Brian Bell, B.A.

Managed incoming calls for a newly developed help line that provides assessment, crisis support, and referrals to resources for residents of Massachusetts

• Provided empathy and support to callers struggling with life-threatening suicidal ideation while simultaneously finding resources in the community to keep them safe
• Received extensive customer service training that included significant emphasis on ways to engage members via phone and text and being sensitive to a wide range of needs and issues
• Determined appropriate intervention based on clinical presentation, urgency, and available resources while supporting the person calling throughout the process
• Navigated multiple computer systems simultaneously while communicating with supervisors, other specialists, and community providers

Helped maintain the safety and therapeutic milieu of a 20-bed residential treatment facility for men with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse issues

• Utilized the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s clinical assessment tool to determine the severity of drug use and clarify clinical and case management needs for a caseload of three men
• Provided weekly individual therapy sessions to three men that struggled with complex medical issues and severe trauma symptoms
• Utilized a faith-based and gender-specific approach to empower the men to take care of their medical needs and find ways to cope with chronic pain
• Facilitated therapeutic groups with clients centered around healthy relationships, dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and essential life skills

Utilized an array of clinical techniques and strategies to provide in-home therapy, crisis support, and case management services to children and adults with severe psychiatric disorders

• Used advanced counseling skills and evidence-based practices to establish goals and treatment plans with patients.
• Increased parent and child’s ability to engage and derive benefit from services by being available for text-based coaching between visits and utilizing various technologies (videos, iPad games) to enhance understanding of treatment concepts
• Collaborated with clinicians to develop safety and crisis plans, comprehensive assessments, treatment plans, discharge summaries, and referrals to external/internal providers

Provided clinical assessment and behavioral health consultation to help medical staff decide whether a child needed to wait for a complete evaluation with a licensed clinical social worker or be discharged and placed onto my caseload for care coordination services and subsequent referrals to community providers

• Helped implement and execute the CCBHC grant triage/diversion program, which decreased length of stay, prevented ED re-admissions, and reduced the number of children that were on the unit at a time when there was an unprecedented surge of patients due to the pandemic
• Maintained a caseload of 40 patients recently discharged from the emergency room and ensured that they were connected to services that met their ongoing clinical needs
• Completed referrals to a variety of treatment modalities while tracking their respective waitlists and maintaining contact with over 100 local agencies and other providers
• Negotiated and coordinated several patient transfers of an extraordinarily complex nature, requiring communication with multiple internal and external providers
• Performed a wide variety of administrative tasks in a hectic psychiatric unit, including answering phones, completing insurance authorizations, faxing records, and fielding/responding to requests from parents and community providers