Content for the Research and Training portions of our Web site is under construction. Keep checking back for more information about current and past research projects and initiatives at The Thresholds Institute.

Wellness Without Walls: A Conversation about Health for Those with Serious Mental Illness
Thresholds announced it has created and will facilitate a new Health and Wellness Blog focusing on the physical and mental health issues facing persons with severe mental illness.

The blog is part of a larger initiative to reduce a life expectancy gap of 25 years for those with mental illness. In May 2009, the Thresholds Institute sponsored a conference in Chicago addressing physical health care called Critical Condition that convened numerous healthcare and mental health professionals, practitioners and researchers to talk about the physical and mental health care needs of people with SMI. Panelists and presenters included Peggy Swarbrick, Ken Thompson and Esther Sternberg.

Dr. Kristin Davis, associate director of the Institute, is facilitating the blog called "Wellness Without Walls."

For more information, visit the blog at http://wellnesswithoutwalls.wordpress.com/.

Thresholds Institute Mission  

The Thresholds Institute is committed to helping people with severe mental illness reclaim their lives.  We seek to integrate clinical services and research to promote rapid knowledge transfer between service and science.  Through our collaborative work with government bodies, academic institutions, and other mental health programs, we will conduct cutting-edge research on evidence based practices, emerging best practices and recovery-promoting services for individuals with severe mental illness.  We envision a Center (both physical and virtual) that welcomes clinicians, investigators, consumers, family members, employers and others to receive state-of-the art training, technical assistance, and consultation in these practices.

The Institute is composed of two departments, Research and Training.  Training department staff are responsible for internal training (including new staff orientation, continued learning required for credentialing, and clinical supervision training/consultation on evidence based practice and recovery) and external trainings (including national conferences, mini conferences, workshops, and invited trainings locally and around the country).  The training department also coordinates student training opportunities and visits from academics, practitioners, and mental health authorities from the U.S. and around the world.
 

Research  projects at Thresholds are funded from a variety of sources (e.g., federal, state, and foundations) and are conducted in collaboration with preeminent scholars as well as emerging leaders in the field of psychosocial rehabilitation research.  Projects fall into five primary content areas:  supported employment, integrated health care, shared decision making, cognitive rehabilitation, and workforce development.  We also conduct evaluation studies of ongoing programming, including projects at our young adult and mothers' programs, and on specialty teams for individuals with SMI who are homeless and have a co-occurring substance use disorder.