Michael Yates
Michael Yates, development director for Ridgeview Behavioral Services, will discuss youth substance abuse on Saturday, July 18, at Grace Lutheran Church in Oak Ridge.
The presentation is titled “Youth Substance Abuse—the Complex and Courageous Conversation.” It’s free and scheduled for Saturday, July 18, at Grace Lutheran Church in Oak Ridge. It starts at 10:30 a.m. in the fellowship hall, and it is hosted by the church’s Mental Health Ministry. Child care will be available, a press release said.
Yates will discuss risk factors that drive the misuse and use of substances, and offer information on how parents and communities might best respond to strengthen protective factors for youth and families, the press release said.
“Youth and adolescents turn to substance abuse for a number of reasons,” he said. “Some want to experiment with boundaries, some do so because of peer pressure, and others are trying to cope with unmanageable pain, suffering, or anxiety.”
The press release said Yates has a combined 25 years of experience in community behavioral health and public child welfare services.
He received his master of divinity degree from Vanderbilt University in 1990. After spending two years working on the adolescent unit of Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital, he joined Helen Ross McNabb Center in 1992. In 2004, he became the director of the Adoption Support and Preservation Services program at Harmony Family Center, where he received the Bill Williams Award for excellence in adoption services.
He joined Ridgeview Behavioral Health Services as director of development in 2014.
Yates has facilitated training and led presentations throughout Tennessee and across the country, the press release said. He is also a regular contributor to newspapers in Oak Ridge and surrounding community newspapers.
For more information, call the church office at (865) 483-3787.
Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Leave a Reply