Drs. Siegfried and Bartlett were asked to come to the Pentagon on Wednesday to brief Military leaders on Suicide and Eating Disorders in the Military. They were also able to discuss their newest study with Thomas Joiner currently awaiting IRB approval on resilience, eating disorders, and suicide in military cadets.
January’s Staff Spotlight is Kelly Stephenson!
Look hard! She's there.
Kelly is one of our Adjunct Therapist and has been with Magnolia Creek since 2010. As an Adjunct Therapist, Kelly fills in for our Primary Therapist when they are on vacation, paid holidays, or whenever they are at a professional training seminar. She typically can be found leading groups or acting as an evening or weekend therapeutic presence at least once a month. Staff and clients alike appreciate her gentle demeanor, joyful attitude and kind spirit.
“The deepest need of the human heart is to be fully known, forgiven, and to still be wanted.” Sharon Hersh
"This Little Light of Mine” – Veggie Tales
An aside – Kelly has several small children, I’m thinking this is for their benefit…
Ireland
Curious George – because he can entertain my son for hours! :)
Forgiven, Wife, Mother
Where's Kelly? There she is!
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
To be able to dance and not look like Monica from the TV show Friends.
Unfortunately, right now it is probably “No, Graham!”
My kids laughing.
Tornado sirens going off! I’m terrified of tornadoes!
Funny cause this is when I rush to look out a window to see if I can see one. :)
She's there, I promise. Look hard.
Homemade pizza.
Awesome
Other than my family, my hair straightener!
My wish would be Jennifer Aniston.
The fun staff and seeing the ladies at the Creek begin to come alive with a passion for life!
A little disclaimer: notice I did not title this blog entry "Roll Tide Roll". Having lived in Alabama for the past 9 years, and 20 years of my life in total; I know that this would alienate many of my readers. So let me just say in the spirit of togetherness, it was a win for the STATE of Alabama. Lets think of it that way shall we? End of disclaimer.
So for the past week I have been accosted and villified everytime I have worn any color remotely associated with the color purple. There I was Friday morning, trying to decide how to make a black and white outfit 'pop' and made the (apparently questionable) decision to don some purple tights. Woe is me. I got dirty looks at work, dirty looks at Winn Dixie and many a *sigh* from various others. Where's a LSU or Auburn fan when you need one!? Help a girl out!
Knowing that I am not a football fan in general one of our Patient Care Techs, Allison Burnett, still invited me over to watch the game at her house with a few friends.
Allison was totally stoked. She was presumably thinking that this would be some sort of football-vention for me. I was actually thinking "Well The Bachelor is on tonight, but watching Allison watch football could be like the best reality tv ever!!" It was dear readers. It was.
A couple of other staff members and a former staff member (We love your Erin Parker!) came to watch Allison the game also.
You can tell from the blury aura of Allison's lucky pom-pom that she is very nearly vibrating with energy and enthusiasm for her beloved team. Meanwhile on the ranch couch, Erin Parker, Michelle McCorkle and I had a lovely chat.
Alas, even without our equally enthusiastic support, Alabama shut out (I'm told that is the appropriate term) LSU and made our grand state proud.
Allison is super proud of you boys! Notice the framed picture of Nick Saban on the mantel. He got paraded around by Alison after every Field Goal and Touchdown. Seriously - Nick you are so T-A-N! Is it the long months on the football field? Cause it kinda looks like you maybe solicit help from the Dancing with the Stars spray tan team. These are just some of the deep thoughts I pondered last night.
GO ALABAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Clinical director Nicole Siegfried will be a featured guest on the premiere of "The Mind of the Matter" on Voice America web-based radio next week.
In an episode titled "The Secret Life of Eating Disorders," Dr Siegfried will be speaking with host Susan Hickman about Magnolia Creek, struggles with eating disorders, aspects of the treatment program, our research studies, and important factors in recovery.
From their website:
The statistics on eating disorders are staggering, including the fact that eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. The National Eating Disorder Association states that an estimated 10 million females and 1 million males suffer from Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa, while millions more suffer from Binge Eating Disorder. Although some protective factors have been noted for certain groups, no society studied appears to be immune to developing the disorder. The alarming news is that the last two decades have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the disorder, with newly diagnosed cases reaching into early childhood. Despite these daunting findings, eating disorders continue to be under-funded in research, receive grossly inadequate insurance coverage and the societal pressure to be thin continues unabated. To learn more about the symptoms and treatment of eating disorders,
please invite others and tune into the show. Together we can make a difference.
The show is scheduled to air on the Variety channel of Voice America on Thursday, November 3 and Thursday, November 10 at 6:00 am PST (8:00 am CST) and again at 6:00 pm (8:00 pm CST). The show will be archived as well and be made available as a free download from iTunes.
Be sure to mark your calendars!
After four and a half years of bright, flowery furniture, hand-me-down couches and enough pastels to make Easter jealous, I thought it was high time we remodeled our individual therapy rooms. I petitioned Ronda for the go ahead and she was totally on board.
So I picked some paint samples, slapped them on the walls and opened the polls for voting. It was very contentious as you can see.
It turns out my beloved bright blue wasn’t very popular; apparently no one else was having the same vision I was having. I believe Sarah Moorad used the term “scary” when discribing the bright blue. Ruh-roh! I’m also fairly certain either some staff and/or clients voted multiple times as I don’t believe we HAD this many people on site that day. I digress. The green vs. purple race was more contentious than the Iron Bowl. And that dear reader is saying something! So I decided to get all wild and crazy and use both colors.
My dear friend, fearless Intake Coordinator and employee-who-sits-20-feet-to-my-left-and-is-otherwise-known-as-Ashley volunteered to help me paint.
I think she was also quite stoked to wear her sweats painting clothes to work for the entire day! As was I dear reader, as was I.
Lynn, our PHP Coordinator, also brought her mad skills to the table and helped me paint the green and purple room (formerly known as Therapy Room B). It was a painting party! A dabba-do time was had by all.
Then Ashley helped me hang the curtains; white seersucker which can be purchased at your local Z Gallerie. They lighten up the room a little since we used such bold colors on the walls in what are primarily very small rooms (the biggest is about 8ft x 8ft with a single window).
Then we needed something for all those blank walls. They were staring at me and haunting me like those blank eyes on mannequins. So I took some time away from pestering Blue Cross Blue Shield, submitting payroll, “tweeting”, blogging and searching for casting news for the Hunger Games movie to peruse one of my all time favorite websites – Etsy! The green and purple room (formerly known as Therapy Room B) now has a gallery wall even Jeff Lewis could be proud of!
A little more Z Gallerie shopping led me to some other great finds for our walls.
Just ya know, adjusting my rack making sure the deer head isn’t crooked. And yes people, my shirt has holes in it. I was painting!
And now dear readers, my most favorite find of all, strait from the Netherlands; an ixxi! A who? An ixxi!
I heard about this company from a blog I read called decor8. It’s a wall hanging of individual tiles you connect together in the corners with a little x’s. It hangs like a curtain at the top. They print them off for you after you upload a high resolution picture. It wasn’t super expensive, only took a few days to print & ship and was really easy to assemble. I <3 IXXI!
And now for the big reveals!
The Blue Room (formerly known as Therapy Room A)
The before shot.
A little floral, a little pink and a little bland. It makes me sad too. And what's with that thing outside the window leaning against the house???
And here it is after!
Bold! Vibrant! It’s a little bit country AND a little bit rock n’ roll. It’s a room that says “healing happens here”.
Amber & Anna were big fans of my IO Metro chairs. They tried them out right away and still carry the glow from their inaugural sit.
Angela likey.
Who doesn’t love Angela? Seriously!?
The Green & Purple Room (formerly known as Therapy Room B)
I don’t have any before pictures of this room. Seriously. It was so sad, pastel and bland that we didn’t even take any pictures of it. Ever. In four and a half years! Not lying dear reader, I’ve looked. Every time I went into that room I had to concentrate on my patronus to stay cheerful.
I know you thought I was “off my rocker” as they’d say here in Alabama, when I said I decided to paint it green AND purple. It’s okay. Sarah Moorad thought I was crazy too. But it works.
Love these chairs from IO Metro! They look cold and uncomfortable but are really form fitting and comfy. Being clear is an interesting thing for a chair to be. It’s kinda like a “trust fall” the first couple of times you sit in them. Or like that part in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Indiana had to step off of a cliff in faith and it turned out there was a bridge painted just like the view from the top of the cliff.
IT’S JUST LIKE THAT! Indy gets me.
I got these chairs at Z Gallerie AND what did I spy with my little eye when watching Bachelor Pad 2 the other day???
Look on the right side of the pic; pillows made out of the same fabric as my Z Gallerie chairs! I am so now!
There you have it dear reader. I came. I saw. I We painted. I purchased. I conquered.
Next on my agenda – the Back Porch. Not the iconic beachside restaurant in Destin southerners are so fond of, but Magnolia Creek’s very own screened in back porch. Check back for details!
Magnolia Creek Treatment Center for Eating Disorders Suicide Prevention and Risk Consultant, Dr. Mary Bartlett, attended an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) on Sept 28 and 29th, in Springfield, OH.
She is now trained in the ASIST approach which is a two-day intensive, interactive and practice-dominated course designed to help caregivers recognize and review risk, and intervene to prevent the immediate risk of suicide. It is by far the most widely used, acclaimed and researched suicide intervention training workshop in the world. Over one million caregivers have participated in this two-day, highly interactive, practical, practice-oriented workshop
The workshop is for all caregivers (any person in a position of trust). This includes professionals, paraprofessionals and lay people. It is suitable for mental health professionals, nurses, physicians, teachers, counselors, youth workers, police and correctional staff, school support staff, clergy, and community volunteers. Dr. Bartlett now adds this training to her myriad of experience that benefits clients at Magnolia Creek Treatment Center for Eating Disorders.
A new face was added to the Magnolia Creek staff a few months ago. He’s about 5 years old, 24 inches tall, black and exceptionally hairy.
Joey is 5 year old black Labrador retriever. He was born and raised by guide dog trainers and eventually became a certified guide dog for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind. He faithfully served as a guide dog for a congenitally blind individual for 3 years, until he retired from his chosen profession due to developing mild corneal dystrophy in both eyes. But don’t tell him that, he still fetches like a champ.
The resulting vision loss was not enough to impair his own visual functioning, but just enough of a distraction that he sought a career change.
He was re-born this past March, as Joey Fogarty Porter and now serves as a "best friend" to all who have the pleasure of knowing him. He has been described as "four legs of joy," and excels at providing a friendly lick, a calming best friend to pet, etc. He often serves as a grounding and calming influence, and his welcoming and loving personality has made him a favorite with Magnolia Creek clients who are always willing to throw his favorite green rubber toy.
Magnolia Creek staff have also been known to take a break from work to spend a few minutes with Joey.
Don’t let him win Angela! Dig deep! Be the bone!
Likes: dog bones, baby carrots, boating, being petted, scratched, or brushed, sniffing things.
He also enjoys walking, playing fetch, and playing tug-of-war indoors or outdoors on the rare occasions when the weather is below 75 degrees.
Dislikes: running out of dog bones, short to long walks when the weather is above 75 degrees and taking long luxurious naps in his favorite spot at the Creek: his kennel.
His former owner and work partner misses him dearly of course, but states that he feels much better knowing Joey has found new work to do: “It looks like he has found his true calling!”
With the school year starting up again, we thought we'd to share this piece of uplifting news.
A few months ago, The Birmingham News published an article chronicling one of our former resident's recovery from anorexia. We are happy to report that KW has checked off quite a few items on her "bucket list," as she is now serving on the UAB Color Guard, in addition to having re-enrolled in school and secured a part-time job.
Congratulations, KW! We love you.
A recent study conducted by the John Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health points to the damaging role "pro-ana" and "pro-mia" websites play in the development of eating disorders.
The study found that more than 90 percent of the websites were open to anyone and almost 80 percent had interactive features, such as calorie and body-mass index calculators.
As it is virtually impossible to police the entire internet, how do we keep our clients/students/children from accessing this harmful information? Is the answer rather to hope we have instilled in them the skills needed for filtering unhealthy messages?
Do you have thoughts you'd like to share about this article? Leave us a comment.
Summer is usually a time for fun in the sun, but here at Magnolia Creek, we've been keeping busy! Here are just a few things we've been up to, along with some links for some extra summer reading:
A generous silent donor has offered to match any funds donated to Manna up to $45,000 before August 15, and Magnolia Creek will donate a 45-day stay for a potential total of 90 days of eating disorders treatment. For more details, read our recent press release. And, please, please visit the Manna Scholarship Fund website, and donate to this worthy cause. Your dollars will automatically be matched, and double in value.
Magnolia Creek will be working with Dr. Thomas Joiner, Jr.'s research team to conduct studies exploring the relationship between eating disorders and suicide, as well as self-harm. We hope that this study will help us and other treatment providers come to a greater understanding of individuals who are affected by eating disorders and thoughts of suicide and offer them better quality treatment and care. For more details, read our recent press release, and contact Magnolia Creek directly with any questions.
Check out our new Contributed Articles page to read two recently published articles written by associate therapist Sarah Moorad, clinical director Dr. Mary Bartlett, and executive director Dr. Nicole Siegfried. We've also listed here other articles that have been contributed by various members over the past three years.
Peacefully situated beside a private lake and nestled among more than thirty wooded acres near Birmingham, Alabama, Magnolia Creek provides residential and day treatment for women struggling with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and other eating & exercise disorders. Our programs provide a comprehensive treatment experience, addressing the psychological, medical, nutritional, spiritual, and relational needs of our clients.
Certified by the State of Alabama
Accredited by The Joint Commission
Accredited by the Better Business Bureau
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