October 15, 2009

Expert on mental health, substance abuse to speak

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A man with more than a quarter century of experience treating substance abuse, chemical dependency, hypnotherapy and mental health issues is bringing his expertise to Southern Illinois.

Patrick DeChello will speak at John A. Logan College in Carterville courtesy of Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development (CRHSSD) and the Regional Mental Health Steering Committee. DeChello’s presentation, “The Unholy Trinity: ADHD, Oppositional and Conduct Disorder” is set for 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 21, with registration starting at 7:45 a.m.

“We are pleased to be able to bring a speaker of Dr. DeChello’s caliber to Southern Illinois at a reasonable cost to benefit financially strapped mental health and social service providers,” said Heather Hartung, education coordinator at CRHSSD.

The Regional Mental Health Steering Committee is comprised of representatives from the Delta Center, Inc., Community Resource Center and the Department of Human Services Division of Mental Health Region 5 Office/Child and adolescent services. The committee has brought a number of nationally known speakers, including DeChello, to the region in recent years for training sessions. DeChello’s previous presentations focused on current tools and techniques for frontline mental health practitioners, understanding self-injury and mental health status exams and suicide assessments, ethics and the law, and more.

DeChello, a psychologist, is founder and senior partner of D & S Associates, LLC, an international training and consulting company in the mental health and substance abuse treatment fields. He is a substance abuse treatment specialist, hypnotherapist and author heavily interjecting humor into his informative, high-energy presentations.

Those attending the presentation can earn six Continuing Education Units. The registration cost is $75 per person or $65 per person for groups of four or more from the same agency registering together if registering by Oct. 16, or $10 more thereafter. The cost includes breakfast and lunch.

For more information or to register, contact Hartung at hhartung@siu.edu or via telephone at 618/453-8455.