Pretreatment Across Multiple Fields of Practice: Trauma Informed Approach to Homelessness and Beyond
Jay and Louise Levy and their co-authors have distilled years of diverse experience serving people with complex psychological and physical needs into a much-needed roadmap for providers. This book clearly outlines working principles that will guide practitioners in the art of building authentic and effective working partnerships with people experiencing homelessness and other traumas, while minimizing re-traumatization and creating psychological safety. Carefully chosen case studies beautifully illustrate how these principles can be put into practice in a variety of settings--from street outreach to shelters to special education classrooms--and are attentive to the impact of racism and other forms of oppression. --Kiko Malin, MPH, MSW, Public Health Director, Amherst, Massachusetts
As a representative of the Street Medicine Institute, and more importantly the global street medicine movement, Jay's work is a beacon not just to light the path we are on, but to guide us towards a better place. --Jim Withers, MD, Medical Director and Founder of Mercy's Operation Safety Net and the Street Medicine Institute (Pittsburgh)
This new collection demonstrates that Pretreatment-thinking offers people working with all kinds of human services a powerful, practical framework for engagement, for change, and ultimately for healing. --Alex Bax, Chief Executive (London), Pathway - Homeless & Inclusion Health www.pathway.org.uk
As Levy, Connolly, and others argue in this important book, the concept of Pre-treatment Therapy is of major applicability way beyond the field of homelessness. Its ideas and concepts should be core reading for psychologists and psychiatrists, and indeed anybody hoping to work with people affected by chronic experiences of trauma in a psychologically informed way. --Dr Peter Cockersell, DPsych, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, Psychologically Informed Environments Consultant, Chief Executive of Community Housing and Therapy
Learn more at www.JaySLevy.com
Jay S. Levy has spent more than thirty years working with individuals who experience homelessness. He is the author of the highly acclaimed book "Pretreatment Guide for Homeless Outreach & Housing First" (2013). Jay's 2018 project was a collaborative effort with several authors from the UK entitled "Cross-Cultural Dialogues on Homelessness: From Pretreatment Strategies to Psychologically Informed Environments". During 2021, Jay Published a workbook entitled "Pretreatment In Action: Interactive Exploration from Homelessness to Housing Stabilization". He has also published "Homeless Narratives & Pretreatment Pathways" (2010), as well as a monograph (2011) and several journal articles on Homelessness issues. Jay developed Pretreatment as an approach for helping people with-out homes who are often deemed "not ready" and excluded from housing and/or recovery-oriented services and treatment. While working with Eliot CHS Homeless Services, Jay has helped to create new Housing First programs such as the Regional Engagement and Assessment for Chronically Homeless program (REACH).Jay has achieved formal recognition from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Mental Health for his past efforts to help under-served homeless individuals through his direct service, clinical supervision of staff, and program development. Jay received his MSW degree in clinical social work from Columbia University in 1988.Jay lives in Western MA with his wife, Louise, who recently celebrated retirement after more than thirty years of teaching high school science, and was kind enough to provide valuable assistance in editing this book. Jay is very proud and excited for his daughters, Talia and Sara, who have both graduated college and have embraced journeys into career-related activities and beyond.More information on Jay's consultative work, presentations, and publications can be found at www.jayslevy.com
Louise Levy, recently retired, was an outdoor Educator and High School Science teacher for over 40 years. Louise taught Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, Anatomy, a variety of elective courses, and served as faculty Advisor for Ecomentors and the Environmental Club. She has had the distinct pleasure of helping thousands of students refine their delivery (and check their grammar and spelling) as they communicated through research-based papers and public service message-themed projects. Integrating meaningful exploration of local surroundings into the classroom has been her passion, helping students build a sense of place, self-determination, and community involvement. She is a veteran (16 years) of the Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology program, now serving as teacher-mentor. Recipient of multiple awards for excellence in teaching (Mass Audubon, Mass Agriculture in the Classroom, Mass Educators Hall of Fame) Louise has presented at numerous professional conferences and was director/grant writer for many grants supporting STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) activities inside and outside of the classroom. Louise has happily served as a sounding board and participated in the editing process of Jay's various writing projects
