TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series

TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series

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TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series episodes

  • Chipped Away: The Grief Inside Domestic Violence with Victoria Clayton

    Some of the most damaging domestic violence leaves no bruise at all.
    Victoria Clayton, MA, LMFT, is the Clinical Program Manager at Laura's House, the only state-approved comprehensive domestic violence agency in South Orange County. She oversees the agency's therapists and clinical services. Those services include Breaking the Cycle, a virtual therapy program for people who have caused harm and are ready to change.
    In this conversation with Autumn Payne, Clayton talks about how control shows up in money, in clothing and in the courts. She shares the image she uses for what that does to a person over time. She also gets specific about what providers can ask in a short visit and why a loved one's push to leave can backfire.

    In this episode:
    How power and control show up beyond physical violence
    The image she uses for what domestic violence does to a person
    Why grief runs through nearly every client she sees
    The grief that also surfaces in a program for people who have caused harm
    Screening questions to ask beyond "has he ever hit you?"
    Why rent and childcare can come before therapy
    How family and friends can stay a safe and neutral presence

    Learn more about Laura's House: https://laurashouse.org

    If you or someone you know needs support, call the Laura's House 24/7 crisis hotline at 866-498-1511 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

    If you screen patients for domestic violence, work with families in crisis or love someone in a relationship that worries you, this conversation is for you.

    πŸ“Œ Subscribe to hear more about mental health and whole-person care. tntopenmind.org

    0:00 Introduction
    0:30 Who Laura's House serves
    1:35 Leading the clinical team
    2:28 She just needed a job
    4:21 Why she stayed
    5:15 Starting over after twenty years at home
    7:19 When rent comes before therapy
    9:44 Misconceptions about domestic violence
    10:36 The whittling image
    12:29 Grief at the center of it all
    14:18 Working with people who have caused harm
    17:33 What providers should know
    18:43 It can happen to anybody
    20:03 Looking beyond physical violence
    23:27 Signs to watch for
    25:00 Screening questions to ask
    26:05 When patients feel misunderstood
    28:03 How to support a loved one
    30:45 Her hopes for survivors
    31:39 One chapter of the book
    32:16 Sitting with nuance

    Interview recorded on August 14, 2026

    πŸ“Œ Subscribe to hear more about mental health and whole-person care. tntopenmind.org

    tags: domestic violence, domestic violence screening, intimate partner violence, power and control, coercive control, financial abuse, emotional abuse, domestic violence survivors, grief and trauma, trauma-informed care, whole-person care, behavioral health, mental health, primary care, supporting a loved one, Breaking the Cycle, Laura's House, Victoria Clayton, LMFT, Orange County, TNT Open Mind Insights

    Subscribe to TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series on Soundwise

    33 min
  • Building Trust Through Consistency with Ashley Alvarez

    What happens when a patient in psychiatric crisis calls the number on their insurance card and has to wait weeks for help? Ashley Alvarez, a Transition of Care Nurse Practitioner at AltaMed, the nation's largest Federally Qualified Health Center, discusses one of healthcare's most overlooked bottlenecks: the gap between hospital discharge and actual psychiatric care.

    In this conversation, she breaks down why so many ER visits trace back to undiagnosed mental health conditions, why provider consistency is a measurable driver of patient outcomes, and how her team's coordinated approach directly reduced hospital readmissions and ER visits.

    Trust in healthcare takes more than just one provider. It's built by a team that's aligned.

    0:00 – Cold Open: A doctor's inspiring journey
    2:04 – Welcome & introduction
    3:04 – Ashley's path into healthcare
    4:51 – How she became a nurse practitioner
    10:29 – The UC Irvine journey & Magnet status
    13:10 – Access to care challenges for low-income patients
    14:50 – What's at stake when patients wait
    18:07 – The psychiatric care access gap
    20:02 – Building a joint-effort care model
    22:00 – What drove her to expand her expertise
    28:24 – The big-picture vision for closing care gaps
    30:06 – The metrics: reducing readmissions & ER visits
    37:59 – Biggest takeaway & final thoughts

    Interview recorded on Mar 20, 2026

    πŸ”— Subscribe to hear more about the people closing healthcare's biggest gaps. www.tntopenmind.org

    healthcare, mental health, nurse practitioner, patient care, primary care, transition of care, psychiatric care, mental health advocacy, healthcare access, community health, FQHC, AltaMed, UC Irvine, nursing career, hospital readmissions, ER visits, health equity, underserved communities, behavioral health, care coordination, healthcare interview, medical podcast, patient trust, healthcare system, NP fellowship, Los Angeles healthcare, mental health crisis, care gaps, healthcare innovation

    Subscribe to TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series on Soundwise

    34 min
  • Preventable Deaths: Inside Maternal Mortality Review with Dr. Sarah Nagle-Yang

    She expected to find that the screening never happened. Most of the time, it had.

    Dr. Sarah Nagle-Yang is a reproductive psychiatrist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and co-chair of Colorado's Maternal Mortality Review Committee, where she reads through the record of everyone in the state who died while pregnant or in the year after. Suicide and unintentional overdose are the leading causes. She also co-chairs the National Curriculum in Reproductive Psychiatry, which began as a list she and a mentor put together so that trainees looking for a fellowship would not have to start with a Google search.

    In this conversation with Dr. Sarah Arshad, she walks through what a maternal mortality review actually involves and what it has revealed. Screening has largely made it into primary care. What follows a positive screen has not caught up, and that gap shows up in the cases she reviews. She gets specific about where clinicians can intervene, including the access lines built for exactly the moment a provider has someone in front of them and no clear next step.

    In this episode:
    What the mortality review revealed about screening and what comes after it
    Where the gap actually sits once a screen comes back positive
    The postpartum window where risk peaks and monitoring disappears
    Why cardiovascular disease leads for Black mothers, and what that has to do with mental health
    What perinatal psychiatric access lines do and who should be calling them
    Why an estimated one in ten fathers experiences postpartum depression
    The sleep question she puts to every family

    Learn more about the National Curriculum in Reproductive Psychiatry: https://ncrptraining.org

    If you see pregnant or postpartum patients, screen for depression in your practice, or love someone in their first year of parenthood, this conversation is for you.

    0:00 Introduction
    1:23 From OBGYN to psychiatry
    2:41 The conference that changed her career
    3:14 There is no accredited pathway
    6:07 The list of fellowships that became a national curriculum
    9:07 An all hands on deck problem
    9:44 The leading causes of maternal mortality
    10:59 Screening happens, then what
    11:33 Inside a perinatal mental health access line
    12:36 How a maternal mortality review works
    14:53 Fifteen states, every suicide death preventable
    15:39 Disparities in maternal mortality
    17:08 Why cardiovascular disease leads for Black mothers
    19:06 The drop off after the six week visit
    21:54 Nobody is checking on partners
    23:30 How perinatal access lines get funded
    25:18 What access lines do and who should call
    29:54 Sleep, support, and the we problem
    32:18 Where to find her work

    Interview recorded on August 15th, 2026

    πŸ”— Subscribe to hear more www.tntopenmind.org

    maternal mental health, perinatal mental health, reproductive psychiatry, maternal mortality, postpartum depression, maternal mortality review committee, perinatal suicide prevention, behavioral health, mental health, primary care, pediatrics, postpartum care, National Curriculum in Reproductive Psychiatry, University of Colorado, Sarah Nagle-Yang, TNT Open Mind Insights, perinatal access line, maternal health disparities

    Subscribe to TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series on Soundwise

    34 min
  • Connecting Clinicians to Capitol Hill with Alberto Sandoval

    What does it take to close the mental health gap in America? Alberto Sandoval, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Community and Government Relations at UC Irvine, has spent decades building relationships in Congress, the private sector, and higher education. In this episode of TNT Open Mind Insights, Sandoval makes a direct case for why clinicians, nurses, and mental health professionals are the most powerful advocates in the room β€” more than any lobbyist. And why picking up the phone to call your legislator may be one of the most important things you do this year.

    Topics covered include the mental health workforce gap, the TNT program as a force multiplier, cultural barriers in Hispanic communities, the connection between homelessness and untreated mental illness, and why sustained relationship building is how policy actually changes.
    The mental health crisis is solvable. This conversation is about who is going to solve it.

    0:00 β€” Introduction & Meet Alberto Sandoval
    1:08 β€” The Heart of Government Relations: Relationships
    2:34 β€” Why Mental Health Is a Priority at UCI
    3:41 β€” The Workforce Gap: Facilities Are Bulging at the Seams
    5:55 β€” Desperation, Homelessness & the Human Cost of Unaddressed Mental Health
    6:21 β€” Stigma, Overprescribing & Cultural Barriers in the Hispanic Community
    7:07 β€” It Can Be Solved: Optimism in Government Relations
    8:27 β€” Translating Lived Experience into Policy Change
    9:02 β€” How to Educate Policymakers
    10:35 β€” Why Clinicians Are the Most Powerful Advocates
    13:13 β€” How Healthcare Professionals Can Get Involved Today
    16:54 β€” The Starfish Story: One Person at a Time
    17:44 β€” Why Every Human Life Has Value
    19:45 β€” What World Do You Want for the Next Generation
    21:48 β€” Maintaining Optimism When the Work Is Hard
    22:28 β€” How Policy Change Actually Happens: The Long Game
    25:46 β€” From Research to Reality: UCI Success Stories
    27:14 β€” The Connection Between Mental Health and Homelessness
    28:33 β€” What Alberto Is Working on Now: UCI's 20-Year Vision
    29:03 β€” How to Connect With Alberto Sandoval & UCI CGR

    Inverview recorded on March 20, 2026

    πŸ”— Subscribe to hear more about the people, policies, and programs shaping the future of mental health care. tntopenmind.org

    mental health advocacy, behavioral health policy, UCI health, mental health access, clinician advocacy, healthcare policy, mental health professionals, force multiplier, TNT program, government relations, mental health gap, healthcare advocacy, people first language, mental health stigma, Hispanic mental health, homelessness mental health, UC Irvine, mental health reform, policy change, relationship building

    Subscribe to TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series on Soundwise

    30 min
  • Treating Addiction in Primary Care with Dr. Ihuoma Chukwueke

    What do you do when you can see the problem and don't have the solution?

    For years, Ihuoma Chukwueke, MD, DrPH , FAAFP, DipACLM, would take a social history, hear about a patient's drinking or drug use, and write a referral to an addiction specialist. The wait to be seen runs about three months. Readiness rarely survives it. A family physician with a doctorate in public health and board certification in lifestyle medicine, she had built a career around prevention and root causes β€” and substance use was the one place her tools ran out.

    Then a colleague talked her into applying for addiction medicine training for primary care providers. In this conversation she describes what changed: how she works substance use screening into visits that started with something else entirely, why quantifying a patient's drinking changes the conversation, and what happened when a woman who came in for a hand injury left having started treatment for alcohol use. She also lays out the arithmetic driving all of it. Roughly 3,000 addiction specialists nationwide against 48 million Americans who meet the criteria for a substance use disorder.

    In this episode:
    Why primary care providers are the first point of contact for substance use and mental health
    The three-month wait for addiction specialists and what gets lost in it
    Screening for substance use at well-child visits, including cannabis use at nine and alcohol at twelve
    How quantifying "just a glass of wine" changes what patients understand about their own drinking
    The connection between isolation, dopamine, and why the brain resists stopping
    Treating chronic disease and substance use as one problem instead of two
    Speaking about addiction in faith communities where stigma keeps people silent.

    0:00 Introduction
    0:22 Training Abroad and Six Years to a Medical Degree
    1:52 Community Service in Communities That Had Nothing
    2:24 From Public Health to a Doctorate in Preventive Care
    3:21 Board Certification in Lifestyle Medicine and Addiction Medicine Training
    4:30 Why You Cannot Separate Mental Health from Physical Health
    5:35 The Referral She Could Not Make Work
    6:03 3,000 Specialists and 48 Million Americans
    7:16 Tobacco, Secondhand Smoke, and the Deaths We Are Not Addressing
    8:28 The Colleague Who Talked Her Into Applying
    10:12 Quantifying the Drink and Naming Alcohol a Carcinogen
    11:27 Motivational Interviewing and the Shift from Empathy to Compassion
    12:56 Screening at Well-Child Visits: Cannabis at Nine, Alcohol at Twelve
    14:14 Prevention Versus Treating the Symptom
    16:11 Chronic Disease and Substance Use as One Problem
    18:34 Isolation, Dopamine, and the Hijacked Brain
    21:01 A Hand Injury and the Conversation That Followed
    23:35 Fifteen Minutes That Became Thirty-Five
    25:15 Two Patients a Day, Every Day, Since March
    27:38 Empowering Clinicians to Be the Hands and Feet
    29:19 Speaking About Addiction Where Stigma Keeps People Silent
    31:00 One in Eight High School Students
    32:15 A Request That the Training Continue


    πŸ”—If you practice primary care, screen patients for substance use, or believe prevention belongs at the front of medicine β€” this conversation is for you. Learn more about TNT Open Mind Insights: www.tntopenmind.org

    substance use disorder, addiction medicine, primary care, behavioral health, mental health, lifestyle medicine, prevention, alcohol use disorder, substance use screening, primary care providers, stigma, Ihuoma Chukwueke, TNT Open Mind Insights, TNT Primary Care Fellowships, UC Irvine, family medicine, opioid crisis, motivational interviewing, underserved communities, public health

    Subscribe to TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series on Soundwise

    34 min
  • Technology Teaches & Clinicians Care with Dr. Brian Mayhugh

    It's a documented crisis that we don't have enough mental health providers. When the answer isn't as simple as finding more clinicians how can we make each one more effective?

    Dr. Brian Mayhugh, trained psychologist and CEO & Co-founder of MindStreet Inc., unpacks this solution to one of healthcare's most urgent challenges. His cloud-based CBT platform reduces provider time by 80% while matching the outcomes of in-person therapy β€” bringing gold-standard care to patients wherever they are.

    In this conversation, you'll learn why CBT remains the gold standard and what makes it so difficult to scale, why the human element remains irreplaceable even in a digital-first world, and why treating behavioral health improves outcomes for chronic conditions like diabetes and cardiac disease.

    Whether you're a clinician looking to expand your reach, a health system administrator searching for scalable solutions, or a community member who wants better access to care β€” this conversation is for you.

    0:00 β€” Welcome & Introduction to Dr. Brian Mayhugh
    1:25 β€” A Career Rooted in Direct Patient Care
    3:55 β€” The Access Problem: Where the Crisis Really Begins
    5:10 β€” Discovering the Beck Institute & the Early Days of CBT
    6:55 β€” What Is CBT? Breaking Down the Core Framework
    8:50 β€” How Mind Street Works: The Platform Walkthrough
    13:00 β€” The Human-Supported Model: Why Technology Alone Isn't Enough
    16:30 β€” Reducing Provider Burnout Through Smart Offloading
    18:05 β€” Can AI Replace the Human Element?
    19:45 β€” Reaching Rural Communities: Care Without Geography
    21:55 β€” Mind Street vs. Other Mental Health Apps: What Makes It Different
    23:30 β€” The Research: NIH Validation & Gold-Standard Outcomes
    26:35 β€” Conditions CBT Can Treat β€” Beyond Anxiety & Depression
    29:35 β€” Comorbidity: The Behavioral Health–Chronic Disease Connection
    31:20 β€” How Providers Can Implement Mind Street Today
    32:05 β€” The Vision: Scaling Evidence-Based Care Across Communities
    34:25 β€” A Family Legacy in Behavioral Health

    Interview Recorded on March 20, 2026

    πŸ”” Subscribe for more conversations about innovation in mental health care.

    πŸ”— Watch more interviews in the series: tntopenmind.org

    CBT therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, mental health technology, behavioral health, mental health access, Mind Street, digital therapeutics, provider shortage, mental health platform, evidence-based therapy, telehealth mental health, rural mental health, comorbidity, primary care mental health, mental health tools, therapy at scale, NIH research, psychologist interview, mental health advocacy, healthcare innovation

    Subscribe to TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series on Soundwise

    31 min
  • Managing Pain, Monitoring Addiction with Jocelyn Nato Ligayo

    What happens when the provider handing out the prescriptions is the one who starts to question them?

    Jocelyn Ligayo spent years watching strong pain medication get prescribed for the simplest cases, first as a bedside nurse and then as a nurse practitioner in pain management. A patient who threatened her life over a refill became the turning point that moved her into primary care, where she now serves unhoused patients through Hope Christian Health Center's outreach program in Las Vegas.

    In this conversation, Jocelyn talks with Yami Reyes-Lima about facing her own assumptions β€” about prescribing, about addiction, and about the people she once believed had simply made bad choices. She gets honest about the stigma she carried into the work, why she says it's often the soul that's in pain and not the body, and what she thinks every provider owes the patient in front of them.

    Whether you work in healthcare, prescribe for pain, or care about how we treat people living with addiction, this conversation is for you.

    Chapters:
    0:00 – Introduction
    1:38 – Why she became a nurse and chose pain management
    4:21 – The reality check: what she believed about prescribing
    5:52 – When addiction hit close to home
    6:11 – The turning point: a patient's threat
    7:41 – Moving into primary care and outreach
    8:00 – Facing her own stigma about homelessness
    11:13 – What the patients' stories revealed
    12:43 – The biggest barrier to care
    13:26 – "It's the soul that's in pain, not the body"
    14:09 – Caseloads vs. the time to show up
    15:06 – Why her director urged her toward the TNT Fellowship
    15:57 – Months-long waits for psychiatric care in Nevada
    17:14 – Sending patients in crisis to the ER
    17:56 – Her hopes for the fellowship and the ripple effect
    22:18 – Solutions: kindness and communication
    26:57 – What lawmakers should know
    29:08 – Family, faith, and staying grounded
    31:00 – A message to other providers
    36:25 – Closing thoughts and how to help

    Interview Recorded On: March 20, 2026

    πŸ”” Subscribe for more conversations with providers rethinking how we treat addiction and mental health.

    πŸ”— Watch more interviews in the series: www.tntopenmind.org

    nurse practitioner, substance use disorder, addiction, pain management, opioid prescribing, controlled substances, provider stigma, homelessness, unhoused, mental health, behavioral health, primary care, harm reduction, addiction medicine, compassionate care, provider responsibility, Nevada healthcare, Las Vegas, underserved communities, TNT Primary Care Fellowship, TNT Open Mind Insights

    Subscribe to TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series on Soundwise

    28 min
  • Chronic, Not Crisis: Rethinking Behavioral Health Systems with Luke Bergmann

    What if the fix for America's mental health crisis isn't more funding or more infrastructure, but common sense?

    Dr. Luke Bergmann has spent 15+ years leading behavioral health systems in New York and California β€” most recently as San Diego County's Director of Behavioral Health, now a Principal at Health Management Associates. In this conversation, he pulls back the curtain on why our system so often fails the people who need it most: institutions incentivized to keep beds full instead of keeping people well, a billing policy that split his own stepfather's care in two, and a federal policy landscape he calls "whiplashy."

    This hits close to home for Bergmann. He shares the story of his stepfather, whose final year was shaped by a system that couldn't treat him as a whole person, and how that experience now drives his work bringing county behavioral health and community clinics to the same table.

    Whether you work in healthcare, advocate for mental health reform, or are simply trying to understand a system that touches almost every family, this conversation offers a clear-eyed, hopeful case for change.

    πŸ”” Subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of mental health and policy. πŸ”— Watch more interviews in the series: [tntopenmind.org]

    Interview recorded on Jan 16, 2026

    00:00 – Introduction
    00:45 – Why Dr. Bergmann dedicated his career to behavioral health
    02:59 – Staying hopeful amid policy "whiplash" ($2B in grants cut, then restored)
    04:38 – A personal story of common sense abandoned
    09:04 – The billing policy that split his stepfather's care in two
    11:38 – Current work: bridging county behavioral health & community clinics
    14:00 – Fixing the community clinic problem that took his stepdad
    16:09 – HR1 and the threat to Medicaid enrollment
    18:11 – Twin crises: community clinics and county behavioral health
    21:31 – Fixing the same-day billing policy β€” low-hanging fruit
    22:03 – Why county behavioral health is often the most resistant to change
    24:12 – What behavioral health can learn from primary care
    25:43 – Why behavioral health is "obsessed" with the word crisis
    28:04 – Renaming crisis as chronic illness β€” and the pushback he got
    29:56 – Inpatient psych beds: the "motel chain" business model
    32:08 – Training primary care doctors in psychiatry: a real-world example from NYC
    34:18 – De-stigmatizing care by integrating it into primary care
    34:53 – Final thoughts: common sense, hope, and getting in touch

    Tags: behavioral health, mental health, mental health policy, mental health advocacy, healthcare reform, integrated care, psychiatry, mental illness, substance use disorder, addiction recovery, community health, primary care, Medicaid, healthcare policy, mental health crisis, health equity, public health, healthcare leadership, San Diego County, Health Management Associates, HR1, FQHC, crisis care, chronic illness, mental health awareness

    Subscribe to TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series on Soundwise

    37 min
  • The Pediatrician Who Became a Child Psychiatrist with Dr. Bruce Leewiwatanakul

    Most parents, and plenty of providers, assume mental health "treatment" means medication. A triple-boarded child psychiatrist explains what it actually looks like for kids.
    Dr. Bruce Leewiwatanakul is a pediatrician and child psychiatrist. He now runs integrated and collaborative care, the model built to reach kids with mild-to-moderate mental health needs before those needs turn into a crisis.
    In this conversation with Dr. Sarah Arshad, Dr. Leewiwatanakul breaks down how collaborative care actually works in a pediatric setting, why so much of effective treatment has nothing to do with a prescription, and what early screening is already getting right. He's candid about where the model strains under a teen's schedule and a parent's, what it would take to expand past anxiety and depression into behavior management, and the investment kids' mental health still isn't getting.
    In this episode:

    In this episode:
    Why a pediatrics background changes how you diagnose and treat in psychiatry
    What the Post-Pediatric Portal Program is, and why most people have never heard of it
    How collaborative care manages a whole population of kids proactively
    Why "treatment" usually starts with sleep, screens, and behavioral activation, not medication
    What's working: earlier screening and catching kids before things get worse
    Where the model breaks down for teens, and what real investment would unlock
    His plea to stakeholders, families, and government on kids' mental health

    Interview recorded on: Jan 16, 2026

    Learn more about TNT Open Mind Insights: www.tntopenmind.org

    If you're a pediatrician, primary care provider, NP, PA, fellow, or anyone building behavioral health into a pediatric practice, this conversation is for you.

    0:00 Introduction β€” meet Dr. Bruce Leewiwatanakul
    0:47 Why medicine, and a mother's advice to do something worthwhile
    1:43 The detour into teaching near UCLA
    2:29 What drew him to kids and family systems
    5:59 Finding psychiatry by listening to kids at midnight
    7:10 The gap pediatrics alone couldn't fill
    8:12 What the Post-Pediatric Portal Program is
    9:47 Pediatrician or child psychiatrist? Holding both
    10:26 How a pediatrics brain changes his psychiatry
    12:40 Prevention and anticipatory guidance in mental health
    13:01 Why he joined the TNT Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship
    14:36 Collaborative care and integrated care, explained
    16:30 What's working: screening and catching kids early
    17:40 What "treatment" actually means
    19:15 Why therapy for kids looks nothing like the movies
    22:54 The magic-wand question: investing in collaborative care
    25:07 A plea to stakeholders, families, and government
    26:30 What keeps him doing the work

    child psychiatry, pediatric mental health, collaborative care, integrated care, behavioral health, child and adolescent psychiatry, primary care psychiatry, post pediatric portal program, Bruce Leewiwatanakul, OHSU, Doernbecher Childrens Hospital, behavioral health care manager, anticipatory guidance, early intervention, youth mental health, behavioral activation, TNT Open Mind Insights, pediatrician to psychiatrist, kids mental health

    Subscribe to TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series on Soundwise

    29 min
  • Perinatal Recovery & Shame-Free Care With Amber Williams

    What does it look like when a patient becomes the CEO?

    Amber Williams walked into Janus of Santa Cruz suffering with substance use disorder as a teen mom with a newborn son and no insurance coverage left. Twenty years later, she runs it β€” and this September, Janus opens its first major infrastructure project: a 25-bed perinatal facility built so mothers in recovery won't have to be separated from their babies.

    In this conversation, Amber talks with Autumn Payne about what it takes to put clients at the center of every decision β€” from building environments that raise expectations, to asking providers to check their biases before they walk into a patient room. She also gets personal about the moment her own bias crept into her clinical work, and what she did about it.

    If you work in healthcare, treat patients with substance use disorder, or care about what recovery looks like for families β€” this conversation is for you.

    In this episode:
    Why environment is a clinical tool, not an amenity
    The three barriers keeping providers from treating substance use disorder
    What happens when you recognize your own bias before it reaches a patient
    Why perinatal-specific facilities are so rare β€” and what's at stake without them
    The aging population being left behind on medsurg floors
    Where a bottomless well of hope comes from

    Chapters
    0:00 Introduction
    1:20 How Amber first came to Janus as a patient
    4:00 The decision that changed everything
    5:30 Putting clients at the center of every decision
    7:00 Why environment is a clinical tool
    9:00 The new 25-bed perinatal facility
    11:30 Why perinatal facilities are so rare
    13:45 Three barriers providers face with SUD patients
    18:00 Checking your own bias β€” a personal story
    21:30 What to do when you can't check it at the door
    23:00 Self-care for clinicians in high-intensity settings
    25:00 Warm handoffs in a 15-minute appointment
    28:00 Resources: 988 and the ED Bridge program
    29:30 The California SUD landscape
    33:00 The aging population left behind on med surg floors
    36:00 Where Amber finds hope

    Interview Recorded On: March 20. 2026

    TNT Open Mind Insights is a video series linking personal stories to solutions in mental healthcare. Sponsored by UC Irvine's Train New Trainers Primary Care Psychiatry Fellowship and produced by Ethical Narrative Storytelling Agency. πŸ”— Hear more insights: [tntopenmind.org]

    Connect with Amber: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-williams-laadc-98779b111/
    Connect with Janus of Santa Cruz: https://janussc.org

    #SubstanceUseDisorder #AddictionRecovery #PeriNatalCare #BehavioralHealth #MentalHealth #HealthcareProviders #TNTOpenMindInsights #HealthcarePolicy #StigmaFreeRecovery

    Tags: substance use disorder, addiction recovery, perinatal care, behavioral health, mental health, healthcare providers, stigma, recovery, Janus Santa Cruz, TNT Open Mind Insights, healthcare policy, maternal health, addiction medicine, California healthcare, substance abuse treatment, harm reduction

    Subscribe to TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series on Soundwise

    38 min

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TNT Open Mind Insights - Mental Health Interview Series