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R.K. Janmeja "Meji" Singh, PhD
R.K. Janmeja (Meji) Singh, PhD
Meji received a Lifetime Achievement award from California State Psychological Association. The Surgeon General of the United States Army recognized him for his Consultation Services to the Letterman Army Medical Center Department of Psychiatry (1973-91), Presidio San Francisco. Oxford Symposium awarded him an award for Outstanding Contribution to School Based Family Counseling. The United States Congress recognized him for his fifty years Community Service as a Clinical Psychologist. He received his Ph.D. degree in Clinical Psychology from Boston University in 1965. He took a year of seminars with Gerald Caplan, M.D., Professor at Harvard School of Public Health in Community Mental Health Consultation and Prevention of Mental Disorders. He was a Post-doctoral Fellow at the Center for Training in Community Psychiatry and Mental Health Administration (1964-66) where he subsequently served as the Assistant Director of the Center (19966-1980). He was an Adjunct Professor of Psychology for the Doctoral Program in School Psychology at U.C. Berkeley (1991-2007). He was the Founding President of the Hume Center (1993-2001). He was the Dean of Rosebridge Graduate School of Integrative Psychology (1986-1996). He was the Deputy Commissioner for Preventive Services at Genesee county Community Mental Health Services, Flint, Michigan (1966-68). He has developed award winning community mental health programs. He has worked for State Hospitals for the Mentally Ill for three years and over fifty years in community Mental Health Programs. He has provided consultation to Mental Health, Academic, Human Service Organizations and Business corporations across the United States. Currently he is the Chief Training Consultant at the Community Behavioral Health Training Center, Concord, California.
Quotes from Our Founder, Meji Singh, PhD
#MugQuotes
As a symbol of graduation, each trainee who graduates receives a limited edition Hume Center Mug with a quote from our founder Meji Singh, PhD on it. The quote changes each year.
2010-2011: Healing is not what we do to them. It is how we change our own reaction and feelings in relationship to them.
2011-2012: The clients create their own reality in relationship to the psychotherapists. It is the psychotherapist’s response that is different from the client’s expectations that brings about change.
2012-2013: Notice and explore.
2013-2014: Through psychotherapy, if we understand the suffering our clients have experienced and the way they have coped which may have resulted in symptoms and labels, then through that process they can learn her ways to be more satisfied and productive.
2014-2015: No implementation without participation.
2015-2016: You must anchor yourself. You cannot unload a ship in a storm.
2016-2017: How can you get someone to a place when you aren’t listening to where they want to go?
2017-2018: If we recognize our interconnectedness, we will find peace.
2018-2019: Gala Water Glass -
"The healing process takes place in the context of a relationship." ~Meji Singh, PhD, Founding President
“It takes a community to heal a community.” ~Joty Sikand, PsyD, President
2019-2020: If you only treat symptoms, you're just chasing shadows.
Pooja Rupani, PsyD
Dr. Pooja Rupani graduated as a Counseling Psychologist from the Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland. Post licensure in the UK, Dr Rupani worked as Psychologist in a Primary Care mental health team, Improving Access to Psychological Services (IAPT) in London, UK for three years. Her role at IAPT involved conducting diagnostic and psychological assessments, and planning and delivering treatments to people with Depressive, Anxiety, and Eating Disorders, and she also completed the certification training for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Dr. Rupani was promoted to the Senior Management Team as the Step 3 Lead, managing and supervising a team of licensed psychologists, CBT therapists, Dynamic Interpersonal Therapists, Couples Therapists, and trainee CBT therapists. She also supervised a team of Assistant Psychologists responsible for community outreach and engagement, with the aim of increasing awareness of mental health services available to the community.
After relocating to the United States, Dr Rupani joined the Hume Center in 2016 as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the School Based Program in Pleasanton. She subsequently transferred to the Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) in Concord, where she has been providing group, individual and family psychotherapy to adults with severe mental health difficulties. She has been licensed as a Psychologist in California since 2018 and upon licensure was promoted as the Program Manager for PHP. Her role as Program Manager has included providing group and individual supervision, training and orientation, and practising Mental Health Consultation. Alongside her clinical work, Dr Rupani has also functioned as the Clinic Manager of the Concord clinic, where she has been working to streamline the intake process across the different programs in Contra Costa County to ensure quick access to appropriate services for clients, and more recently the merger of outpatient Medicare and MediCal services at the Concord Clinic.
Hume Helped Reimagine Mental Health Care
On August 27, 2020, Hume's Foundint President Meji Singh, PhD, Director of Training Natasha Molony, PhD, and Director of Clinical Programs Chris Celio, PsyD participated in Putnam Clubhouse's free virtual conference called Reimagine Mental Health Care. The list of speakers and topics was very innovative, as mental health directors, consumers, providers, family members, advocates, and innovators joined together to provide a day's worth of engaging discussions on to reimagine mental health care. Hume Center was expecially proud of Natasha's thorough and insightful interview of our foudner Meji as they went in depth into his half century of experience in the mental health field and how he is trying to help community behavioral health become more effective through the launch of the Behavioral Health Consultation Training Center. Chris Celio moderated the conference and helped weave the whole experience together from session to session, with the day culminating in a realization that recovery is real and ther are many traditional and non-traditional paths to reach it.
Recordings of the days sessions are available at https://www.putnamclubhouse.org/reimaginementalhealth
Join Hume's Relationship Series on Zoom, finishing on 10/21/2020 with "Getting Ready for Romance!"
Hume Center, in partnership with Putnam Clubhouse, is hosting another inter-agency workshop open to the public on Zoom. This event is back by popular demand and expands what was one discussion into three separate one-hour sessions. Hume's Director of Clinical Programs Chris Celio, PsyD will host discussions on Making Friends on 9.30.2020, Developing Best Friends on 10.14.2020, and Getting Ready for Romance on 10.21.2020!
Join on Zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87940699346 or join by phone by dialiing 1-669-900-9128 and entering Meeting ID: 879 4069 9346
Please RSVP to lily@putnamclubhouse.orgor by calling Lily Moreno at the Putnam Clubhouse at (925) 691-4276
Criminal Justice Reform for Individuals Diagnosed with Behavioral Health Needs
Urban Institute has recently release this summary of the efforts other states are making to reform criminal justice practices, especially in regard to people with behavioral health needs. Click here to download the report in PDF.
Support Groups forming on Zoom in English, Farsi, Hindi, Nepali, and Punjabi
Are you feeling socially isolated? Are you worried about the current health crisis? Have you experienced a lot of sadness around the uncertainty of the current situation?
*Click here to download our flier with information about groups forming online in English, Farsi, Hindi, Nepali, and Punjabi.
SPIRIT is the Hope in the Behavioral Health System: Application Deadline Extended
Hume Center has benefited greatly from the SPIRIT Program and the SPIRIT Program has been a great boon to the people of Contra Costa and its behavioral health system of care.
In 1994, Contra Costa Behavioral Health, formerly Contra Costa Mental Health or CCMH, designed and implemented a recovery-oriented peer support provider training. In 2008, the training was renamed to the Service Provider Individualized Recovery Intensive Training, also known as the SPIRIT program. In 2010, SPIRIT became an accredited course at Contra Costa College. The Hume Center has been teaching in SPIRIT since 2011 and has been hosting SPIRIT Interns and hiring SPIRIT Graduates since 2014. A long list of current and former clients of our services have graduated from SPIRIT and achieved the benefits that this inspriing course brings.
SPIRIT includes classroom instruction, homework, site visits to local behavioral health programs, learning how to understand and tell your story, creating a Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), training in skills and knowledge key to working in the behavioral health field, a six-week internship at a local behavioral health program, and entrance into a presitgiuos and supportive SPIRIT alumni fellowship. The SPIRIT Graduation is one of the highilights of the annual events in Contra Costa, as the graduates celebrate a momentous achievement in front of their friends, family, SPIRIT alumni, and representatives from the whole continuum of services and supports in the county. SPIRIT brings the hope to the system, proving that reocvery is real and showing that lived experience is a vital ingredient in being effective healers.
Contra Costa's Office for Consumer Empowerment has extended the deadline to apply for SPIRIT 2021 to October 23, 2020. Please download this application for more details. The course is following all safety guidelines and has many supports in place to help you register to be a student at Contra Costa College and successfully navigate going back to school and earning college credits!
Summer Breeze Concert for Community Wellness attracted 200+ viewers!
May 29, 2020
On May 29, 2020, ten performers performed for over 200 people on the Zoom stage in the Summer Breeze Concert for Community Wellness! Please help us thank David Serotkin, Clarisse Saam, Patrick Duffy, Roberto Roman, Bryan Munar, John Hazen and Daniel Harris of Across Party Lines, Lacey Rae, KC Dela Cruz, and Natalie Amaya for the tremendous concert they put on that got summer kicked off right and helped everyone feel a little lighter.
You can watch the concert as it was streamed to Facebook Live by clicking here.
Click here for the full list of Zoom events we put on in April, May, and June, 2020.
Did you miss our workshop on how to cope with strong feelings due to COVID-19? Click here to download the powerpoint slides for the presentation as a PDF. Feel free to distribute to whoever you'd like.
Join TogetherWell for a Discussion about Bias and Challenges During Graduate School
Third Thursdays for Therapists, Organized by TogetherWell
TogetherWell, an online platform launched by Hume alumni to connect emotional wellness professionals with communities in need, has organized a series of Third Thursday events from 5 to 7pm to support therapists.
August 20, 2020, 5-7pm
Beyond Graduate School: Clinicians Share Challenges with Bias
The topics that will be discussed include sharing experiences of being an early-career psychologist and how to navigate encounters of systematic gender and race inequities in the field. This professional panel will provide graduate students with candid information about experiences, resources, and challenges of being a psychologist during this time.
As a graduate student, there can be a lot of hoops to jump through so it can be helpful to hear from early-career psychologists who have recently walked in your shoes. You will have the opportunity to ask questions about the challenges you’ve possibly encountered and to hear the challenges of being a psychologist during this time. Interested in submitting questions for the panel? Please fill out this survey-https://www.
If you would like to RSVP or to simply learn more about this event, please visit this link: https://hopin.to/events/
Please attend this complimentary online TogetherWell event, intended to support graduate students. Hume Center is very proud of our current trainees Julie Huynh and Roop Sabharwal who will be co-moderating this event and of all of our employees and alumni who will speaking be on the panel.
Future Third Thursday Seminars at TogetherWell:
9/17/2020: Supporting Men's Mental Health and Suicide Intervention
10/15/2020: Virtual Practice During the Opioid Epidemic
Hume Phoenix Center has Moved into Hume's Concord Clinic
Hume Concord Clinics Combined
In June, 2019, The Hume Center integrated the Phoenix Center into its set of programs. The Phoenix Center offered psychotherapy and psychiatry services for Medi-Cal consumers and was located just half a mile from our long-time Concord Clinic. On April 24, 2020, the Phoenix Center closed as planned and all services offered there will now be provided at our Concord Clinic. That office is located at 1333 Willow Pass Road, Suite 102, Concord, CA 94520. More information about the Concord Clinc can be found here.
Click here to download an information flier that includes a map showing both clinics. To ensure continuity, the Phoenix Center's phone and fax numbers were migrated to our Concord Clinic as secondary numbers. The main number for the Concord Clinic is 925.825.1793 and the fax number is 925.825.7094.
Free Improv Show 9/26/2020 at 7:30pm on Zoom! (donations support Hume Center)
The Hume Center has beens supported annually by Trapped in a Rumor Improv for over a decade and we are excited to announce that they will be supporting Hume Center with a free show on Zoom this Saturday, 9/26/2020 at 7:30pm!
The show will be completely free to join and no registration is required. Trapped in a Rumor Improv will be collecting any donations for Hume Center that you anyone in attendance would like to offer.
So join us for some laughs this Saturday with Trapped in a Rumor Improv!
On Saturday at 7:30pm, please click this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81334028385
or enter Meeting ID: 813 3402 8385
You're Invited to the Mind Matters event!
Healthy Mind, Healthy You!
Join the India Community Center (ICC) Wellness event taking place on
February 24, 2019 from 9am - 4pm.
Learn more about how emotions can impact your health while being amongst engaging keynotes and panels. Healthy breakfast & lunch included!
Click here for more information!
Hume Alumni Have Launched a Platform to Connect Mental Health Experts to Communities
Former Hume Center pre-doctoral intern, Michele Haley, PhD, (’10) and practicum intern, post-doc and staff , Aric Jensen, PhD and MBA ('10) have launched a non-profit organization aimed at making sure mental health support is a right and not a privilege. TogetherWell (www.togetherwell.org) is a 501c3 organization that helps link mental health experts with communities in need by providing timely, tailored and impactful mental health workshops and educational opportunities. Specifically, TogetherWell provides a web-based platform for mental health professionals to share their backgrounds, and workshop offerings while providing visibility to and connections with organizations and communities that are in need of that expertise.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, TogetherWell has been hosting FREE, monthly webinars for mental health professionals to provide connections and enrich clinical practice during this unprecedented time. We invite the Hume Center community to attend one of their upcoming “Third Thursdays for Therapists”. The next offering is one June 18th, 5-7 pm PST. To learn more about this complimentary event, please visit: https://www.
TogetherWell is also excited to announce they will be offering six months free to therapists interested in offering workshops to the community on diversity issues. Please use beta code: BLM2020 (while code lasts).
We also encourage you to learn more atTogetherWell at https://www.togetherwell.org/
Upcoming Events and Future Speakers:
TogetherWell has a survey link on our events page where they're inviting people to nominate themselves as speakers. Are you ready to support your community with your voice?
https://www.togetherwell.org/
Hume Receives Innovation Award with County and State Recognition
Hume Center Receives State and County Recognition for our Housing Support Services Program's Rapid Resolution service!
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November 5, 2019
Bertha Lopez, the Program Coordinator of Hume's Housing Support Services Program, accepted the award for Best Innovative Program from the Contra Costa Council on Homelessness at the County Board of Supervisors Meeting on behalf of The Hume Center. Bertha, and her Rapid Resolution Specialist Samantha Quinn, have developed this new program over the last year in close collaboration with Contra Costa's Health, Housing, and Homeless (H3) Division.
This award also garnered recognition in the State Legislature by Assemblymember Jim Frazier, Assemblymember Timoothy Grayson, and Senator Bill Dodd.
Rapid Resolution is a distinct tool created within the partnership of Coordinated Entry and the Continuum of Care of housing services in Contra Costa. It serves individuals who are acutely about to be homeless and provides short-term, intense case management, mediation, consultation, assistance, and linkage to help someone avoid becoming homeless and living in a shelter. Consumers are linked to the program by those working in Coordinated Entry services via screening and referral. In other words, clients are referred to this program after accessing other services in the housing Continuum of Care. The program is growing and will soon be serving individuals through other referral sources as well.
This program works tirelessly to help mediate conflicts with landlords, resolve issues among family members and roommates, connect consumers to community resources and assistance, navigate challenging situations and relationships, and/or rapidly find alternative housing. So far, the program has diverted 50% of those individuals referred to it from accessing the shelters.
The Hume Center appreciates the great work by Bertha and Samantha to create and grow the program. In addition, Hume Center appreciates the true partnership with H3 and the other agencies we've partnered with to make this program a success. We know that Rapid Resolution hit the ground running in Contra Costa because of the hard work already done by H3 and the partners in the Continuum of Care to lay a strong foundation of coordinated services between county and partner agencies and services. Without a working system to receive referrals from and then to rapidly connect consumers to, Rapid Resolution programs cannot be successful. This is an innovation born out of inter-agency collaboration, a system willing to experiment with techniques working elsewhere, and a consultative approach to conflict resolution and problem solving.
Ways to Cope with Strong Feelings Related to COVID-19
Ways to Cope with Strong Feelings Related to COVID-19
Distress, Anxiety, Fear, and Strong Emotion are normal in times of distress or crisis--but how do you cope? This question was asked and answered at our interactive community workshop over Zoom on April 9, 2020! This workshiop was hosted by the Putnam Clubhouse and facilitated by Hume's Director of Clinical Programs Chris Celio.
We were especially luck that two professional singers, Natalie Amaya (www.natalieamayavoice.com) and Alicia Glenn (www.facebook.com/AliciaGlennMusic), kicked off the event with a community concert! After the concert, Chris walked us through the reasons why the current situation has been so hard and specific tips to help cope through it. The event demonstrated the healing power of music and community, as everyone was left smiling, singing, and with helpful tips to cope after the workshop.
The concert also kicked off a series of lunchtime events during April to bring the larger mental health community together. Click on this link to access the schedule of events: Stay Connected through these Fun Events for All on Zoom in April!
Click here to download the powerpoint slides for the presentation as a PDF. Feel free to distribute to whoever you'd like.
Hume's Last Lunchtime Event had a World-Wide Audience!
June 4, 2020 with Shahrzad Dance Company
The 2020 Lunchtime Self-Care Event Series ended on 6/4/2020 with a beautiful dance performance by Shahrzad Dance Company (SDC) that was watched by people from all over the world, including the United States, Iran, and elsewhere. Shahrzad Dance Company is a dance ensemble based in Berkeley, and hosts a group of dancers and choreographers dedicated to exploring the depth of classical and contemporary Persian dance. The company has the mission of promoting the art of Persian dance, while bridging cultural gaps, helping Iranian-Americans establish their culture within the greater community. The company did four solo dances and the presented a video montage showing the four of them dancing together while being apart in different locations. It was a masterful and inspiring dance performance!
Directed by Shahrzad Khorsandi, author of The Art of Persian Dance, SDC performs at various events locally and nationwide. The company can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/shahrzaddancecompany and information about classes and performances is on their website at: www.shahrzaddance.com
We hope you have enjoyed these weekly diversions. We hope you continue to find ways to stay connected and stay healty.
Click here for the full list of Zoom events Hume organized over Zoom in April, May, and June.
Did you miss our workshop on how to cope with strong feelings due to COVID-19? Click here to download the powerpoint slides for the presentation as a PDF. Feel free to distribute to whoever you'd like.
Hume Center invites you to Celebrate Juneteenth, 2020 with Us....Twice!
Hume Center has planned two separate Juneteenth events today, 6/19/2020. Please join us as we facilitate two different creative celebrations in celebrations of the day.
From 12:30 to 1pm, we will be elevating classical music written by Black composers as curated on-demand by Garrett McQueen from MPR.
Join us through Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/92291657972 or dial (669) 900-9128 and entering Meeting ID 922 9165 7972 #
At 5pm, we bring to you a jazz dance class called Honoring Juneteenth! Alexander Zapata from Escuela de Danza Petipa will be teaching a dance class in honor of the day live from Columbia over Zoom.
Please join us on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9138180977?pwd=MjJEeUN6OVhxSXZNeXRST1JDNVkwdz09 and use the password escuela
If joining directly from Zoom, use Meeting ID 913 818 0977 and use the password escuela
Lunchtime Zoom Concert on 5/14/2020
Click here for the full list of Zoom events in May and June.
May 14, 2020, 12:30 to 1pm, Lacey Rae
Thank you Lacey Rae for performing for the community live from Hollywood! You've seen her in Sorority Boys, Bad Santa, Sideways, and other films, and now we got to hear her great singing on Zoom! Keep up with her by clicking here! Followers of hers on Facdebook and YouTube are getting treated to a daily performance from Lacey! Want more to hear more from Lacey? Join us at the Summer Breeze Concert on May 29th!
May 29, 2020, 5:30 to 7:30pm: Summer Breeze Concert for Community Wellness
Feeling sad you only get to see Lacey Rae sing once? Well, most of your favorite singers from the Lunchtime Concert series, including Lacey, are returning on May 29 from 5:30 to 7:30pm for the Summer Breeze Concert for Community Wellness! Please join us on Zoom as David Serotkin, Clarisse Saam, Patrick Duffy, Roberto Roman, Bryan Munar, John Hazen, Lacey Rae, KC Dela Cruz, and Natalie Amaya return to get summer started off right!
Please click this link on 5/29 at 5:30pm to watch the Summer Breeze Concert: https://zoom.us/j/97103090885
To join by phone, dial 669 900 9128 and enter the Webinar ID: 971 0309 0885 #
Click here for the full list of Zoom events in May and June.
Did you miss our workshop on how to cope with strong feelings due to COVID-19? Click here to download the powerpoint slides for the presentation as a PDF. Feel free to distribute to whoever you'd like.
Lunchtime Comedy with Hollywood's Lenny Schmidt on 5/28/2020
Click here for the full list of Zoom events in May and June.
May 28, 2020, 12:30 to 1pm: Lunchtime Comedy!
Lenny Schmidt made us laugh for forty minutes straight during the stand-up comedy he did over Zoom for the community. We were quite fortunate to be entertained by this world-renowned stand-up comedian (if he looks familiar, you've seen him in“Joe Dirt” and “The Ugly Truth”, and TV shows; “Castle”, “True Blood”, “Big Love”, “ER”, "The Inbetweeners," and “Desperate Housewives”). Follow him on Facebook and enjoy the daily comedy he's producing during the Stay at Home Order!
Click here for the full list of Zoom events we did in April, May, and June, 2020 during the Stay at Home Order for Community Wellness.
Did you miss our workshop on how to cope with strong feelings due to COVID-19? Click here to download the powerpoint slides for the presentation as a PDF. Feel free to distribute to whoever you'd like.