Sanford Behavioral Health facility and therapy rooms for veteran and first responder mental health programs

Why Veterans and First Responders Only Treatment? 4 Questions for Executive Director Matthew VanLiere

Matthew (Matt) VanLiere has a BA in Criminal Justice and 29 years of experience in law enforcement. Matt worked with the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department in narcotics investigations (undercover work), bench warrant enforcement, general road patrol, and crisis negotiation. He was an honor guard member for his entire law enforcement career. During his years of […]

Addiction Treatment – Social Model or Medical Model?

Treatment for substance use disorders (addiction or SUD) comes in many forms. The”best fit” may vary significantly depending on an individual’s background, history of use, medical comorbidities, support system, and other factors. Two specific models of addiction treatment are often discussed—the medical model of addiction treatment and the social model of addiction treatment.   The […]

U.S.Households With an Addicted Parent Impact 19 Million Children

According to a new study based on data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 19 million U.S. children live in a household with at least one parent with a substance use disorder (JAMA Pediatrics). This figure represents nearly one-quarter of all children in the United States. The study analyzed data from 62 […]

Overnight Admissions Calls: A CEO’s Wild Ride

As the CEO of a behavioral health company, I never thought I’d be taking overnight admissions calls again, but it has been awesome! We created 24/7 EZ Admissions because nighttime or weekends can present an opportunity for an individual to seek help that they may talk themselves out of during the daytime or workweek. When […]

Announcing 24/7 Easy Admissions – Because Crises Do Not Happen 9 to 5

Mental health crises often happen at night for several reasons. Factors may include intoxication, nighttime anxiety or depression, secretive eating or purging, lack of daytime distractions, circadian rhythm disturbances, lack of empathy or argumentativeness from family members, or even the need to urinate (alcohol is a diuretic). Nocturnal anxiety makes everything seem more problematic. Likewise, […]

Early Risers & Reduced Risk of Depression

The old saying, “The early bird catches the worm,” underscores the benefits of taking action early in the morning. Motivational speaker Mel Robbins uses the “5-second rule” (counting backward from 5 to 1) to get you out of bed and start the day. She also espouses getting up at 5:00 am with a powerful routine […]

12 Hopeful Ideas to Improve Your Mental Health 2025

In January and February each year, Sanford Behavioral Health creates an article series that looks at hopeful ways to improve your mental health. As a behavioral health organization, we know that treatment and medication management are important elements of improving and maintaining mental health. However, science has shown that community, passionate interests, and even limiting […]

Meet Chief Executive Officer Tracy Rogers, LMHC

Tracy Rogers was perfectly happy as a healthcare operations consultant until she met Sanford Behavioral Health Founders Rae and David Green through a mutual colleague. As she puts it, “They are the reason I wanted to serve as a Chief Executive Officer again.” Because Sanford is privately owned and small enough to feel manageable, Tracy […]

How’s Your Mental Health Today?

If you are feeling alone with your mental health struggles, read the quote below from Mental Health America’s 2024 Report. Nearly 60 million adults experienced a mental illness in the past year, and only half of them will receive treatment. The good news? The report advocates for upstream prevention and early intervention, which is exactly […]

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Sanford Founder Rae Green On Our Most-Read Articles of 2024

12 Days of Hope Series #5 Every year at this time, we look back at our best articles and discuss why people want to read what we have written. “Best” means most website clicks and social media shares, and a couple of these articles (with regular updates) have been going strong for years. Looking at […]