PBN Leaders & Achievers 2024 Awards
Barbara Lamoureux | Thrive Behavioral Health Inc. | Vice president of youth and family services and clinical systems
LOOK AT BARBARA LAMOUREAUX’S high school yearbook and you’ll see the writing was on the wall regarding her future. Back then, when asked what she aspired to become, her answer was a social worker.
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“It’s about helping people,” she said.
Lamoureux, who has her Master of Social Work, has impacted lives for more than 35 years. She is now vice president of youth family services and clinical systems at Thrive Behavioral Health Inc., the Warwick-based organization that provides comprehensive services to children, families and adults affected by mental illness, addiction or trauma.
Lamoureaux has worked there for seven years and previously held positions at The Kent Center and St. Aloysius Home, among others.
“I’ve long been fascinated by how people’s interaction with society helps or hurts them. Two people in the same environment will find different paths. Why?” Lamoureaux said. “We try to give people skills so they come out on the other side whole and move forward on their recovery journey.”
Lamoureaux has led Thrive’s efforts to transform into a more trauma-informed, person-centered organization. This includes introducing evidence-based training and specialty supervision for clinical staff and designing a new clinical services suite to be more person-centered and trauma-informed.
Lamoureux helped lead the Warwick Coalition to Prevent Child Abuse and sat on its board for 15 years. She is also a member of the Rhode Island Coalition for Children.
She reflects on her 30-plus years in social work, saying the early days of managed care were challenging because of the boundaries it placed on care.
“We had to figure out how to provide the best care for a patient with the 16 weeks permitted under managed care,” she said.
The upside, she says, is that they taught patients skills so they could help themselves long after the end of their care. Today, her role is more administrative, supporting staff in the work she once did.
“I serve staff as I did patients early in my career,” Lamoureaux said. “I give them support so they can change people’s lives.”
She is humble about accomplishments but takes pride in “growing services for children and families, making things better for families.”
