In new role as Meadows Senior Fellow this leading voice in racialized trauma will bring his expertise to MBH’s proven treatment programs
[WICKENBURG, ARIZONA – December 17, 2020] Meadows Behavioral Healthcare announced today that it has finalized an agreement with bestselling author, visionary justice leadership coach, organizational strategist, and master trainer Resmaa Menakem to join their team as a Meadows Senior Fellow.Meadows Senior Fellows are some of the nation’s top addiction and recovery experts, and they provide ongoing direction, consultation, and training for staff as well as interacting with patients. Led by Pia Mellody, they work together to ensure that The Meadows Model is the most clinically comprehensive and nurturing program available today. Meadows Behavioral Healthcare’s network of specialized behavioral healthcare programs provide evidence-based treatment for those struggling with emotional trauma, drug and alcohol addiction, sex addiction, eating disorders, psychiatric disorders, and co-occurring conditions.
Menakem is a natural fit to join the work Meadows Behavioral Healthcare is already doing. An expert on the topics of race and trauma, he is the author of the New York Times bestseller My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies. Mentored by the late clinical psychologist Dr. David Schnarch for 20 years, Menakem has built a worldwide reputation as a leading voice in today’s conversation on racialized trauma and is currently working with notable organizations including the NFL and several major police departments and cities.
“This focus on racialized trauma sadly is long overdue in the industry, and we are excited about how Resmaa will enhance the amazing work already happening in our treatment programs,” says Sean Walsh, CEO of Meadows Behavioral Healthcare. “Our longstanding focus on addressing emotional trauma is already in line with the work Resmaa is currently doing. Further enhancing our clinical teams’ expertise and our overall company culture on racialized trauma will help us ensure both our MBH team and the clients we are entrusted to serve get the care they deserve around race and trauma. I am thrilled to welcome him to the MBH family.”
Menakem already has a relationship with several other Meadows Senior Fellows, having studied and trained at Dr. Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute as well as with Bessel van der Kolk, MD, author of the bestselling book The Body Keeps the Score. And his message received a tremendous response at MBH’s October 2020 Trauma and Addiction Online Conference.
“Trauma over time can be decontextualized. Trauma in a person over time can look like personality. Trauma in a family over time can look like family traits. Trauma in a people over time can look like culture,” Menakem explained during a recent appearance on Fox’s Good Day LA. “By the time it gets to you there is no context for it, so it just works in the body.”
Plans are already underway to incorporate Menakem’s work into Meadows curriculum and modalities, and leadership is working with him to develop a workshop to help train clinicians on how to better treat racialized trauma. They are also exploring long-term ideas around the legacy of Menakem’s work addressing this topic.
“Part of what I’ve been trying to help people do is to begin to develop with other bodies what I call a living embodied and anti-racist culture and practices so those things that could emerge as healing have a place to sprout up from,” Menakem explains. “I’m so excited about this opportunity to work with The Meadows to help further this work of healing racialized trauma.”
About Meadows Behavioral Healthcare
Meadows Behavioral Healthcare (MBH) is a network of specialized behavioral healthcare programs, individualized addiction recovery centers, and acute psychiatric care centers located throughout the United States. An industry leader, MBH provides evidence-based treatment for people struggling with emotional trauma, drug and alcohol addiction, sex addiction, eating disorders, psychiatric disorders, and co-occurring conditions. Their full continuum of programs and services deliver personalized treatment plans to people from all walks of life, meeting them at their point of need to help achieve long-term recovery. This treatment approach, which features “The Meadows Model” and is rooted in decades of clinical experience treating childhood and relational trauma, addiction, eating disorders, and mental health issues, has established a strong foundation of trust among patients, referring healthcare partners and the local communities served. For more information on all of Meadows Behavioral Healthcare’s treatment services, visit meadowsbh.com, or call 800-244-4949.
About Resmaa Menakem, MSW, LICSW, SEP
As a therapist, trauma specialist, and founder of Justice Leadership Solutions, Resmaa Menakem dedicates his expertise to coaching leaders through civil unrest, organizational change, and community building. The author of the New York Times bestseller My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, he is a popular speaker and has appeared on both The Oprah Winfrey Show and Dr. Phil as an expert on conflict and violence. Menakem has served as a trauma consultant for the Minneapolis Public Schools and as a Cultural Somatics consultant for the Minneapolis Police Department. In the role of community care counselor, he managed the wellness and counseling services for civilians on 53 US military bases in Afghanistan. He also penned two additional books: 101 Tips for Emerging Justice Leaders and Rock the Boat: How to Use Conflict to Heal and Deepen Relationships. Menakem holds a master’s degree in social work and is a licensed and independent clinical social worker and Somatic Experiencing practitioner. He currently teaches workshops on Cultural Somatics for audiences of African Americans, European Americans, and police officers. For more information, visit his website.
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For more information, contact:
Jeff Skillen
615-828-1950
[email protected]