Staff Voices - Welcome to the CDP's new blog!

Staff Voices - Welcome to the CDP's new blog!

Welcome to the CDP's blog

Dear Providers:

Many of you have taken advantage of the consultation calls and resources available to you on our Provider Portal, but you have also let us know that you need more options  - advanced discussion, current and diverse content, and different ways of accessing support. You’ve also been clear that you need flexibility. With your busy schedules, you need consultation that works within your schedule, even if you are a few time zones, or half a world away from your consultant.

We are making some changes to the Provider Portal that we hope will give you some new and better ways to access resources. The great resources already on the Provider Portal are not going away, though they may look and feel a little different, but we are really excited about adding several new features that will extend your knowledge and inform your clinical practice. Best of all, the new format will be more current, more responsive to your requests and input, and more user-friendly. We hope you will be inspired to join the conversation as a regular participant  - post comments and questions, make suggestions for future content, and even contribute content of your own.

We will be rolling out many of these changes in the coming weeks so we hope you will check back often to see what’s new and tell us how we are doing. Here is a brief description of what you will see on a regular basis, starting this week:

Monday - By the Numbers:

We will start the week with a statistical snapshot of some aspect of deployment-related psychology to help you make sense of the numbers. For example, do you know what percentage of behavioral health providers are trained to provide evidence based treatments? (Hint: you are in an elite group!)

Tuesday - Consultation Call Recap:

Our consultation calls are a great resource but not everyone can attend. So we will be providing a weekly summary of our conversation, as well as links or references to any additional resources that came up during the call. The discussion usually centers on a clinical question from one of our providers in the field, but we may also discuss current research findings, technical and clinical resources, implementation issues and professional development topics.

Wednesday - Staff Voices:

This feature will include topical and how-to articles, interviews, book and technology reviews, and videos. Some future topics include: treating service members in theater; protecting yourself from burnout; laying the ground work for successful in vivo exposure; supplementing PTSD treatment for clients with panic attacks; and an interview with Kevin Halloway, of the National Center for Telehealth and Technology, about virtual training in Second Life.

Thursday - Research Update:

Shirl Kennedy, our CDP librarian, will provide a weekly round-up of the latest journal articles, research and related links to save you time while helping you keep current.

Friday - Announcements:

We will end the week with announcements from the around the CDP and elsewhere, including training opportunities, job openings, and other news. When we release new content to the Provider Resource tab or schedule a particularly exciting feature, we will post it here so you will be sure to find it.

We have a lot more planned for the future including exciting feature articles, technology reviews, how-tos, treatment videos, and interviews from some of pioneers in the field of deployment psychology as well as those on the front line (literally) of military behavioral health. We will be updating our message board and directing questions and content to this area of the website so everyone can listen in or get involved in the conversation. We will also be partnering with the Veterans Administration (VA) so that we can pool our shared knowledge and resources to best serve those who serve our nation, whether they are active, reserve, guard, veteran or family.

We know how hard you work and we know that your time is both valuable and limited.  We hope that the Provider Portal can cut down on the time you need to spend looking for the tools and resources you need to stay informed, sharpen your clinical skills and take care of your professional self.  So bookmark our page and check in with us when you have a minute. Tell us what you think, recommend features and content and connect with us, as well as with your colleagues across the world.