The Center for Research and Innovation (CRI) aims to promote empirical values in mental healthcare—merging academic research with a forward-thinking clinical environment.
The CRI’s overall goals are to continually expand our understanding of our patient population and their needs, improve patient outcomes, support the professional development of our staff, and advance the industry as a whole. As one of the few institutions of its kind, the CRI establishes Newport as a thought leader in the field and an innovator in bridging science and clinical practice.
Download Our 2022 Outcomes Report
Download our new Science of Healing report to learn how Newport Healthcare is changing the lives of young people and families. The visually rich, in-depth report includes:
- Teen and young adult patient profiles, including risk factors
- How we achieved a 75% decrease in teen suicide risk—and a 50% decrease in teen depression
- Key well-being increases in young adults—up to 5x greater
- Survey results from patients, parents, and referents
- Testimonials from our alumni
The Mission of the CRI: Ongoing Work and New Initiatives
The CRI’s purpose is to advance Newport Healthcare as a leader and innovator in adolescent and young adult residential care, research, and program development, through:
- Outcomes evaluation and data-informed care
- Research and field-advancing knowledge
- Professional and clinical development for staff
Upcoming 2024 Conference Presentations by Newport Thought Leaders
- Minnesota Social Service Association Annual Conference, March 20–22: Laura Beth Gatzke, MDiv, MSEd., LPCC, Therapist; Kaylyn Pedersen, MSW, LGSW, Inpatient Social Worker; Mallory Jacobsen, MSW, LICSW, Social Work Supervisor; Michael Benjamin, MSW, LICSW, Therapist; and Rebekah Camacho, OTR/L, Occupational Therapist
- Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health (MACMH) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conference, April 29: Michael Benjamin, MSW, LICSW, Therapist
- ACRC (Association of Children’s and Residential Services) Conference, May 8: Mirela Loftus, MD, PhD, Medical Director; Kara Becker, LMFT, CEDS, National Director of Eating Disorders Programs; Olivia Lynch, MS, LCP, EMDR Program Training and Developing Manager; Erin Ziegelmeyer, MA, LPC, Compliance Specialist and Trainer; and Meredith Dellorco
About the CRI’s Leadership
Michael Roeske, PsyD, Senior Director of the CRI, is a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked and studied in a variety of treatment settings, including adult substance use disorder and adolescent mental health programs, community-based psychological services, and inpatient psychiatric hospitals. He is also trained as a full battery assessor of children to older adults and has functioned as a supervisor, clinical director, educator, presenter, and operator. As an educator, he has been a national presenter, adjunct professor, and trainer of psychotherapy graduate students. Before moving into his role with the CRI, Michael was Executive Director at our Newport Academy location in Bethlehem, Connecticut.
Research and Field-Advancing Knowledge
The CRI’s collection of demographic, baseline, and outcomes data will help fill gaps in existing research, measure important factors in treatment-seeking patient populations, and guide program assessment and development. It will also be used to study the efficacy of treatment and durability of change, and to inform empirical research studies. Significant findings will be submitted for publication in multidisciplinary journals and presentations at national conferences, used to further the industry of adolescent, young adult, and family treatment.
Research and Publications
- Journal of Social and Personal Relationships: Attachment to parental figures in emerging adults from Brazil, India, and Nigeria: Associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms
- Addictive Behaviors: Problematic social media use in childhood and adolescence
Residential Treatment for Children and Youth: The Challenges of Assessing Anxiety Symptoms for Adolescents and Young Adults in Residential Treatment: The BHS-Anxiety and the GAD-7 Scales - Journal of Family Psychology: Maternal and paternal attachment in high-risk adolescents: Unique and interactive associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms
- European Journal of Psychological Assessment: Validation of the Behavioral Health Screen-Depression With Adolescents in Residential Care
- Journal of Youth and Adolescence: Family and Peer Relationships in a Residential Youth Sample: Exploring Unique, Non-Linear, and Interactive Associations with Depressive Symptoms and Suicide Risk
The development of a body of research provides validation and evidence of reliability for treatment services, and therefore supports relationships between treatment programs and accrediting organizations, licensing bodies, and insurance payers. This work can potentially be collaborative and generative in a way that creates a synergistic effect—with the ultimate goal of helping more young people find long-term, sustainable healing.
Michael Roeske, PsyD
Senior Director, Center for Research and Innovation
Professional and Clinical Development for Staff
The CRI contributes to professional staff development by assisting in the use of research and data to inform treatment and by improving our understanding of the patient populations being served. It also enhances the ongoing effort to support staff in the treatment of various disorders and accompanying family systems. In addition, the CRI explores pathways of professional development for staff. That might mean working with the CRI as part of a research project or clinical work group, presenting at a conference or continuing education event, and/or being kept abreast of advancements in the field through a newsletter or quarterly meeting.
About the Center for Research and Innovation
Established following five years of outcomes research with third-party academic institutions, the CRI was an outgrowth of Newport Healthcare’s partnership with Guy Diamond, PhD, director of the Drexel University Center for Family Intervention Science and co–model developer of Attachment-Based Family Therapy, a groundbreaking empirically supported modality that provides the framework for Newport’s family therapy approach. Dr. Diamond and his team of researchers were instrumental in supporting Newport’s launching of the CRI, including the development of various proprietary scales measuring client improvements and experience.
A Q&A with Dr. Roeske, Senior Director
As a child, Michael Roeske was passionate about math. “I felt that there were patterns to be found everywhere, that everything could be measured and worked through equations, and therefore it was vitally important to study, understand, and apply those principles to theoretically everything,” he recalls.
Life eventually drew him in the direction of social services and away from efforts to find objective truth and complete certainty in outcomes. But he never lost his respect for numbers and data, and the potential power of analytics, as well as the constant pattern-seeking nature of humans. In his role with the CRI, he merges these passions and interests.
In this Q&A, Dr. Roeske discusses the CRI’s purpose and goals, how it helps drive Newport’s mission, and what he finds most intriguing about this work.
