Unity Center for Behavioral Health

Benjamin is one of the SpEd Teachers in the Hospital School Program on the Adolescent Psychiatry Unit at the Unity Center for Behavioral Health. With 25 years of experience working with diverse teen groups, Benjamin leads a culturally relevant program that partners with hospitalized teens in psychiatric crisis and collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to support their transition back to school. Benjamin and his team actively blend expertise in Trauma-Informed Care & Collaborative Problem Solving with instructional technique, therapeutic goals and a lil' bit of clowning around in order to meet patients where they're at, build critical connection and explore how school can work for them. The program aims to keep brains engaged while emerging from a mental health crisis and, more importantly, help patients and their school teams explore how to best support a restorative re-entry to school.  As a result, he and his team have built better communication with hundreds of school counselors across Oregon and Southwest Washington, helping thousands of patients return to school more understood, appreciated and supported. Benjamin also loves aerating his lawn, spicy pastor burritos, the Portland Timbers Football Club and loud music!