Fairwinds Launches Training Institute For Behavioral Health Clinicians

Fairwinds, Nantucket's Counseling Center, is launching a new behavioral health training institute to offer trainings in the latest evidence-based mental health interventions to clinicians on Nantucket.

The trainings will be provided by leading, nationally-known professionals and organizations. The goal is to expand the options for behavioral health approaches for islanders by making these trainings completely free for all behavioral health clinicians on Nantucket.

“This is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with providers to elevate mental health service delivery across the island," said Fairwinds’ Clinical Director Amanda Wright.

The training institute was funded through a grant from Nantucket Cottage Hospital's Community Health Initiative. Fairwinds will plan, schedule, market, and ensure continuing education credits for the trainings, which are available to LCSWs (social workers) and LMHCs (mental health counselors).

The first two trainings have been scheduled, including a one-day training in the Unified Protocol Transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders (UP) that will take place in June. Focusing on emotional disorders, the UP addresses core procedures and mechanisms from both cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).

The second is a two-day eating disorders training in mid-July that will focus on new approaches to eating disorders as developed by the Renfrew Center, one of the leading national organizations in the treatment of these common disorders.

Dr. David H. Barlow, Fairwinds board member and chair of the boards’ clinical committee, is one of the originators of the Unified Protocol who will deliver the first workshop along with colleagues from the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University.

“This grant-funded initiative promises to be a real game-changer on Nantucket," Barlow said.

Numerous trainings will be provided over the next two to three years thanks to the CHI grant.