Run4Recovery
FB Live for Back to School"
International Women's Day
Why Black Psychology Matters
Send a Message of Hope
Evening of Hope Event
Run4Recovery
Mental Health Awareness Month
Activities Drive Thru
Summer Sessions - Adolescent Groups
NAMIWalks
National Night Out with KCSD
CSF Health Fair "Saving Lives" 2018
Ready, Set, Back-2-School Health and Wellness Fair
Abriendo Puertas (Opening Doors)
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Business Expo
Suicide Prevention & Awareness Forum
Beautiful Bakersfield 2018 Awards Gala
The Woman's March in Kern County
The morning of January 20th brought out huge groups of women, and their allies, to Central Park in Bakersfield to participate in the first official Kern County Women’s March. There were some differing estimates for just how many people attended Saturday’s march, but the general consensus is between 5,000 and 7,000 people.
Grand Re-Opening & Ribbon Cutting
Bakersfield Behavioral Healthcare Hospital celebrated our Grand Re-Opening on January 25th with a ribbon cutting provided by The Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. It was a great night with amazing company. In October of 2015, Signature Healthcare bought the building we are now in. In the last couple of years, BBHH has transformed from being a med/surge hospital to the only freestanding psychiatric hospital in all of Kern County.
Downtown Business Association Health and Fitness Expo
On Saturday, January 13th, BBHH attended the Health and Fitness Expo put on by the Bakersfield Downtown Business Association. This year it was held out Total Woman Fitzone on Truxtun Ave. A lot of people braved the cold to come out and have a good time. Total Woman had an instructor outside doing a mini Zumba lesson to keep participants warm.
Happy Holidays to all from BBHH
Everyone at BBHH is making a special effort to ensure a good time is had by all during the holiday season. Many employees volunteered their time to decorate our gym, make cupcakes and cookies, create face paintings, and play games with everyone during our first annual Harvest Festival held on...
Working in the Community
According to the cdc.gov, it is estimated that one in every five individuals suffer from a Mental Health Diagnosis, and one in every twenty-five individuals suffer from a debilitating depression that can alienate them from friends, family, and normal activities. We at BBHH feel passionately...
Partnering with ABC Channel 23
We at BBHH are excited to announce the recent partnering with ABC Channel 23 in an upcoming and ongoing “Conquering Addiction” series. With this series we will be offering monthly articles that take a look at the serious issues that affect all of us around the world and also right here in our...
A Note From Our CEO
We at Bakersfield Behavioral Healthcare Hospital would like to take a moment to extend our thoughts and prayers to all those who have been and continue to be affected by the multiple Southern California Fires. We would also like to extend our greatest appreciation to...
Employee of the Year!
At this year's Holiday party, we were pleased to announce our 2017 Employee of the Year, Gregory Yeasley from our Outpatient Services. Greg has spent the year showing in all he does that he absolutely was the obvious choice for this award. His selfless and...
Out in the Community
On Saturday, November 18th, BBHH was invited to come and give a presentation for the pastoral staff of Bakersfield First Church of the Nazarene. We met some truly great individuals who are working hard to make a difference in their community. It was an honor to be part of such a great and lively discussion...
The Bakersfield Business Conference and Expo
On October 26th, at the Rabobank Arena, The Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce and the Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce partnered to host the region’s largest business event – the 2017 Business Conference & Expo.
Out of the Darkness Walk
On Saturday, October 28, at Yokuts Park, The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention put on the Out of The Darkness Walk. It was a morning full of inspirational stories and comradery. Just over 300 people showed up to walk and there were about 15 venders on site to show their support for the event.
2017 NAMI walk at Riverwalk Park
10/14/2017
According to www.nami.org as qtd. by www.nihm.nih.gov as of 2015;
- Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S.—43.8 million, or 18.5%—experiences mental illness in a given year.
- Approximately 1 in 25 adults in the U.S.—9.8 million, or 4.0%—experiences a serious mental illness in a given year that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.
Ready? Set? ...Back to School!
8/09/2017
On Thursday August 3, 2017, from 9 am to 12 noon, The Kern County Department of Child Support Services presented its 8th annual Health and Wellness Fair. An estimated, over 4000 individuals endured the sweltering heat and humidity to come out to the fairgrounds where their adolescents were able to obtain free haircuts, free immunizations, free backpacks and so much more.
There were dozens of booths speckled across the lawn with a wide variety of businesses who were eager to distribute an abundance of goodies to all in attendance. As a compassionate and caring member of the Kern County Community, Bakersfield Behavioral Healthcare Hospital wanted to make sure they did their part to help all those families in Kern County that need a little bit of extra help in preparation for the new school year. It is said that it takes a village to raise an adolescent, and we believe that here in Kern County we truly have the best village there is.
Bakersfield Behavioral has included MediYoga in our Therapeutic Activity Groups!
Written by Natalie, Activity Supervisor, Therapeutic Activity Department3/22/2017
INNOVATION NEWS: Bakersfield Behavioral now has MediYoga!!
We are happy to announce that this week we started offering MediYoga to our patients. According to www.mediyoga.com, “MediYoga is a very powerful tool in combating stress, burn out and other imbalances and it is simple to use. There are yoga exercises to suit everyone, yogic techniques that you can easily incorporate into your everyday life. Yoga has been a source of inspiration for many modern disciplines and treatment methods.” Some of the benefits of MediYoga are increased concentration, awareness, and balance, blood circulation, reduced levels of stress, clarity, and patience.
Yani Valdes is our new MediYoga instructor. During Yani’s sessions, our patients sit in a comfortable chair and listen to relaxing music. The main focus of the session is on breathing and light stretches, and the goal is to help patients explore alternative ways to relax and cope with symptoms while using yogic techniques. After their session, patients reported feeling relaxed, calm, and with improved affect. We encourage our patients to use these techniques when they discharge to cope with their symptoms and improve their life style and created balance.
"Yoga is not just a workout – it’s about working on yourself." – Unknown
Bakersfield Behavioral has included Art Therapy in our Therapeutic Activity Groups!
Written by Natalie, Activity Supervisor, Therapeutic Activity Department3/15/2017
Groups are a very important part of the treatment plan for our patients. During activity therapy groups, we encourage patients to explore new activities they can implement in their daily life, and once they discharge, these activities can help them cope with symptoms. We provide different art materials and encourage patients to explore and express their emotions through the use of art.
Art can help us reduce stress, focus on something positive, provides sense of accomplishment, boosts self-esteem, helps our brain to be active, helps improve our affect and mood, and can be used as an alternative tool for communication. After engaging in art, many of our patients report feeling less anxious, with more energy, and with improved affect.
The collective painting/project below was made by our adolescent and adult patients and our staff. We wanted to create something that represents our emotions and experiences with mental illness, and we were able to create this amazing and beautiful piece of art that gives us hope. Art is for everyone and there’s not a right or wrong way to do it. It does not matter the outcome of your painting, what matters is what happens in your brain and soul while doing it.
Like Pablo Picasso said, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
Bakersfield Behavioral now has Pet Therapy!
Written by Natalie, Activity Supervisor, Therapeutic Activity Department Supervisor
1/16/2017
We would like to introduce you to Fred and his owner, Liz.
Fred comes once a week for an hour, every Friday, and goes to the units’ day room where we do group. Because we only have Fred for a short period of time, we do a different unit each week so everyone gets an opportunity to engage in pet therapy.
Prior to Fred coming on Fridays, we assess each patient on the assigned unit for allergies and to determine if the patient is fit for pet therapy. We want the patients and Fred to be and feel safe.
During pet therapy, patients spend time with Fred and share their stories about their own pets and how having a pet has influenced their life in a positive way. We talked about the unconditional love pets provide and how similar our self-care is. Humans and pets need balance in their life to be able to function properly (sleep, eat, shower, doctors’ appointments, work, love…).
Lastly, we talked about a few benefits of owning a pet. Pets can help us improve our fitness, by walking your dog daily you can benefit from low-impact exercise. Walking is a coping skill that can help individuals with mental illnesses, like depression and anxiety, to reduce their symptoms. Pets can help boost our mood, lower our levels of stress, and give us unconditional love.
We are still working towards having more volunteers so we can expand this service to more patients.
Patients loved Fred and the pet therapy group. They reported that being in a psych hospital is depressing because you are far away from the people you love but bringing a dog helped them cope with their symptoms, motivated them to get better, made them smile, and feel unconditional love.