“Healing is not linear” – Unknown
Since its inception, Maryland Addiction Recovery Center has strived to be a community-driven treatment facility, a treatment center that listens and responds to the needs of the local communities within Maryland and that attempts to serve the local community not only through treatment services but also through free community services, partnerships and collaboration.
It was through this lens and a proud love and respect for our community that the Maryland Healing Network was born. Inspired by a collaborative dinner hosted by Maryland Addiction Recovery Center, Welynn Outpatient Center of Raleigh, North Carolina and Futures of the Palm Beaches that took place last summer in North Carolina while in town to support the Recovery Awareness Day taking place in Charlotte, North Carolina, MARC cofounder and Director of Business Development Zach Snitzer and MARC Community Relations Specialist Mallorie Schwartzman discussed how impressive the collaboration was between the local therapists, clinicians and treatment providers they had met. The attendees stressed the importance of meeting one another and learning about the local resources that existed. Often many had worked with one another without ever having met in person or in other instances were unaware of the vast resources that existed that could aid them in working with clients and patients. They spoke with one another about their practices, their specialties, their expertise, the challenges they faced, what challenges they saw that their clients faced and the need they had to find regular guidance, support and self-care.
It was through this experience that MARC felt such a platform could be extremely beneficial to the local communities within Maryland and the greater Maryland-Washington DC-Virginia region. The thought process was to bring local providers in specific communities within Maryland together to have them meet, learn about one another and discuss what new or expanded services they felt their local community needed, all grounded in the ideals of patient care, collaboration and transparency.
Over the course of the last several months, Maryland Addiction Recovery Center’s Community Relations Specialist Mallorie Schwartzman have collaborated and developed the Maryland Healing Network, a network of local therapists, treatment professionals, service providers, holistic healers, attorneys and other professionals that meet in the local Maryland areas of Towson, Annapolis and Columbia. Reaching out and partnering with therapist groups, individual therapists and addiction treatment professionals that co-host in each area, the meetings have become a place where those in the mental health and addiction treatment field and those providers whose work impacts and are impacts by the clients they see come together to discuss what more can be done, how to provide best-in-class practices, how to better and more effectively collaborate, how to find and best support self-care. Each group has organically taken a direction inspired by those professionals in the local area and what they feel they and their local areas need the most. They laugh, they inspire, they grow, they discuss issues, they share information on their services, upcoming events, trainings and best practices.
As it stands, we have three unique and somewhat independent groups meeting throughout the Maryland area. Each area has a therapist group or individuals whom MARC has collaborated with to co-host. Our first meeting was held in Annapolis in September of 2017. We partnered with Emma Rogers and her practice, Argo Counseling. Each month we select a theme to carry with us to dive deeper into how we can better serve the community. We bring our findings back to the group and discuss. From the connections made, there has been new groups and services offered to patients, job opportunities, fundraising goals met and a much more robust referral base made for participants, which leads to better client care and healing in the community. In January, we began to meet in Columbia, Maryland and partnered with the well-established group therapist group Century Mental Health. Members of the Columbia group are made up of professionals representing a variety of occupations- criminal lawyers, government officials, doctors, holistic practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists to name a few. We’ve been led through leadership development exercises and are hoping to provide continuing education opportunities in the future. This varied group of professionals will offer up the ability to view mental health from many professions and many perspectives. With each different perspective we evolve and grow to better serve our community. The newest group of the Maryland Healing Network is our Towson group, where we have partnered with well-established individual therapists Rita Preller and Marian Childs as well as Ashley Addiction Treatment. The first Towson MHN meeting was held in February where many attendees met for the first time and discuss what direction we would take the group moving forward. We spoke of clinical modalities and what sets us each apart as professionals and people. We got to know one another and worked on planning for the future meetings. By just taking part in these groups we are doing so much for the community- by strengthening and deepening our relationships and working together to discover what we each need as a professional to do our job of serving people better and what the community needs are that we can come together and provide as a group of people dedicating to serving those dealing with mental health and addiction.
Here is more information on the Maryland Healing Network:
Intention:
The Maryland Healing Network is a group of professionals who are committed to helping others in the community by participating in a monthly gathering. It is a time and space inspired by collaboration and interest to deepen relationships with one another.
What:
The Maryland Healing Network is a practical solution dedicated to strengthening relationships within the mental health field. It consists of a core group of individuals who are approaching their expertise with eagerness and openness, professionals who believe in collaboration and communication and who are hoping to cultivate deepened connections. Our goal is that this network will ultimately result in more effective and innovative ways to help those in need, resulting in a core nucleus of 20/25 participants who are enthusiastic about this work and each other’s work.
The professionals participating are doing so out of love for the community and not obligation, while believing that each of us are uniquely qualified to be helpful while adding knowledge to the group.
Specifics: The Maryland Healing Network is a collaboration between Maryland Addiction Recovery Center (MARC) and therapist groups in specific areas throughout the state. Each month, 20-25 invited clinicians, healers and those supporting mental health and addiction recovery in the communities of Towson, Annapolis and Columbia will meet to discuss collaboration, innovation and self-care. Our hope is that this will foster trust, better practice, transparency and better equip us all with resources throughout our local communities to better serve those in need.
Collaboration Information/Hosts:
Annapolis, Maryland:
Maryland Addiction Recovery Center
Argo Counseling (www.argocounselingandwellness.com)
MHN Annapolis meets the third Friday of each month for lunch
Columbia, Maryland:
Maryland Addiction Recovery Center
Century Mental Health (www.centurymentalhealth.com)
MHN Columbia meets the second Friday of each month for lunch
Towson, Maryland:
Maryland Addiction Recovery Center
Ashley Addiction Treatment (www.ashleytreatment.org)
Rita Preller, therapist (www.ritapreller.com)
Marian Childs, therapist
MHN Towson meets the fourth Friday of each month for lunch currently and will be a quarterly meeting of professionals moving forward
For more information about the Maryland Healing Network or if you would like to potentially be included or start a new area group, please contact Maryland Addiction Recovery Center Community Relations Specialist Mallorie Schwartzman
Mallorie Schwartzman, Maryland Addiction Recovery Center
Community Relations Specialist
mschwartzman@marylandaddictionrecovery.com
If you or someone you know is in need of help because of drug and/or alcohol abuse or addiction, please give us a call. Maryland Addiction Recovery Center offers the most comprehensive dual diagnosis addiction treatment in the Mid-Atlantic area. If we aren’t the best fit for you or your loved one, we will take the necessary time to work with you to find a treatment center or provider that better fits your needs. Please give us a call at (410) 773-0500 or email our team at info@marylandaddictionrecovery.com. For more information on all of our drug addiction and alcohol addiction services and recovery resources, please visit our web site at www.marylandaddictionrecovery.com.