Gianna Colavin-Bridges
Napa,CA
Summary
Empathetic Clinical Social Worker with several years of experience providing therapy to individuals and groups. Strong record of success with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing to move clients toward behavioral goals. Dedicated and caring social work professional with a good understanding of evidence-based practices. Bringing several years' experience and good clinical knowledge. Team-driven, well-organized and resourceful with a demonstrated work ethic and good verbal and written communication skills.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
Work History
Clinical Social Worker
California Department of Veteran’s Affairs
Yountville, CA
05.2024 - Current
- Provides case management services for up to 50 veterans in independent living sections of the veteran’s home
- Interviews to create social history evaluations, or biopsychosocial evaluations for new residents
- Completes interviews annually for each resident for level of care placement, and functioning at current level of care
- Assesses residents for alcohol use, cognition, and depression and anxiety symptoms
- Assists in treatment planning for each resident and disseminates information to treatment team on resident’s progress
- Helps residents with Advanced Healthcare Directives and Durable Power of Attorney paperwork for end of life care planning
- Provides counsel on behavioral issues and advocates for residents needs in the home
- Assures that resident follows policy in regards to grievance procedures
- Works in collaboration with treatment team including medical doctors, nurses, and physical therapists
- Act as a resource for discharging residents, finding and linking residents to appropriate community resources
- Provide emergency social work services when needed to assist residents in crisis.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
California Department of State Hospitals
Napa, CA
04.2023 - Current
- Provides weekly case management, tutoring of forensic material, and group therapy for a caseload of up to 17 patients
- Interviews to create comprehensive psychosocial assessments of patients arriving on the admission unit
- Responsible for intake interview for patients arriving to the hospital
- Contributes to the formulation of a comprehensive treatment plan while patient is hospitalized
- Provides diagnosis, development, monitoring, and modification of treatment plans in collaboration with medical staff as well as the treatment team
- Along with the interdisciplinary treatment team, identifies and recommend appropriate services based on assessment along with civil or penal code commitment
- Provides individual and group therapy as delineated in the treatment plan; provided suicide and crisis risk assessment and intervention; participate in risk assessment, evaluation
- Coordinates discharge planning activities and acted as resource on accessing appropriate community support and services to be utilized upon release
- Responds to requests from clients/patients, family members, courts, and community agencies; provide social work services to family members and community agencies
- Creates and implements a dance and movement stress management group
- Consults with colleagues and other staff on behavior management treatment issues; prepare verbal and written social work reports.
Mental Health Counselor-Licensed
County of Napa
Napa, CA
10.2022 - 03.2023
- Provided supportive specialty mental health services to the clients of the Napa County Public Defender’s office
- Conducted clinical intake interviews with new program participants to obtain information relative to their request for therapeutic services
- Determined an individual’s developmental, medical, social, emotional, behavioral and substance abuse history
- Provided mental health screening and counseling to clients of the public defender’s office
- Assessed for level of danger to self or others and refer to crisis services when necessary
- Case finding and following up with short term case management
- Determined mental health status and any acute and/or chronic mental health needs that meet medical necessity for mental health services
- Made referrals to appropriate services and resources
- Worked collaboratively with other staff and members of the Forensic Mental Health Team to coordinate services
- Provided calls to conserved clients to see if they would like to contest and/or continue their conservatorship, reports to attorney the request.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
California Department of State Hospitals
Napa, CA
07.2020 - 10.2022
- Provided weekly case management, tutoring of forensic material, and group therapy for a caseload of up to 30 patients
- Contributed to the formulation of a comprehensive treatment plan while patient is hospitalized
- Provided diagnosis, development, monitoring, and modification of treatment plans in collaboration with medical staff as well as the treatment team
- Along with the interdisciplinary treatment team, identified and recommended appropriate services based on assessment along with civil or penal code commitment
- Provided individual and group therapy as delineated in the treatment plan; provided suicide and crisis risk assessment and intervention; participate in risk assessment, evaluation
- Coordinated discharge planning activities and acted as resource on accessing appropriate community support and services to be utilized upon release
- Responded to requests from clients/patients, family members, courts, and community agencies; provide social work services to family members and community agencies
- Created and implemented a dance and movement stress management group
- Produced and directed a patient dance group, with quarterly performances
- Consulted with colleagues and other staff on behavior management treatment issues; prepare verbal and written social work reports
- Worked with conserved patients while they are at the hospital to assist with placing them in community residential facilities
- Collaborated with the conservators on the best outcome and placement for conserved patients
- Supervision and task management of Graduate Student Assistant
- Provided clinical supervision to an unlicensed social worker.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
San Quentin, CA
08.2017 - 06.2020
- Conducted psychiatric social work with mentally, physically, and developmentally disabled persons who are incarcerated in state prison
- Provided weekly case management and therapy (individual and group) to a diverse caseload of inmate/patients of up to 25 individuals
- Developed, monitored, and modified treatment plans in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team, inclusive of a psychiatrist, correctional counselor, recreational therapist, and mental health nurse
- Responsible for writing detailed treatment plans, assessment of mental health, and suicide risk assessment, and psychosocial history documents for each inmate/patient (I/P)
- Collaborated with custody staff in securing safety of staff and patients, and with medical staff to help ensure each I/P has their needs met
- Conducted daily huddles where mental health, medical, and custody staff can discuss I/P’s of concern
- Planned, facilitated and taught Cognitive Behavioral Therapy courses to I/P’s
- Prepared pre-release needs assessments 30 days prior to I/P’s release
- Referred I/P’s to a higher level of care, either short-term mental health crisis bed or long-term psychiatric in-patient program, when warranted (i.e., if they may be an imminent threat to self or others, or due to grave disability)
- Implemented, facilitated, and directed the first Dance Therapy group in CDCR with inmate-patients performing unique choreography based on their treatment goals
- Prepared case conceptualizations for interdisciplinary treatment team meetings to assist w/ determining I/P’s treatment plan needs/goals
- Referred and researched possible housing and/or treatment facilities for I/P’s after they parole from prison.
Clinical Social Worker
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Soledad, CA
03.2016 - 07.2017
- Clinical social worker conducted psychiatric social work with mentally, physically, and developmentally disabled persons who are incarcerated in state prison
- Provided weekly case management and therapy to a diverse caseload of inmate/patients of up to 35 individuals
- Developed, monitored, and modified treatment plans in collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team: inclusive of a psychiatrist, correctional counselor, recreational therapist, and mental health nurse
- Responsible for writing detailed treatment plans, assessment of mental health, and suicide risk assessment, and psychosocial history documents for each I/P
- Planned, facilitated and taught Cognitive Behavioral Therapy courses to inmate/patients
- Collaborated with custody staff in securing safety of staff and I/P’s, and with medical staff to help ensure each I/P has their needs met
- Referred I/P’s to a higher level of care, either short-term mental health crisis bed or long-term psychiatric in-patient program, when warranted (i.e., if they may be an imminent threat to self or others, or due to grave disability)
- Prepared case conceptualizations for interdisciplinary treatment team meetings to assist w/ determining I/P’s treatment plan needs/goals.
Intensive Case Manager
Homefirst
San Jose, CA
06.2014 - 02.2016
- Implementation of Central Reintegration Project to Housing 1000 program, a Housing First Program
- Researched in collaboration of the City of San Jose, Mental Health/Drug Treatment court, County of Santa Clara, and additional stakeholders in pinpointing high utilizers of homeless services in the downtown area of San Jose
- Traveled to and completed outreach to clients in county jail, court hearings, homeless encampments, and on the street to ensure services were offered
- Able to provide chronically homeless individuals with several barriers to housing, permanent subsidized housing
- Case Management of 20 chronically homeless individuals with comorbid disorders: mental health and substance abuse disorders, and their families
- Advocated for clients in Mental Health/Drug Treatment Court hearings: status updates to the judge and court team of individual client’s progress in their housing and dual diagnosis treatment
- Provided facilitation of “Seeking Safety” group to homeless shelter residents, a CBT based treatment focused on PTSD and substance abuse issues
- Assisted clients in securing Social Security documentation, birth certificates, driver license and/or CA identification cards
- Helped clients fill out and apply for housing vouchers, inclusive of homeless status, income, medical and mental health verifications from various disciplines
- Conducted annual homeless census count.
Education
Master’s in Social Work - Health/Mental Health
San Jose State University
San Jose, CAGeneral Education - Mathematics, anthropology, psychology, and sociology
Cabrillo College
Aptos, CABachelor’s in Fine Arts in Dance - Dance technique, composition, choreography, performance, English, writing, anthropology
Cornish College of the Arts
Seattle, WASkills
- Strengths-based practices
- Support Group Facilitation
- Treatment Planning
- Clinical Assessments
- Behavior Modification
- Evidence-based practices
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Client Advocacy
- Psychosocial Assessments
- Motivational Interviewing
- Case Management
License
83131, California Board of Behavioral Sciences, 6/2026
Awards
Napa State Hospital Employee of the Month, November and December 2022
Volunteer Experience
- AmeriCorps
- VISTA-Pace University, New York, NY, Support Volunteer, Worked as a support to several programs at MS 131, a middle school in Chinatown in partnership with Pace University’s Center for Urban Education, Raised money and solicited goods for AmeriCorps programs in the MS 131 setting, These included: tutoring program the Saturday Enrichment Program, Chinatown Youth Film Festival, and Art Club on EBay, Was able to Successfully rose over $5,000 in goods and monetary funds, $4,000 over the minimum for a successful service year, Able to obtain 10 volunteers to work with the program, 11/2002-5/2004
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Clinical Social Worker
California Department of Veteran’s Affairs
05.2024 - Current
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
California Department of State Hospitals
04.2023 - Current
Mental Health Counselor-Licensed
County of Napa
10.2022 - 03.2023
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
California Department of State Hospitals
07.2020 - 10.2022
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
08.2017 - 06.2020
Clinical Social Worker
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
03.2016 - 07.2017
Intensive Case Manager
Homefirst
06.2014 - 02.2016
Master’s in Social Work - Health/Mental Health
San Jose State University
General Education - Mathematics, anthropology, psychology, and sociology
Cabrillo College
Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in Dance - Dance technique, composition, choreography, performance, English, writing, anthropology
Cornish College of the Arts
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