Putting It Together
An Integrated Model for Schizophrenia Care Michael D. Rosberg, Ph.D., for ASC Treatment Group The essays that precede this one have argued, from a number of different angles, for a particular way of thinking about schizophrenia care. Each essay has stood on its own. This closing piece pulls the threads together and names the model […]
Economic Cost Savings of Appropriate Treatment for Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia
Michael D. Rosberg, Ph.D. Introduction Treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) represents a disproportionate driver of healthcare and social costs in the United States. The ASC Treatment Group’s human-centered redesign model integrates evidence-based environmental design and creative therapies, including horticulture, art, animal care, and restorative architecture, to promote safety, autonomy, and adherence. These interventions are intended to reduce […]
Adherence by Design
How Environment Shapes Treatment Engagement in Schizophrenia Michael D. Rosberg, Ph.D. Despite real advances in pharmacotherapy and social care models, treatment adherence remains a central challenge in schizophrenia care, especially among individuals with treatment-refractory schizophrenia (TRS). For this population, where relapse, high utilization of acute services, and functional stagnation are common, the design of the […]
Building What Works
Designing Mental Health Services People Want to Use Michael D. Rosberg, Ph.D., for ASC Treatment Group Mental health systems across the country share a costly problem: inconsistent engagement in care. For individuals with serious mental illness, particularly those with treatment-refractory schizophrenia (TRS), the issue is rarely a lack of available services. It is the lack […]
When Treatment Doesn’t Feel Like It’s for You
Meaning and Engagement in Schizophrenia Care Michael D. Rosberg, Ph.D., for ASC Treatment Group One of the harder problems in schizophrenia care is not the absence of services but the inconsistent willingness of the people we serve to participate in them. The services exist. They are clinically valid. They are staffed by people who care. […]
Attention as a Limited Resource
The Cognitive Case for Therapeutic Environments in Schizophrenia Michael D. Rosberg, Ph.D. Attention is the cognitive function that governs how individuals filter, prioritize, and respond to environmental stimuli. In individuals with schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses, this control is often impaired, leading to difficulties in processing relevant information and managing competing sensory inputs (Luck […]
Shared Decision-Making and Self-Determination in Schizophrenia Care
Michael D. Rosberg, Ph.D. For decades, the treatment of schizophrenia has largely followed a familiar pattern: periods of crisis intervention followed by extended cycles of disengagement, relapse, and rehospitalization. Advances in pharmacotherapy and psychosocial interventions have offered clear benefits, but the delivery of care too often remains fragmented and reactive. The result is preventable suffering […]
Turning Down the Volume
Listening for Meaning in Schizophrenia Care Michael D. Rosberg, Ph.D. Early in my career, when I was struggling to understand someone I was working with, my supervisor asked if I played poker. The point was not the game itself, but what it requires. In poker, success depends less on the cards than on attention to […]
Where and How People Live Shapes Their Recovery
An Argument for Environment as an Evidence-Based Practice Michael D. Rosberg, Ph.D. ASC Treatment Group Mental illness is often a topic in the news, the media, and within our communities. When people talk about treating serious mental illness, we often get questions such as “can you really help those people?” Those conversations usually turn quickly […]
What People with Schizophrenia Are Telling Us, and Why Environments Must Listen
Michael D. Rosberg, Ph.D CEO | Clinical Psychologist People living with schizophrenia have been telling us what disables them. For the most part, the system has not been listening. Over more than four decades of direct clinical experience, we have watched outcomes diverge. Some people stabilize and rebuild, find purpose, and friendships: other cycle through […]