Education
The Range of Pretreatment Applications to Homelessness and Beyond
by Jay Levy
I shared success stories of homeless outreach throughout NYC and Boston and coined Pretreatment back in 2000 (turn of the millennium) through a publication via the Social Work Journal – Families In Society. From there, I published several books via LH Press and its philosophy of a person-centered practice and message of providing healthcare alternatives to vulnerable persons who were not necessarily raising their hands and requesting treatment, yet were clearly in need.
This resonated well within the fields of Homeless Outreach, Street Medicine, and Housing Support Services. It provided needed guidance to practitioners by integrating Pretreatment’s 5 guiding principles of care into their fields of practice. A journal in the UK decided to do a review of our book Pretreatment Guide for Homeless Outreach & Housing First and it took off from there. It really integrated well with Robin Johnson’s Psychologically Informed Environments movement in the UK and led to our first US and UK collaborative book project: Cross-Cultural Dialogues on Homelessness (2018). From there, certain well-connected practitioners began utilizing the model and it has had a positive impact on outreach to folks sleeping rough and also evolved into Pre-Treatment Therapy through the work of John Conolly via a NHS Counseling Service in London.
The range of our authors’ Pretreatment experiences includes, but is not limited to: Pre-treatment Therapy, Special Education, Housing Support services, Staff Training, Homeless Outreach, Street Medicine… Pretreatment has also been utilized in other settings including After Incarceration Services, and Peer Support Services, etc. A person-centered philosophy that focuses on the challenges and best practices for engaging folks in productive goal-focused dialogue is applicable to all forms of human services that understand the importance of building trusting relationships and a common language that crosses cultural divides.
I think Bob’s quote from our latest book captures the ideals well, and I am grateful to Bob for writing it!
If I had a magic wand loaded with one wish, it would be for every human to become like the collection of authors of this book. Earth is in its sixth extinction event because of a global culture that rewards and encourages the worst in human nature, particularly greed and divisiveness. If this global culture magically changed into one that encourages the best in human nature, we would have a chance of survival, and a society in which homelessness and other woes would not exist.
A Shintoist saying is, “There are many mountains to God, and many paths up each mountain.” This book has chapters describing a variety of approaches that are all based on respect, compassion, decency, patience, and acceptance. Individually, each is powerful. Combined, as this book recommends, they have the potential to transform the world.
Pretreatment across Multiple Fields of Practice is necessary reading for anyone in any helping profession, in which I even include law enforcement, and highly recommended for everyone who wants a better world.
About the Author
Jay lives in Western MA with his wife, Louise, who teaches science at a local high school. His two children, Talia and Sara, have both graduated college and have begun their initial journeys into career-related activities. More information on Jay and his work can be found at www.jayslevy.com.
 through a publication via the Social Work Journal – Families In Society. From there, I published several books via LH Press and its philosophy of a person-centered practice and message of providing healthcare […])
