ACORN

Haven is dedicated to improving the behavioral health system in its current form, moving away from siloed services and moving toward whole-person, recovery-oriented support. She seeks to improve access and quality of services designed to support people experiencing co-occurring behavioral health needs live the life they choose. Haven has over 15 years’ experience working in the mental health field, including 6 years of building teams and programming. She has worked in substance use disorder and mental health treatment spaces within the prison system, residential programs, and providing community-based treatment. Haven was recognized with a Director’s Award for contributions to Special Housing at Oregon State Penitentiary while working with the Department of Corrections, Behavioral Health Services. She earned a Master of Counseling Psychology degree from Pacific University, School of Professional Psychology, and a Bachelor of Arts from Willamette University in Sociology/Psychology. Additionally, she completed post graduate work in Clinical Supervision at Lewis and Clark, Graduate School of Education and Counseling.

Blanca Fernandez is a bilingual, bicultural Latina Master Social Worker, currently working at Oregon Health Authority as a Co-Occurring Treatment Specialist for the Intensive Services Unit. She has been focusing on the Aid and Assist population and working with her unit to bring more integrated care for complex cases for individuals with dual diagnosis. Blanca received her Masters of Social Work from New York University in 2016, with a main focus was in Integrated Behavioral Health. She remained in New York where she worked as a Medical Social Worker providing care coordination to Medicaid individuals with dual diagnosis who were transitioning back into the community from a medical/behavioral health hospitalization. Blanca is a native Portlander. She received her Bachelors of Science in Child and Family Studies at Portland State University in 2012. She worked with a Latino-focused non-profit organization as a patient navigator for Spanish-speaking individuals diagnosed with a chronic illness who were uninsured/underinsured. Her passion in Integrated Co-Occurring Treatment comes from her work exposure on medical issues affecting behavioral health and vice versa, as well as lack of treatment programs for dually diagnosed individuals. Her goal is to contribute building a health care infrastructure and delivery system that is effective, integrated, affordable, and one that decreases duplication of services. She feels that a successful health system emphasizes and seeks ways to decrease barriers and inequities, addressing racial or ethnic disparities to create culturally responsive services. And, she also strongly believes that things can be accomplished when there is collaboration, cooperation and commitment to better serve the needs of the community, in particular the underserved and at-risk populations.

Teresa McDowell, Ed.D., LMFT is a professor emerita at Lewis & Clark, in Portland, Oregon, where she served as Department Chair and co-founded Lewis & Clark’s Problem Gambling Services. Dr. McDowell has served as a licensed marriage and family therapist, family therapy educator, program director, educational administrator, and consultant over the past 40 years. Her work has primarily focused on counselor education and workforce development, organizational consultation, international family therapy, equity-based clinical practice, integrated treatment for problem gambling, and clinical supervision. She currently serves as a social researcher, program evaluator, and consultant with Partners in Social Research and is the senior instructor for the Advanced Career Online Resource Network (ACORN). Dr. McDowell has published over 50 refereed journal articles and book chapters. She has presented her work at numerous conferences across eight countries. She is the author of Applying Critical Social Theory to Family Therapy Practice and first co-author of Socioculturally Attuned Family Therapy: Guidelines for Equity-Based Theory and Practice (1st and 2nd Editions). Her work in problem gambling treatment includes authoring the Working with Families in Problem Gambling Treatment handbook, research on core competencies for problem gambling counselors and prevention specialists, and extensive contributions to the development of Oregon’s problem gambling treatment workforce.