Northern Perseverance

In this episode, Christopher talks with another one of Grafton’s own! David Alley talks about his 39 years of experience working in our field, holding various roles from direct care to leadership during his decades of commitment to Grafton’s mission. They discussed differences between Community-Based and Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTF), as well as how Dave’s previous roles shaped his current leadership style. As the current Executive Director for Grafton’s newest PRTF in Cold Spring, Minnesota, Dave also reminisces about what it was like working at Grafton pre- and post- Ukeru implementation. They discussed the importance of organizational support and keeping Grafton’s mission as well as Ukeru philosophy at the core of every interaction. We hope you will join us for this important and inspiring conversation!

For Mental Health Awareness Month, Christopher had the pleasure of talking with one of Grafton's Clinical Administrators, Stefanee Lambert (LCSW, M. Ed) to talk about a wide variety of areas in Mental and Behavioral Health. They discuss how things have changed since the genesis of Mental Health Awareness Month and the work still needed.

In this episode, Christopher talks with one of Grafton's music therapists, Milo Levine, about what Music Therapy is and how he has used it to help many children and adults, and even how it connects with Comfort vs Control.

In this episode, Christopher speaks with Ukeru's Outreach Engineer, Angela Craig, about her path leading to Ukeru which took her through the Education and Early Intervention fields and how her experience along with a commitment to enacting change brought her to our team.

How are we to Episode 20 already? Recently, a customer asked Christopher which podcast episode he'd recommend to someone who wants to begin learning about Ukeru or (at the very least) a good starting point in terms of the podcast episodes. His talk with Alex Letto, a Behavior Specialist from Special Education District of Lake County (SEDOL), seemed like the perfect opportunity to talk about what leads an organization to consider Ukeru, the skepticism that comes with trying something different, training, implementation and ultimately the successful shift in work culture.

In this episode, Christopher talks to Jen Sahr from Fargo Public Schools about implementing Ukeru through the height of a pandemic and sustaining positive change.

In this episode Christopher talks with Ukeru Learning Engineer, Lana Ingram-Gore, about her experience as a staff using Ukeru with individuals, then switching over to traveling to train others in Ukeru. We also discuss mental health and her experience in starting the local support group, I Will Sit With You In The Dark.

In this episode, Christopher talks with Marta Finnegan, LPC-MHSP, Program Director for Norris Academy located in Andersonville, TN. She shares their story of how using Comfort vs Control has changed their work culture and relationships between staff and individuals served. In essence, putting the "treatment" in residential treatment.

In this episode, Christopher talks with Alexandra Elfers to learn one person's story of working to create change from the inside out. In this case, in the world of Applied Behavior Analysis.

In this episode, we talk with two of our longest certified trainers at Bittersweet Farms to hear how they've successfully built and sustained a trauma-informed culture for the individuals they serve, and how it enriches their lives.