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NEWS

Matt Bane Shares Lived Experience in NAMI Keynote Session

Matt Bane speaking at the 21st Annual NAMI Indiana Mental Health and Criminal Justice Summit.
Matt Bane was recently invited to speak at the 21st Annual NAMI Indiana Mental Health and Criminal Justice Summit on his personal recovery journey and the importance of peer support roles.

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Matt Bane, Behavioral Health Liaison, lives out Adult & Child’s mission every day as a person in recovery. By sharing his personal testimony, Matt not only offers hope to those facing similar challenges, but he also educates others on the importance of mental health, crisis services, and peer support.

Matt was recently invited to speak at the 21st Annual NAMI Indiana Mental Health and Criminal Justice Summit. In a keynote session titled, “Navigating National Peer Support Across the Crisis Continuum and Personal Resilience,” Matt and Amy Brinkley, Senior Recovery Support Systems Coordinator with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, blended data-driven insights with lived experience to advocate for a deeper understanding of the crisis continuum.

“Matt is incredibly passionate about all the “work” he does,” said Cassie Squillace, Director of Culture and Talent. “I am intentionally putting ‘work” in quotations because I think that when you care so deeply about what you are doing every day, you don’t view it as work. You view it as a privilege and an honor, and that is what Matt does when he shows up for organizations, whether it is Adult & Child or NAMI or a different organization.”

During his presentation, Matt shared how thirty seconds of care and hope shown to him by an intake specialist were crucial in setting him up on a path to receive the support he needed. He also explained how his role as a peer has further reinforced his own recovery.

“[Matt] is in the perfect space within his role right now to meaningfully share his own recovery journey, to educate others internally and externally on what peer recovery is and the importance of this work, and to help grow peer recovery supports,” said Cassie.

To learn more about peer support services, including the many roles that peers can play, the benefits of peer support, and employment options for peers, please contact Matt Bane at [email protected]. View Adult & Child’s current job openings.

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Agency News

A&C 75th Anniversary and Irvington Clinic Grand Opening

Integrated health care is a concept that recognizes how a person’s physical health and behavioral health affect their overall wellness and quality of life. Adult & Child Health celebrated integrated health at a combined celebration of history and growth at its Irvington clinic in Indianapolis April 30.  The event served as both a 75th anniversary celebration for the Adult & Child Health organization, and as a grand opening for the clinic on Washington Avenue, which opened in early 2025.  Adult & Child operates three clinics in Indianapolis and one clinic in Franklin. At the Irvington clinic, primary care providers, psychiatric care providers and licensed therapists see patients in the same building.  “Our goal is to help people live happy and healthier lives and have them be able to succeed in whatever it means for them,” Dr. Christine Negendank, President and Chief Medical Officer at Adult & Child Health said. “Many of our patients have been stigmatized — even in the health care setting — so we are very careful to make sure everyone is welcome here, no matter their circumstance and no matter their level of illness.”  Clients of all ages come to the Irvington clinic for psychiatric and primary care. “Integrated care clients,” as they are called, can come to the Irvington clinic to have multiple needs addressed in one place. It’s a combination of providing the best practices and ease of care for each client.  “It’s so wonderful to see a patient who tells me, ‘I’m out of my blood pressure meds,’ or ‘I have a severe headache,’ and I can say, ‘Well, you know, we have primary care across the hall; why don’t we go get you connected?’” Negendank explained.  A client can get primary care, psychiatric care, therapy and connections to housing programs in a single trip to the Irvington clinic.  “They leave with so much more hope,” Negendank said. “We really try to make it easy for our patients when we can. We offer someone a safe place to come, to feel welcome, to leave feeling better and to leave feeling better about themselves.”  A&C offers addictions treatment at the Irvington clinic. Addictions treatment involves one-on-one therapy, medication assisted treatment (MAT), activities of daily living support, psychoeducation, peer recovery services and case management. The average wait time for a new patient to schedule their first appointment is less than three weeks.  Be Well Bell art installation  The Be Well Community movement is designed to ring in a new narrative about brain health through a variety of programs, including the public display of ceremonial bells that symbolize hope and healing. The bell in Indianapolis was unveiled to the public during Adult & Child’s 75th Anniversary event April 30. Be Well Initiatives works with community partners to bring visibility to the mental wellness movement. The Be Well Bell program offers blank bells to be painted with a meaningful design by an artist(s) or as a community arts project.    Brightli Director of Be Well Initiatives Bailey Pyle, LPC, explained that the art installation includes a QR code that smartphone users can scan to access information on the Be Well program and on mental health services available at Adult & Child in the Indianapolis metro area.  “These aren’t just bells that we’re creating and plopping down into a community, but they are truly reflective of the community in which they exist,” Pyle said. “We know from lots of research that that’s when the bells are the most impactful and meaningful.” The Be Well Bell at the Irvington clinic is the 21st for the program and the first Be Well Bell in Indiana.  Adult & Child Health’s history  Photo Gallery

Sarah Miller, PMHNP-BC

Sarah Miller works with the addictions team, general psychiatry for adolescents and adults, and the competency restoration team. She is board-certified as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. Her specialties are working in addictions and with people who experience serious mental illness.

Miller graduated from Indiana University with a psychology degree and went back to school for nursing. She received her nursing degree from Indiana Wesleyan University and worked in a nursing home and also spent time working in a group home with adolescents. She received her master’s degree from Vanderbilt University.

She enjoys hanging out with her family and her two dogs, and going to sporting events.

Joanna Chambers, MD

Dr. Joanna Chambers is a psychiatrist who began seeing Adult & Child Health patients in November 2021. She graduated from Medical College of Georgia with her Doctorate of Medicine in 1996 and completed her residency in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. In addition to bringing a wealth of experience, she currently serves as an associate professor at Indiana University School of Medicine where she teaches Clinical Psychiatry. She is certified in Addiction Medicine and has a special interest in treating pregnant and postpartum women. She is President of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry Organization as well as a sitting member of many medical association boards. Recently, she has won the Residents’ Award for Teaching Excellence in 2020 from Indiana University and has received “Best Doctors Award” in 2010, 2011, and 2014. Dr. Chambers is incredibly active in the medical, academic, and research realms of medicine. She is currently accepting new patients on Wednesdays.