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If you live in New York—especially in places like Buffalo—you’ve probably been told the mental health system exists to help people recover. That’s the story. But the reality is more complicated. Because behind every service, every diagnosis, every appointment… there’s a funding structure. And that structure quietly shapes everything. The System Doesn’t Run on Recovery — It Runs on Billing In New York, most mental health services are funded through: Medicaid (the biggest playe

There’s a narrative out there that nothing  in the mental health system works. And honestly… a lot of it doesn’t - and I write and speak about that side of things a lot. But every once in a while, something cuts through the noise. Something that actually helps people. Something that doesn’t just check boxes or push paperwork or keep people stuck in cycles of “treatment.” ACT teams are one of those things. What ACT Actually Is ACT stands for Assertive Community Treatment . But

No one really warns you. Not in a way that sticks. You hear it, of course - “Time goes fast. ”“Enjoy it while you can.” “They won’t be here forever.” But it never feels real. Because your parents are just… there. They’ve always been there. They always will be. You don’t think about a world where they aren’t. At some point, without realizing it, you start to assume something quietly: That they’ll always be available. That you’ll always have time. That whatever you didn’t say o

For decades, I’ve lived inside the mental health system. Not just as a professional. Not just as an observer. But as someone who has had to navigate it from the inside - where the policies, labels, and decisions become personal. Over the past nine years, I worked toward a Doctor of Education in Health Services Administration. On paper, that’s the milestone. But what it really represents is something else: Time spent studying the system from both sides - living it, working in

Jim Kelly might have stayed in Buffalo partially because of his positive experience as a cancer patient at ECMC - but people who arrive at ECMC during the most vulnerable moments of their lives — suicidal, psychotic, traumatized, withdrawing, terrified - do NOT feel the same way as our beloved ex-quarterback. What they encounter instead of care is often: Long waits in chaotic emergency settings Minimal assessment Rapid sedation Security-driven responses Involuntary holds with

I knew, in some abstract way, that one day my father would die. Everyone knows that. But nothing prepares you for what it’s like when the day actually comes — when the phone rings, when the room goes quiet, when the world builds a new shape around the absence of the person who was your anchor. I’m 60 years old. And I just lost my father — the man who wasn’t just my dad, but my best friend . People think losing a parent at this age should somehow hurt less. They say things lik

Trauma is not “just in your head.” It lives in your body, nervous system, and subconscious. It changes your stress responses, your sense of safety, and even how you view yourself. But healing isn’t a mystery. Here are five scientifically proven, evidence-based trauma recovery tools —and how you can begin using each one right now. 1. Somatic Therapy: Releasing Trauma From the Body Trauma lives in the body—and that's where healing begins. Why it works: Trauma often gets "stored

Mental health care is meant to prioritize well‑being—but growing concerns are emerging that some agencies in Buffalo, NY, might be incentivizing the behavior they’re treating. Critics argue that pushing formal diagnoses can result in greater billing and revenue, sometimes risking patient care. Let’s take a deeper look. 💊 Why diagnoses can mean dollars Billing structure: In New York, Medicaid and OMH‑approved mental health clinics services provided—with significant variation

In many cities across the U.S., there’s a hidden cost to getting help when you’re homeless — a psychiatric diagnosis. This is happening now with an agency I work with, and I find it repulsive. If you're sleeping in your car, couch-surfing, or lining up at a shelter, chances are you’ll have to prove you're mentally ill to access services like housing, food, or support. Not hungry. Not broke. Not a victim of rising rent and vanishing jobs. No — you need to be “sick.” This prac

We color ourselves red, white, and blue each year, salute the flag, and tell each other how much we "support the troops." But when the troops come home—broken, traumatized, depleted—broken, traumatized, depleted—we leave them on their own. We make them sleep in doorways, beg for change, and die in back alleys alone. That's not support. That's betrayal. I work in an overnight, homeless drop-in center for folks with mental illness, and we have our share of vets. Although the nu

We're drugging children to fit into classes, not to help them thrive as human beings. We don't design schools for movement, for imagination, or for emotional adaptability. We design schools for compliance, for test scores, and for silence. A noncompliant child is a broken child — instead of addressing what's wrong with the system, we focus on what's wrong with the child. And then we medicate the child. As psychiatrist and author of Medication Madness, Dr. Peter Breggin, state

We all have a "shadow"—the desires, feelings, and memories we'd rather cram in a back closet than admit to ourselves. First described by Carl Jung, the shadow is not "bad"; it's just the unloved aspect of you. If you don't address it, it will run your life from behind the scenes (think unexplained anger, jealousy, or self-sabotage). I know this has been something we here at ETS have all dealt with! But when you approach it with curiosity, you regain energy, creativity, and co

When we talk about homelessness, addiction, or mental illness, the conversation often centers around what we can see—substance use, lack of housing, or behavioral symptoms. But beneath those surface-level struggles lies a deeper, less visible issue that often fuels and sustains them: disconnection. Disconnection as the Root, Not the Side Effect Many people assume that disconnection happens because someone is homeless, addicted, or mentally ill. But growing research and lived

I was talking to someone this morning about how childhood trauma affects us in adulthood. And trauma can be a number of things, right? Sexual/physical abuse, the loss of someone close, chronic medical issues, living with a parent that has a serious mental illness or an addiction issue, severe bullying etc., etc. Remember, we are children when this is happening. Little, tiny people trying to figure out what’s going on around us and why. We are small, but our brains are like sp