Blog

We're excited to share that the Department of Social Work and Social Ecology and the Promotores Academy from the San Manuel Gateway College were together awarded the Peer Personnel Grant from OSPHD for 2021-23! Our program addresses a unique need for professional leadership development to work with community health workers (CHWs).

World Mental Health Day provides a platform to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to marshal support for advancing the development of and access to programs aimed at improving the mental health and ecological well-being for all humans. This year's focus for World Mental Health Day will showcase the efforts made around the world by the World Health Organization's (WHO) member countries to address mental health issues affected by COVID-19.

Through an interdisciplinary and collaborative effort, Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) recently received a $500,000 state grant to fund the development of a Sickle Cell Center. The Center seeks to provide the highest standard of care for adults with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) within the Inland Empire region. Loma Linda University Health (LLUH) is one of ten sites in the state of California to receive this grant. Nearly 100,000 people in the United States live with Sickle Cell Disease—a rare, inherited blood disease that primarily impacts African- and Hispanic-Americans.

Welcome to the new school year! This year is our largest incoming class in the history of the School of Behavioral Health, and we are so excited that you have chosen Loma Linda University Health as your academic partner in success. For many of you, this is your first time on campus. It was so wonderful to meet some of you during our orientation and Welcome Back Bash. Instead of running from this nation's mental health needs, you felt a call to help those in need in our local and global communities.

Inadequate pediatric sleep is a major public health concern, especially for adolescents.1-3  In fact, about 70% of teens in the United States routinely sleep less than the 8 to 10 hours recommended by experts.4  These rates are particularly alarming considering poor and insufficient sleep is linked to impaired academic performance5, lower cognitive functioning6,7, poor emotional regulation8,9, worse mental health10-13, and negative physical health consequences such as increased risk of obesity.14-17 There are several evidence-based behavioral interventions to optimize sleep in you

Sam Ochse graduated from Loma Linda University with her Child Life Specialist MS during the summer of 2020. Like many students, her clinical training came to a temporary halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department of Social Work and Social Ecology is proud to introduce our newest faculty member, Christi Bell, MSW, LCSW. Professor Bell received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and Master of Social Work from Cal State University, San Bernardino.

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we are sharing Latinas' personal insights into and recommendations for a healthy lifestyle following their participation in the Full Plate Living intervention. On March 12, 2020, the last of six program cohorts gathered for the last time in a crowded Moreno Valley classroom. Unbeknown to us all, that would be the very last time we would see each other again without masks covering our faces. Drastic changes and major program accommodations followed, forcing us to delay the final (cooking) class for months.

Lorraine Thompson, MA, EdS, PPS, who served as School Counseling Field Experience Coordinator in the Department of Counseling and Family Sciences, retired at the end of June. She had filled this role since 2015. Before joining the CFS department, Professor Thompson worked as a school psychologist for the Southeastern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Later she moved to Loma Linda Academy, where she served as a school psychologist, counselor, resource specialist, and vice-principal.

The School of Behavioral Health is pleased to welcome Heather Beeson, DMFT, MA, LMFT, one of our newest faculty members. Dr. Beeson is now working in the Department of Counseling and Family Sciences, where she will support the growth and learning of our Doctor of Marital and Family Therapy (DMFT) students. She is passionate about promoting the Doctor of Marital and Family Therapy program through research and teaching. Dr. Beeson has experience teaching in the areas of diversity, therapeutic treatment models, MFT administration, and systemic organizational consultation, among other topics.