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Providing Health Care Play for Children and Siblings in a Pediatric Therapy Setting

The School of Behavioral Health at Loma Linda University has long recognized the importance of mental health and its impact on the individual, the family, and society. The School has graduated more than 3,000 clinicians who are providing needed care ranging from direct client services to advocacy at local and state levels.

Bucking Tradition It takes an incredible amount of courage to leave your homeland. Yet that is exactly what Ann Nguyen’s family did when she was only 3½ years of age, leaving Saigon, Vietnam and immigrating to the United States. First the family had to stay in a refugee camp in Thailand before finally journeying to the United States two months later. When they arrived in California, it was a brave new world.

There is a critical shortage in mental health services providers nationally, especially in underserved areas such as rural communities. According to the 2016 Health Affairs report, more than half of the counties in the United States have zero psychiatrists available to provide needed services. In Riverside County, the ratio of psychiatrists to the general population is 5:100,000.

A Healthy Lifestyle Danielle (Dowling) Huntsman is an alumna of Loma Linda University, having graduated with an MSW in 1999. While in the MSW program she pursued a policy concentration while working full-time. As an advanced standing student, she effectively juggled the responsibilities of her academic coursework, field practicum at the Inland AIDS Project, and her full-time job at the Riverside County Public Health department.

On November 8, 2018, Paradise, CA suffered the worst forest fire in California history. Eighty-six individuals tragically lost their lives and over 15,000 structures burned. In total, almost 50,000 people were displaced. The Paradise Adventist Church was destroyed and the Adventist Health Feather River hospital sustained heavy damage. A few months later, the church requested the support of the Loma Linda University International Behavioral Health Trauma Team (LLUIBHTT).

Dr. Kelly Baek was recently appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Ecology. Dr. Baek was previously a student in the Social Policy and Social Research PhD program, with her doctoral degree awarded in 2018. Her dissertation focused on Korean-American mental health perceptions, the scope of mental distress, and informal and formal help-seeking behavior.

In February of this year, Director of Clinical Training for the Child Life Specialist Program, Alisha Saavedra, was part of a Students for International Mission Service (SIMS) trip to Baja, Mexico. One of the locations that the SIMS group visited was Door of Faith Orphanage (DOFO) in La Misión.

The MEND (Mastering Each New Direction) team, led by Professor of Counseling and Family Sciences Dr. Brian Distelberg and alumnus Dr. Daniel Tapanes, have developed and implemented a program emphasizing mental health integration with chronic illness.

The Pediatric Brain and Spine Tumor Support Group provides emotional support and functions as a bridge between the medical and emotional needs of the patients and their families. The group was initiated by Dr.