Time to Take a Breath

With health care reform the law of the land, we must be ready to compete on a new playing field where increasing numbers of individuals will have healthcare insurance benefits. Our job is to ensure that their new benefits result in access to effective behavioral health services. The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare has led breathtaking initiatives to make access to care more timely, to create structures for collaborative care for shared patients, to enhance the knowledge, skills, and abilities of psychiatrists who are medical directors in community behavioral health centers, and to combat stigma, educate key audiences, and improve awareness of treatment options for individuals with mental illnesses.