2020 speakers
Conference speaker BIOs: (In order of Appearance)
BRENDA BAHNSON
License and Degrees: LICSW, MSW
Ms. Bahnson is currently the Administrative Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Berkshire Medical Center, Pittsfield, MA where she oversees ambulatory BH services including: Behavioral Health Integration, Virtual Health, Partial Hospital, EAP/Berkshire Healthworks and the Primary Care Outreach Team.
CHRISTINE CALLAHAN
License and Degrees: LMHC, M.Ed., M.B.A.
Mrs. Callahan is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor at Berkshire Medical Center, Pittsfield, MA. She has a Bachelor degree in Psychology and Sociology, a Master of Education degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and a Master of Business Administration degree. She has held several positions at Berkshire Health Systems and the Brien Center since 2009 including: Outpatient Behavioral Health Service Manager, Youth Zero Suicide Program Manager, Behavioral Health Care Manager, Acute Services Quality Management Director, Director of Acute Care Operations and Mobile Crisis Coordinator. She is also a nationally authorized trainer of “Assessment and Management of Suicide Risk (AMSR)” by the Zero Suicide Institute and the Education Development Center and a nationally authorized instructor of “QPR – Question, Persuade, Refer” a gatekeeper training for suicide prevention. She is a recurrent presenter on suicide prevention both locally in the Berkshires and across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
BERTHA CONNELLEY
License and Degrees: B.A., Business
Volunteer: AFSP Western Massachusetts Board, Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention. Vice President, Community Suicide Prevention Education instructor.
A nationally certified human resource professional, Bertha Connelley holds a bachelor degree in business with a concentration in human resource management degree and has worked in healthcare human resources for nearly three decades, most recently at the Austen Riggs Center, a private psychiatric hospital and residential treatment center, since 2008. Bertha is an active community volunteer who currently serves as Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention (BCSP) vice president, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Massachusetts Chapter board member, Fairview Hospital Auxiliary board member, and Lee Lion’s Club member.
LEE WATROBA
License and Degrees: B.A., Psychology
Lee Watroba is Program and Community Outreach Manager of the Erikson Institute at the Austen Riggs Center. She is President of the Board of the Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention, is a Board Member of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and sits on the Executive Committee of the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention. She is a past co-chair of the AFSP Berkshire County Out of the Darkness Community Walk, and in 2019, was a participant in the AFSP Overnight Walk in Boston.
DR. BRENDA J. BUTLER
License and Degrees: AACAP, M.D,
Dr. Brenda Butler is Board Certified in both General and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is The Medical Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for Berkshire Medical Center and The Brien Center. In this role she provides training and education in child and adolescent psychiatry to residents, medical students, and other clinicians. Dr. Butler’s clinical practice is at The Brien Center and BMC’s Patient Care Outreach Team. Dr. Butler moved to Massachusetts from Philadelphia. She completed her medical school training, general psychiatry residency, and child and adolescent fellowship at Medical College of Pennsylvania. She also completed training in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy at the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Center. Dr. Butler is deeply committed to improving the lives of children in The Berkshires and beyond.
LYNNE VANDERPOT
License and Degrees: LMHC, M.S. MHC
Lynne Vanderpot, LMHC, joined the Suicide Prevention Pathways Program at Berkshire Medical Center in 2019 as a Care Coordinator. She received her Masters in counseling in 2012 from Goddard College.
SANDRA RYAN
License and Degrees: LMHC, M.S. MHC
Sandra Ryan, LMHC, earned a BA from Williams College in 1994, and her MS in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Vermont in 2013. She worked with CBT groups and college students in Vermont before becoming a Crisis Stabilization clinician for children and adolescents at the Brien Center in Western Massachusetts. She then worked as an acute care clinician with the Brien Center's ESP team before joining the Suicide Prevention Pathway Program in 2018. Her interests include ADHD, mood disorders, suicide prevention, and treatment of trauma in children, adolescents, and young adults.
CHRISTINA MARKS
License and Degrees: LICSW
Christina is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has served children, adolescents, young adults, and families for almost two decades. From 2005 to 2017, she focused her clinical work in the community mental health outpatient arena, through a variety of clinical roles at The Brien Center Child and Adolescent Division where she provided comprehensive individual, family, group, as well as crisis stabilization treatment to hundreds of individuals in the Berkshires. She was energized by the opportunity to serve community members and families who were economically and/or socially disenfranchised, with the focus of forging sustainable clinical and pragmatic connections. During her tenure in community mental health, Christina tirelessly aspired to provide consistent, well-coordinated behavioral health treatment for an array of presenting issues, including sexually-inappropriate behavior, fire-setting, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Reactive Attachment Disorder, anxiety-related issues, and mood disorders. As a clinician and Program Director of the Brien Center Child Crisis Stabilization Unit from 2007-2015, she became proficient in swiftly engaging and collaboratively problem-solving with youth and families who were in crisis.
Christina is currently a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in her private practice, where she continues to focus on her work with families, children and transitional-aged youth. Within the private practice realm, she continues to provide accessible care to families and individuals who have experienced socio-economic, academic, cultural, and/or intergenerational marginalization. Her work centers on a collaborative, trauma-informed stance, which has helped her secure clinically productive relationships and facilitate meaningful change in the lives of those she treats. Because of her solid background in community mental health, crisis stabilization, and suicide prevention, she has a high stamina for multi-problem clinical presentations, and I continue to take on cases that others may view as high-intensity.
From Janauary 2017 to August 2019, she had the privilege of working at Berkshire Health Systems as a Clinical Care Coordinator for the Youth Zero Suicide Grant, a five-year grant [2015-2020] that focuses on detection, intervention, and service linkage for youth ages 10-24, who are struggling with suicidal risk. In this role, she became profoundly aware of how culture, ethnicity, poverty, homelessness, sexual orientation, gender identity, health/mental health disabilities adversely impact individuals’ access to meaningful care. Christina continuously encountered many youth who are under-served and marginalized—especially LGBT and transitional aged youth [18-24 years of age]. Within her clinical role in the health care system, She was able to forge strong alliances with psychiatric providers at Berkshire Health Systems. Her professional collaborations within the local psychiatric and emergency health care systems have enabled her to better assist her private clients in navigating their health/mental health care, and have also bolstered her clinical acumen as a private practice provider.
SARAH GAER
License and Degrees: M.A.
Sarah is a clinician and Suicide Prevention Specialist with Riverside Trauma Center, a program of Riverside Community Care based out of Needham, Massachusetts. She is Co-chair of the Pioneer Valley Coalition for Suicide Prevention in Western Massachusetts and an active member of the Executive Committee for the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention and sits on the Board of Directors for United Survivors International. Sarah has over 20 years working in the mental health field with a focus on substance use disorders, trauma and suicide. She is a passionate public speaker and author of the novel “The Price”, a Children’s book “Good Night, Grace” and most recently co-author of “Guts, Grit & The Grind: The MENtal Mechanics MANual”.
DR. CHRISTOPHER BARSOTTI
License and Degrees: M.D., FACEP, FAAEM
Dr. Barsotti practices Emergency Medicine at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, MA. He is board certified in emergency medicine; a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Medicine; and completed his Residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
DR. ALEX SABO
License and Degrees: M.D,
Alex N. Sabo, MD, a 500-hour Kripalu-trained yoga teacher and magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, is Director of Medical Education/DIO at Berkshire Medical Center and Associate Dean of Medical Education at BMC for the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is also Director of the Adult Psychiatry Residency Program at BMC, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Past President of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Co-Editor of and contributing author to The Real World Guide to Psychotherapy Practice, co-author of recent publications on a root cause analysis of prescription opioid overdoses and a randomized trial of CBSM vs Kripalu-yoga to improve mental and physical health in mental health providers. He enjoys practicing and teaching yoga and meditation, teaching medical students and residents, hiking, swimming and paddling SUP and spending time with his family.