A groundbreaking new suicide-prevention clinic has opened at the University of Vermont Health — the first of its kind in the region. At an open house Friday morning, UVM Health leaders, elected officials and other supporters celebrated the launch of Asha Clinic, which they said will expand acc ess to critical care for people struggling with suicidal thoughts or behaviors.  “This clinic stands at the forefront of a broader transformation of mental health care across the country,” Robert Althoff, chair of the department of psychiatry at UVM Health, told the crowd of attendees. “Clinicians, researchers, health systems, and advocates have been working to develop more effective, more compassionate, and more scientifically-grounded approaches to suicide. Today, we push that movement forward in a meaningful way.” The clinic’s name comes from a Sanskrit word that means “hope.” It was financed by Four Pines Fund, a Vermont-based philanthropic organization dedicated to expanding access to evidence-based suicide care.  Physicians Bill Gottesman and Debra Lopez Gottesman founded Four Pines following the loss of their 25-year-old son, Alan, to suicide in 2015. Alan was a patient at a well-regarded psychiatric facility in Texas when he died. In an effort to “understand what had gone so wrong,” Lopez Gottesman told attendees while wiping away tears, the couple researched the field of suicide care and learned about “a group of life-saving practices designed specifically to address suicidal distress, and backed by extensive research.” Despite their effectiveness, these practices have not been widely adopted in health care settings, Lopez Gottesman said. They set out to change that. “Asha offers the exact kind of care we wish Alan had when he was struggling,” she said. The clinic, which provides outpatient care, occupies a refurbished wing of UVM Medical Center. It has six private consultation rooms for patients and families to meet with their doctors, and is staffed by seven clinicians who specialize in suicide care. Craig Bryan, a clinician researcher, moved from Ohio to lead the team. Bryan previously worked at Ohio State and the University of Utah, and served as a clinical psychologist in the U.S. Air Force. He was deployed to Iraq in 2009. In his remarks Friday, Bryan stressed that Asha Clinic would combine research, training and clinical care, serving as “an engine for advancing suicide care here in Vermont and the nation.” The clinic will center a treatment called brief cognitive behavioral therapy, or BCBT, “a psychotherapy treatment proven to reduce suicide attempts by 60 to 76 percent, as compared to traditional mental health care treatments,” Bryan said. Patients have already begun to receive treatment at Asha Clinic, which features a quotation from the end of Dante Alighieri’s “Inferno” at its entrance: “And then we emerged to see the stars again.”  “The quote serves as a beacon of hope to those who come here for assistance,” Bryan said. “Together, we all can help people emerge from the darkness and to see the stars again.” The post New Clinic at UVM Health Offers Specialized Suicide Care appeared first on Seven Days. ...read more read less