Jamie Rarrick, Vice President of Clinical Operations at Catalight, has been named a 2024 Frontline Honors honoree by Behavioral Health Business.
To become a Frontline honoree, an individual is nominated by their peers. The candidate must be:
- A dedicated, high-performing frontline worker who delivers exceptional experiences and outcomes
- A passionate worker who knows how to put their vision into for the good of their respective industry, the patients and residents they serve, and their families
- An advocate for their industry and their fellow colleagues
Behavioral Health Business recently caught up with Rarrick to discuss their time in the behavioral health industry.
BHB: What drew you to this industry?
Rarrick: While I now specialize in supporting people with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), I’ve been interested in behavioral health since high school. During my undergraduate years, I worked at a preschool, where I observed first-hand the profound influence that family dynamics had on a child’s behavior and performance in an educational setting. That experience sparked my interest in supporting families holistically, as I recognized the integral role that family systems play in child development and academic success.
BHB: What’s your biggest lesson learned since starting to work in the industry?
Rarrick: One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in this industry is that offering emotional support and validation is extremely powerful. Simply being present for others, acknowledging their experiences and offering support can be incredibly impactful. Not every issue can be resolved immediately, but simply exhibiting empathy and a willingness to listen connects you to a person and can greatly impact their wellbeing.
BHB: What’s your favorite part about your job?
Rarrick: Navigating I/DD care, and all medical services, can be overwhelming and confusing for parents and patients. Being able to build out processes that cultivate a supportive and collaborative space for families is incredibly rewarding. Having been in the behavioral health field for more than 15 years across all settings, I know how difficult it can be to make changes in already developed systems. My job allows me to work alongside innovative, insightful and inspiring people who want to make the field a more inclusive space. Together, we’re working hard every day to make a difference for the better and enhance the lives of the families we serve in a very real way. It’s extremely fulfilling to help transform the system into one that is more patient-centric and responsive to the diverse needs of our community.
BHB: What do you want the general public to better understand about your job and the industry you serve?
Rarrick: This field goes beyond traditional therapy. To be most efficient and effective, it involves leveraging technology, empowering families through innovative, evidence-backed programs, and addressing systemic challenges to ensure accessible, high-quality care. As an industry, we constantly need to be thinking about expanding services, integrating artificial intelligence and creating specialized programs tailored to the individual needs to truly reach our goal of transforming children’s lives. The industry is facing significant hurdles, such as the increasing need for services as autism prevalence continues to rise, workforce shortages, long wait times to diagnoses and difficulty accessing the right treatments. Acknowledging the complexity of these contemporary challenges and the necessity for progress empowers us to break down barriers for families in need.
BHB: What’s something that you wish other people in your organization — particularly leaders who don’t work on the front lines — understood better about your job?
Rarrick: I think it’s important for everyone in our organization – and the industry as a whole – to understand how impactful collaboration across support systems for a patient and their family can be. When a patient is receiving services, it is imperative to ensure that other providers are aware of how their treatment planning affects other levels of provided support so plans are harmonized and mutually reinforcing across various levels. That collaboration enhances the overall quality of care and optimizes outcomes by utilizing the collective expertise of the entire care team.
To view the entire Frontline Honors Class of 2024, visit https://frontlinehonors.com/.
