OKMHCA Spring 2024 Conference

Crisis Intervention can be the most stressful part of a mental health professional’s work, and suicidality is a national epidemic.  Pathways for Crisis Intervention offers steps for effective crisis intervention for adults and children, from asking about suicide and supporting a turn toward safety to effective safety planning and means restriction.  Supervising licensure candidates and ethical guidelines are included.  The gold standard suicide risk screening tool—the Columbia® Suicide Severity Rating Scale—will be analyzed with tips for assessment. Participants will learn how to identify whether someone is at risk for suicide, assess the severity and immediacy of that risk, and gauge the level of support that the person needs. Additional focus is on non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors.

The workshop includes a panel discussion from senior mental health professionals from Red Rock Behavioral Health Services.

About our speakers:

Paul Williams, LPC

Paul Williams, M.C. DBTC LPC, is the Director of Clinical Development at Red Rock Behavioral

Health Services in Oklahoma. He was trained in counseling in Arizona, and marriage and family

therapy in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He then trained at the Veterans Administration (V.A.)

Hospital in Tucson, AZ within the Family Mental Health Clinic, designed to address the needs of

military adults, couples, families and adolescents. Paul has worked at various community

behavioral health agencies with over 24 years of experience, covering a wide spectrum of

populations: child, family, foster care, adult, and substance use disorders, prison-reentry,

assertive community treatment of the severely mentally ill, crisis intervention, law enforcement

collaboration, the LGBTQ+ population, suicidality management, and borderline personality

disorder. He completed intense clinical training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy from the Beck

Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy™, as well as an intensive training in Dialectical Behavior

Therapy from Marsha Linehan Ph.D.’s Behavioral Tech, LLC™. He is a Certified Dialectical

Behavior Therapy Therapist and trains in other Mindfulness-Based Therapies. Paul is approved

by the Oklahoma Board of Behavioral Health as a supervisor for therapist candidates for

professional counselor licensure. He also is an approved professor for teaching clinical

supervisors how to raise up the next generation of therapists.

Ariel Joseph, LPC

Ariel Joseph, LPC, is the Director of Operations for Red Rock Behavioral Health Services. She

oversees operations within the outpatient offices in the Metro and East regions of the state

covering Oklahoma County, Lincoln County, Pottawattamie County, Cleveland County, and

McClain County.

Ariel attended Midwestern State University for her bachelor’s degree in 2010 and master’s

degree in 2014. She graduated in August 2016 with her Master of Arts in Clinical and Counseling

Psychology.

After receiving her education, Ariel moved to the Oklahoma City area to begin using her degree

within the community mental health sector. She started at Red Rock in February 2017 as a

therapy candidate under clinical supervision. Within her 7 years at Red Rock she has served as a

therapist under supervision, Mental Health Court Liaison, Licensed Therapist, Lead Therapist,

Regional Program Director, Director of Outpatient, and now Director of Operations. She

believes all humans have the capacity to change and wants everyone to be the best version of

themselves.

Kayley R. Saunders, LPC-S

Kayley R. Saunders, MS, LPC-S, has worked with Red Rock Behavioral Health Services for the last

6 years providing outpatient therapy and clinical trainings. Kayley received her B.S. in

Psychology from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, her Master of Public Administration

degree from the University of Central Oklahoma, and her Master of Science degree in

Counseling Psychology at Southern Nazarene University.

Prior to her role at Red Rock, Kayley worked at HeartLine, Inc., an agency that provides

assistance through various crisis helplines, both national and statewide. Kayley worked as a

crisis call specialist, a suicide prevention outreach program coordinator, and ultimately, as

Director of Suicide Prevention and Outreach. Kayley specializes in third-wave CBT theories,

including compassion focused therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and TEAM-CBT, a

subset of cognitive behavioral therapy in which Kayley has achieved Level 3 status through the

Feeling Good Institute. Kayley has also received certification as an instructor Applied Suicide

Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) and Components for Enhancing Career Experience and

Reducing Trauma (CE-CERT).

Delia Vargas, LPC

Delia Vargas, MS, LPC, is currently serving as the Regional Program Director for the Cleaveland/McClain County area at Red Rock Behavioral Health Services, where she has dedicated 11 years of her career. Delia's educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services from California State University in 2007, and a Master of Science in Counseling from Mid-America Christian University in 2016.

Prior to relocating to Oklahoma, Delia applied her undergraduate degree in various capacities at multiple community-based organizations, where she gained extensive experience working with immigrant Latino families, adolescents struggling with substance abuse, victims of domestic violence, and served as a Family Preservation Specialist with the Los Angeles Department of Children Services.

During her tenure at Red Rock, Delia has held several roles, including SOC Coach and Trainer, Therapist under Supervision, Therapist I, Lead Therapist, Clinical Director for Red Rock’s Children’s Outpatient Clinic, and currently, she serves as the Regional Director for Cleaveland/McClain County. Delia's professional expertise extends to Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, for which she holds certification, and she has also received training from the Beck Institute in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Delia is passionate about helping individuals overcome their challenges and grow into who they are meant to be.