Behavioral Health Providers

Welcome to Fenway Health’s Behavioral Health Department

Fenway Health’s Behavioral Health (BH) Department would like to share some updates about the way we are able to care for the important needs of our community. 

As noted in a recent Boston Globe article, there is a long wait for primary health care and health services throughout the state. This is the result of extremely high demand – fueled in no small part by the COVID-19 pandemic – coupled with a shortage of medical and behavioral health clinicians. 

Fenway Health has been significantly impacted by these constraints, with our Behavioral Health team currently facing a 50% shortage in staffed positions. This has led to a significant wait list for our services. 

Given these challenges, we have made the difficult decision to take steps to ensure resources are available to better meet the needs of our patients and more quickly move people off the Behavioral Health wait list into care.

  • We will be capping sessions for all Fenway BH patients at 12 visits. We understand that this may be shorter than many clients would prefer. However, research shows that short-term, strengths-based interventions can be equally or more effective than longer-term models. This cap will significantly reduce our waiting list, allowing more folks who are experiencing behavioral health crises to receive 3+ months of care. At the end of the 12 sessions, we will provide referrals and resources to help find a new provider. We encourage you to discuss this with your Fenway BH provider.
  • All BH patients 18 years or older need to also have a Primary Care Physician at Fenway. This has been our longstanding policy for most of our adult patients and will allow us to ensure that all clients have access to the most comprehensive care across their entire patient experience. It will also make for better communication between BH providers and medical teams for a smoother patient-centered care plan. This change brings Fenway in line with the standards for most community health centers.
  • Out-of-state patients can no longer access virtual appointments and will need to meet with their provider in person. This is due to state licensure laws. Fenway Health is not licensed to provide services outside of Massachusetts, and pandemic exceptions to these regulations have expired.

We understand that these changes may be upsetting for some patients. They are unfortunately necessary given our current staffing and resource challenges. We do believe that ultimately, these changes will allow us to provide services to many more people in our community who are in desperate need of behavioral health care. 

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and for allowing us to be your health care home. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. Please email Monique Willett or Frank Fleming at information@fenwayhealth.org.

Fenway Health’s Behavioral Health team operates under an Episodic Model of care. Episodic care refers to time limited treatment that encourages an individual to actively engage in therapy through dynamic movement. The focus of this movement through care is the building of skills and finding solutions. This works well for those with clear goals and high motivation.

The arc of treatment is made up of three phases:

  1. Beginning phase
  2. Middle phase
  3. Graduation phase

Beginning Phase

The beginning phase is focused on identifying clear goals of treatment. As such, treatment planning is essential because it helps the patient and provider focus care in a way that supports clear goals, movement, and resolution. In this phase, the provider works with the client to identify 1–3 areas of focus, noting that not all issues an individual comes to therapy with may be resolved within an episode.

The provider outlines structure and mapping around the treatment experience, which includes the setting of a graduation goal in order to optimize sessions and time between sessions. The provider may begin treatment planning with the client by asking clear questions about their goals for care.

Middle Phase

The middle phase focuses on learning and implementing skills through a strengths-based approach. This evidenced based approach builds on an individual’s unique strengths and knowledge that they bring with them as experts in their own lives.  As behavioral health providers, our responsibility is to support clients as they build skills, increase self-understanding, and conclude each episode of care with confidence in their ability to actively engage in living.

Graduation Phase

We actively support individuals to ready themselves for graduation by using active engagement in sessions and skills practice between sessions. We support and encourage our patients to increase their proficiency, confidence and test the sustainability of their efforts in order to create readiness to conclude their episode of care and return to their active living. We believe that doing intentional termination work is an essential part of therapy as often, individuals do not get to experience planned conclusions of relationships. At the time of graduation, folks are educated about their ability to return for a future episode of care if or when they need it.

Looking for a provider? Use the tabs below to see all behavioral health providers at our clinic locations.

 

Provider Name

Title

Languages Spoken

Public Health Social Worker
English
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
English
VRP Advocate – Cape Cod
English
Psychotherapist
English
Staff Psychiatrist
English, Spanish
Associate Director of Integrated Behavioral Health Services
English
Violence Recovery Program Counselor and Advocate
English
Outpatient Therapist
English
Medical Case Manager
English
VRP Bilingual Counselor Advocate
English, Spanish
Medical Case Manager
English
Medical Director of Behavioral Health
English
Psychiatrist
English
Behavioral Health Specialist
English
Manager, Violence Recovery Program
English
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
English
Therapist
English, Russian
Violence Recovery Program Lead Advocate (Boston)
English
Low-Barrier Behavioral Health Clinician
English
High Acuity Case Manager
English
Psychotherapist
English
Staff Therapist
English
Behavioral Health Substance Use Disorder Specialist
English
Staff Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
English
Addiction Recovery Coordinator
English
High Acuity Case Manager
English
Clinical Supervisor
English
Violence Recovery Program Advocate
English

Provider Name

Title

Languages Spoken

Medical Case Manager
English, Spanish
Outpatient Therapist
English
Staff Psychiatrist
English
Behavioral Health Specialist
English
Clinical Manager
English
Medical Director of Behavioral Health
English
Behavioral Health Specialist
English
Outpatient Psychotherapist
English
Lead Psychotherapist
English
Therapist / Quality Assurance-Utilization Review Coordinator
English
Therapist
English
Adolescent and Young Adult Psychotherapist
English
Psychiatrist
English
Medical Case Manager
English, Spanish
Psychotherapist
English
Associate Director of Outpatient Behavioral Health Services
English

To Become a New Patient

617.927.6202

We Offer In-Person and Telehealth Appointments

Ansin Building

Fenway: South End

Sidney Borum, Jr. Health Center

Translate »
X