The Crisis Podcast

Michael Randolph is the Director of Co-Response Services at Mental Health Cooperative of Tennessee, a nonprofit behavioral health organization based in Nashville.

Learn more about MHC at www.mhc-tn.com.

Episode music (all written by Travis Atkinson)

Intro: Marionette

Interlude: Trippin'

Outro: Spend A Day

Ricky Mountsier serves as Vice President of Inpatient & Crisis Services at Oaklawn Psychiatric Center, where he provides strategic leadership for a comprehensive continuum of behavioral health crisis services, including mobile crisis response, crisis receiving and stabilization services, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) initiatives, and inpatient psychiatric care.

Following his own journey of recovery, he began his career as a peer recovery coach. Since then, he has served in progressively expanding leadership roles, helping develop innovative crisis services across St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties in northern Indiana that strengthen and improve access to compassionate and timely care.

A licensed social worker and advocate for suicide prevention and crisis systems, Ricky believes the strongest behavioral health systems are built where lived experience, clinical excellence, and compassionate leadership intersect. He is passionate about creating crisis services that not only respond to people on their hardest days but also remind them that recovery, hope, and human connection are possible

Ariellah Goldbloom, LSW, NREMT, CRSS, is a connector at heart, bringing together people, systems, and the small moments that determine whether someone feels seen and supported. A crisis response leader and speaker, she builds programs and teams that show up when it matters most. 

As Director, Ariellah leads a Crisis Response program serving Chicago’s South Side and a Linkage team supporting high utilizers across Cook County. She is known for bringing people together, noticing what systems miss, and creating movement where others stall. Her work challenges traditional approaches to crisis care by centering real-world decision making, relational practice, and workforce readiness.

A fierce advocate for her teams, Ariellah blends honesty, humor, and practical insight to push systems toward more human, effective care. She leads with warmth, humor, and high expectations, holding both people and systems to a higher standard.

Links:

Thresholds: www.thresholds.org

CrisisCon: www.crisiscon.org

Vanessa Pataky is the Senior Vice President of Crisis & Addiction Continuum at Aspire Indiana Health, where she oversees a comprehensive crisis continuum including crisis call center, mobile crisis, and the Rely Crisis Center. Kaitlyn Ervin is Senior Director of Crisis Services at Aspire, where she has spent more than a decade serving in roles ranging from intake clinician and therapist to clinical manager and crisis leader. Together, Vanessa and Kaitlyn have helped lead the development of Aspire’s evolving crisis system, building strong partnerships with first responders, hospitals, and community organizations along the way.

In this episode, Travis sits down with Vanessa and Kaitlyn to explore what it takes to build a crisis continuum that truly meets people where they are. Kaitlyn & Vanessa share the story behind the Rely Center, the importance of listening to community partners rather than trying to displace them, and the role of trust, humility, and persistence in creating new pathways to care. They also discuss hospitality in crisis care—from good coffee and Mexican hot chocolate to the influence of Disney—along with the importance of being “the pause” in moments of crisis, embracing ambiguity, and recognizing that crisis systems are never finished.

Perhaps most importantly, Vanessa and Kaitlyn offer a compelling philosophy for building better crisis care: dream big, start where you are, stay flexible, and keep learning from the people doing the work. Their approach is a reminder that meaningful system transformation is less about having all the answers and more about being willing to build something together.

Johnathan Davis is the CEO of CarePoint Response, a nonprofit organization providing crisis services in Baltimore.

To learn more about CarePoint Response, visit https://carepointresponse.org/.

Kris Thompson, LCSW, is the Chief Operating Officer for Lenape Valley Foundation, a behavioral health provider in Pennsylvania. I sat down with Kris to talk about his journey in crisis care, including the development of two crisis programs in the past 10 years as well as Lenape Valley's operation of 988 and mobile crisis services.

Lenape Valley Foundation is opening a state-of-the-art crisis facility in July 2026, featuring adult and youth crisis stabilization and crisis residential services, as well as substance use treatment.

To learn more about Lenape Valley Foundation, visit www.lenapevf.org.

To learn more about the Alternative Mobile Response Association mentioned at the top of this episode, visit www.us-amsa.org.

For more information about CrisisCon, visit www.CrisisCon.org.

Dr. Nev Jones is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh and one of the nation's leading voices on mental health systems, crisis response, psychosis, peer support, and the role of lived experience in behavioral health research and policy. With an interdisciplinary background spanning philosophy, community psychology, and medical anthropology, her work focuses on creating more person-centered, equitable, and effective public mental health systems. She directs PathLab, a research collaborative that intentionally centers researchers with lived experience of psychiatric disability, and has authored more than 170 publications examining topics such as crisis response, early psychosis, structural inequities, coercion in mental health care, and recovery-oriented services.

Before joining the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Jones held faculty appointments at the University of South Florida and worked in California's public behavioral health system in policy, quality improvement, and direct service roles. She is also a nationally recognized advocate for meaningful service-user leadership in research and system design, having co-founded initiatives including the Chicago Hearing Voices Network and the Bay Area Hearing Voices Network. Her work has been recognized with honors including the Pioneer Award from the National Association of Peer Supporters and the Judi Chamberlin Joy in Advocacy Award, reflecting her longstanding commitment to advancing recovery-oriented, community-based approaches to behavioral health. Links:

National Hearing Voices Network

National Hearing Voices Network – For people who hear voices, see visions or have other unusual perceptions

CrisisCon

www.CrisisCon.org

Inseparable's report "A Better Response"Better Response Report | Inseparable

Heather Honaker is a Managing Consultant with TBD Solutions and the President of the Crisis Residential Association. A native of northern Virginia, Heather has helped organizations across the country to build new and improved systems of crisis care. She is a nationally certified counselor with a penchant for effective leadership and compassionate crisis care.

In this episode I sit down with heather to learn about why she became a mental health professional, the trials and tribulations of leading an essential workforce during a pandemic, and where she draws her inspiration to serve and lead.

To learn about CrisisCon, visit www.CrisisCon.org.

To learn about the Crisis Residential Association, visit www.CrisisResidentialAssociation.org.

Read the Crisis Residential Association's Open Letter in Response to the Executive Order "Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets" here:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7359637226361634816

Stephen Parker is a behavioral health planner at the global architecture+engineering firm Stantec. Stephen is a proponent of “architect as advocate” for colleague, client, and community alike, and he believes strongly in leadership through service.

With awards from Behavioral Health Business and FastCo, Stephen is a collaborative researcher and accomplished architect with millions of square feet of built work and thousands of inpatient mental health beds. He’s co-written inpatient mental health design standards for the US Department of Veterans Affairs, crisis design guides for N. American behavioral health systems and designed emergency psychiatric environments across the globe.

Stephen also serves the Design in Mental Health Network in the United Kingdom as an Associate to the Board, is a Practitioner with the Trauma-Informed Design Society, and is a member of the America Association of Emergency Psychiatry. Defying stigma by design, Stephen is driving purpose across Stantec’s Mental+Behavioral Health projects globally.

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CrisisCon is coming! Join us in Indianapolis for the largest behavioral health crisis conference in the country, September 28th - October 1st. Register now at www.CrisisCon.org.

Elan Javanfard is a clinician with both purpose and passion, and an unrelenting advocate for humans facing mental health challenges. A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Elan is the Senior Director of Whole Person Care at Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services in Los Angeles, CA.

In this episode, Elan shares his experiences around working with challenging populations, bringing better ideas into behavioral health care, and recognizing that strength is not lasting without rest and restoration.

For information about the National Crisis Continuum Conference, visit www.CrisisCon.org.

To learn more about the Crisis Residential Association, visit www.CrisisResidentialAssociation.org.