Testimonials
Thekla is a uniter who drives social change within the addiction health care landscape in our country. She is a determined leader who leverages her extensive experience and people skills to align all of the assets to make change a reality. I’m grateful to be acquainted with Thekla and would enjoy an opportunity to share how great she is with anyone who’s interested.
Kevin Slattery, MBA,
National Corporate Communications Senior Executive, Kaiser Permanente
“I have worked with Thekla Ross for many years in the mental health and addiction medicine space at Kaiser Permanente. As I reflect and picture Thekla’s smiling face in my mind, I see a person who is genuinely compassionate towards others and offers transparency, calmness and true caring and love for all who cross her path. She has an immense amount of integrity, is very honest and always so welcoming. Whether Thekla realizes it or not, she has influenced me to work on bettering myself in all these areas and to do this for myself and for the people I love.”
- Veronica Osejo, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan
When there is work as incredibly important as solving the crisis of mental health and substance use disorder in this nation, it takes strong and passionate leaders who not only set the tone for its significance but expand our understanding by encouraging us and reminding us of the importance of equity and inclusivity, increasing our empathy, and unlocking the full potential of the people on their teams to improve things.
Dr. Thekla Ross is such a leader, and her tremendous positive impact on our organization has been widely felt. Her leadership inspires me to think more deeply, learn more, and do more. From our first encounter working on the National Harm Reduction Strategy, she encouraged me to speak up and bring my best self to the work and the team. I am beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from and work with her.
-Melissa Fisher, Senior Strategic Marketing Consultant
In my work with Dr. Brumder Ross I found her to be a brilliant, compassionate, insightful, bi-lingual [Spanish], and culturally sensitive psychologist! She is a positive, solution-oriented, and fun team player.
-Dean Blumberg, PhD, The Permanente Medical Group
Because of Thekla…
“Our members are more likely to be screened for unhealthy alcohol use during a routine Primary Care visit and get help early if needed…due to her research and implementation of Screening, Brief-Intervention and Referral to Treatment.
Our employees and communities are using more inclusive language to describe the experience of addiction…due to her efforts in anti-stigma education and awareness.
Our mental health clinicians are better equipped to provide evidence-based treatment that gets patients better, faster…due to her work to optimize both the Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) and evidenced based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) models.
Our providers, medical students and employer groups are better versed in how to attend to their own wellness…due to her teaching of self-compassion.
Our members with addiction will be more likely to achieve and maintain recovery….due to her composition, advocacy and execution of KP’s first enterprise-wide harm reduction strategy.
Our patients in alcohol or drug treatment programs are more empowered to manage their own health… due to her leadership role in research and implementation of the innovative LINKAGE patient engagement program.
Our future mental health workforce will be more well-rounded and better prepared for their roles…due to the mentoring and consultation function she has played in the Mental Health Scholars Academy.
Our team members and colleagues will PAUSE more often, listen to understand, lead with compassion, and collaborate with humility…due to her embodiment of all these practices and showing us the benefits.”
-Patricia deSa, MS, Director, National Mental Health & Wellness, Kaiser Permanente
Collaborating with Thekla has been one of the most rewarding of my career. She is quick to problem solve while creating space to let change management have its breathing room. She also carries the unique skill set as a psychologist to hold all colleagues in unconditional positive regard, which makes the working atmosphere collaborative and always collegial.
- Rebecca Boraz, National Leader, Harm Reduction, Overdose Prevention & Peer Recovery Services
I find myself very fortunate to have worked with Thekla in my clinic as well as on a collaborative research projects. During my time with Thekla, I witnessed her exceptional intelligence, skill in fostering connections, and her genuine warmth and humor.
-Murtuza Ghadiali, MD ,Chief, Addiction Medicine Recovery Services, San Francisco
Thekla’s compassion for others is heard and felt through her communication and actions. She provides an “intimate” picture that makes the “bigger” picture more vivid. She provides insight in how we speak with those who are in situations that need to be understood beyond just a question and answer. She encourages dialogue and ignites thought provoking, non-judgmental, compassionate views of others which is invaluable.
-Melanie Jackson Morris, Research Project Manager
Thekla is a woman of many strengths! She leads with compassion and empathy that makes working with her motivating as well as meaningful, she is gifted at aligning groups and establishing a common direction while making sure everyone's voice is heard. Thekla is always brining in new research and thought framework to move the work forward in an evidence based and equitable way. Her superpower is her advocacy spirit, she has a unique ability to present information that captures attention and inspires action.
-Liya Gebreab, Kaiser Permanente Mental Health and Wellness
Thekla has developed compelling, almost magical programs which activate and empower the most vulnerable members of health systems, and which also motivate physicians and behavioral health workers. Along with her very strong clinical skills, she has a keen experience with research so that the clinical work can be integrated with outcomes. It is always a fun and great learning experience working with her.
- Constance Weisner, DrPH, LCSW, Center for Addiction and Mental Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Professor emeritus, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco
The decade plus collaboration with Dr. Ross has been one of the great joys of my career. There are many attributes that make Thekla a very special person, professional and colleague, but a couple stand out for me.
The first is her unstinting commitment to improving the wellbeing of the people around her. I use those words intentionally: I say people instead of patients, because I think too often we in health care settings come to think of our members as patients, as widgets in this medical care systems. Thekla always goes beyond this characterization, to “see” and appreciate patients as multi-faceted people first. And I say wellbeing rather than health because people can be in relatively poor health, by the “objective” measures we often use in health care, but they and we can still focus on improving their sense of wellbeing. Here, I’m thinking about her contributions to the development and honing and execution of the LINKAGE, CREATE Wellness, and ACTIVATE interventions and all of their iterations, all rooted in her deeply respectful, person-centered approach to her fellow human beings and how that commitment has shaped the trajectory of these interventions, clinical care and our research.
The second is that she comes to our work in addiction and mental health research from a place of deep humility, respect and non-judgement. The populations we work with are often deeply stigmatized, sometimes shunned by friends and family and colleagues and society. Internalization of this stigma and shame are common. Thekla is someone who appreciates that, there but for the grace of god, how easily this could be any of us. Her deep, deep compassion and genuine empathy comes through so clearly, and is what allows her to get past people’s BS detectors and connect with them on a level that nurtures openness and creativity and growth and productivity (and I’m not just talking about patients but colleagues, health system leaders…).
It has been a great privilege to work alongside Dr. Ross. I think we’ve accomplished some impressive projects together which bridge the gap between research, practice and policy that I’m very proud of. All of the people, in KPNC or otherwise, who have benefitted from the implementation of systematic alcohol screening and brief intervention, and anyone who’s used AVS data, owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Ross, because it would not have happened without her.
-Stacy Sterling, DrPH, MSW, Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Co-Director, Center for Addiction and Mental Health Research, Associate Adjunct Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences & Associate Professor, Department of Health Systems Science, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine