Smoke Signals
May 1993
Page 1 1
Nanitch Sahallie's Clinical Manager:
Bill Carrigan
By Tracy Olson
Bill Carrigan, one of the newest employees of the
Grand Ronde Tribe, is Clinical Manager of Nanitch Sahallie
Youth Treatment Center in Keizer, Oregon. His education
and work experience is extensive, and it seems this position
at Nanitch had his name written all over it. Mr. Carrigan
received his B. A. in Social Workat WesternFlorida University
"I got to talking to some of the people here, and the clients
I sent to Nanitch did real well, and 1 was real impressed with
the program, so I made in known I was interested in working
here."
Carrigan applied for the Clinical Manager job two
years ago, but the Tribe had decided to hire in-house. A
couple of months ago the position was again available, and
, f f -.
1 ":
in Pensicola. It was at this
time he began working with
juveniles who were in a half
way house for committing
various crimes. "I learned
that their real problems
weren't the crimes they were
committing, but their
chemical dependency,"
Carrigan said. "I was in
Wrangle, Alaska for quite
sometime. I worked with
Tlingkit youth, and their
families. I ran groups, started
AA meetings. This was
around 1976. Then I wrote a
grant asking for funds to get
my Master's degree, through
Seattle University. My
degree is in Adult Education
and Addiction Studies."
This is only the beginning of Mr. Carrigan's long
list of experience with youth and Native Americans. From
Seattle he worked in Olympia, Washington where he was
Youth Substance Awareness Program Coordinator. "I worked
with a lot of young people, obviously," he said. "I did classes
with kids who had been arrested for alcohol and drug related
offences. I did a lot of one-to-one counseling, assessments
of kids who were in juvenile hall, and teaching in the school
on alcohol and drug education, problem solving skills, and
self image."
This was in 1978. In 1979 Carrigan moved to San
Diego, where he started the first attempted out-patient
program in San Diego. He also worked at SCRIPTS clinic
and began another out-patient program.
Carrigan became familiar with Nanitch Sahallie in
1988 when he moved to Redding to work for Shasta Trinity
Rural Indian Health Project. "I was the coordinator for the
out-patient program. A lot of the young people I counseled
were unable to stay clean and sober on an out-patient basis
so I did some researchand found out about Nanitch Sahallie,"
he said.
"We want to be known as a
recovering organization. And as a
recovering facility, everyone works
as a group. People don't like to be
told what to do. They want to be a
part of something. "
Bill Carrigan
...And Employee of the Month
Marvin Fragua
Nanitch Sahallie is just starting an Employee of the
Month policy and the very first winner is Marvin Fragua,
Lead Counselor at Nanitch.
Mr. Fragua has been working for Nanitch since
1 989. He is a member of the Jemez Pueblo Tribe and attended
Nazerine Bible College in Colorado Springs.
On being named Employee of the Month, Mr.
Fragua had these words: "I appreciate that my co-workers
thought highly enough of me to recognize me with this. I
enjoy working here, and am very committed to this program. "
Some of the criteria for being chosen Employee of
the Month are: dependable, dedicated, positive attitude,
good role model, caring, contribution, and interaction with
clients.
The Employee of the Month receives a certificate,
one free meal at Nanitch Sahallie, and a wooden pencil box
pencils from the Blackfeet Tribe.
this time, he got the job.
As Clinical
Manager, part of Carrigan's
job is maintaining the quality
of the program,
implementing policies and
procedures, and to work with
staff to get the best possible
treatment for the clients.
Carrigan
explained, "The best possible
treatment includes cultural
activities, group therapy,
Alcoholics Anonymous, one-to-ones,
interventions with
clients we have problems
with, just making sure the
i program is running the best
is can with 21 to 24
adolescents." .
All the employees
at Nanitch feel a team approach to operating the facility is
very important. "This is a very important concept. We want
to be known as a recovering organization rather than an
addictive organization. And as a recovering facility everyone
works as group. People don't like to be told what to do. They
want to be a part of something," said Carrigan.
He also explained to me the nature of the treatment
and the four phases the clients go through while at Nanitch
Sahallie. They are Adjustment, Primary, Secondary, and
Self-Discovery. For example, the Adjustment phase is the
first phase. It is the period of time when the client is taught
skills on how to confront hisher problem, the staff looks for
denial, defense mechanisms. It is also the time when a client
learns the expectations of treatment. They are taught group
skills, schedule, and structure. "It is really a time of
bonding," said Carrigan. "We begin to deal with core issues.
Feelings versus defenses. We do some trust-building during
this phase. We teach them how to except themselves and
accept other people."
It seems inevitable that Bill Carrigan will be a
contributing factor in the continued success of Nanitch's
program.
NANITCH SAHALLIE (503) 390-5904
Joanna Rogers, Program Director
Bill Carrigan, Clinical Manager
Josephine Bigclow, Intake Specialist
William Anderson, Education Coordinator
Karen Schmid, Counselor
Karen Scharf, Counselor
Marvin Fragua, Counselor
Patricia Stephens, Counselor
Linn Menzie, Counselor
William Anderson, Administrative Assistant
Penny Morgan, Administrative Assistant
Jeanne Larsen, Clinical Services Secretary
Christine Dean, Recreation Technician
Clytie Ring, Lead Counselor Technician
Christopher Holliday, Counselor Technician
Michael Wade, Counselor Technician
Ronald Kuhlman, Counselor Technician
Patsey Ward, Counselor Technician
Sonny Lorentz, Counselor Technician
Barbara Miller, Counselor Technician