Yellowbrick hires Elizabeth Wade as occupational therapist

EVANSTON, Ill. — Yellowbrick, a psychiatric healthcare facility that treats young adults with complex mental health difficulties, is pleased to announce that Elizabeth Wade has recently been hired as an occupational therapist, effective Nov. 2.

“We are thrilled to welcome Elizabeth to our new Core Competence Program,” said Dr. Jesse Viner, CEO and Executive Medical Director at Yellowbrick. “Elizabeth brings a wealth of both clinical knowledge as well as compassion and experience in helping individuals gain the skills they need to lead meaningful lives. I know she will be a valuable asset to our Yellowbrick team.”

Wade will be instrumental in developing Yellowbrick’s new, innovative Core Competence Program, scheduled for launch in 2016. The Core Competence Program will help young adults who are recovering from mental health issues develop basic skills necessary to lead an independent life. Counselors will work one-on-one with clients in their own living space to help them learn life skills such as meal planning, cooking, time management, budgeting, exercise, personal self-care and applying for jobs. Clients will also engage in ReCognition training to improve cognitive skills such as executive function, attention, memory, problem-solving, and communication.

“Often, young adults who have recently experienced a traumatic psychiatric episode—such as a mental health-related hospitalization, suicide attempt or treatment for addiction—struggle with re-entering society. This program is designed to help these young adults cope with the challenges of everyday living so they can get back on their feet again,” Wade said.

Wade’s background as both a PhD cognitive psychologist and occupational therapist (OTR) make her uniquely qualified for this position. Most recently, she worked at NorthShore University HealthSystem where she helped individuals who had upper extremity injuries. Prior to that, Wade served as a counselor at Portage Cragin Counseling Center, where she taught independent living skills to adults with serious mental health issues, as well as at Pathways Center where she treated children with autism and cerebral palsy and other disabilities, and at Midwest Brain Injury Clubhouse, where she taught conflict resolution and social appropriateness to adults who had suffered brain injuries.

Wade received a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Stanford University and an M.S. in occupational therapy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She lives in Evanston.

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Yellowbrick’s mission is to serve as the national leader in psychiatric healthcare for emerging young adults and their families. Yellowbrick provides supported Core Competence Home Services and comprehensive, integrated intensive outpatient treatments based on the frontiers of neuroscience, psychotherapy, life skills and wellness research and practice. Yellowbrick’s naturalistic, real-time sober therapeutic community model offers and immersion in expert, collaborative, caring and healing relationships.

Learn more at www.yellowbrickprogram.com.