavior cases. McConnell, PhD, Emeritus CAABĮmeritus, Department of Integrative Biology, UW-Madison WI Website:, and Suzanne Hetts, PhD, Emeritus CAAB Please note that I am not currently seeing behavior cases. of Population Health and ReproductionĮ-mail:, Research Professor, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA Feuerbacher, PhD, MS, BS, BA, BCBA-D, CPDT-KA, CAAB Website: and Carley Faughn, PhD, Senior Strategist-Lifesaving Research, CAABĮrica N. Website: Jody Epstein, MS, ACAAB, CPDT-KA Website: Services provided in Kansas City and Houston Kristyn Echterling-Savage, Ph.D., CAAB, BCBA-D, CPDT-KA University of Florida’s fax: 352- 392-7985Į-mail: and Website: Janet Cutler, MSc, PhD, CPDT-KA, CAAB ![]() Website: Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere, MS, PhD, CAAB Kathryn Bayne, PhD, DVM, DACLAM, DACAW, CAABĭirector, AKC Canine Good Citizen Program You would need to contact them individually.Įmail: If there is no Board Certified Behaviorist in your area, there are also some behaviorists that offer phone consultations. Please contact one of those listed in the CAAB directory below. ![]() ![]() These are available through Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists. The Animal Behavior Society does not offer behavior counseling or services.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |