Short of mental health professionals, Nigeria tries a new approach

Healing trauma has never been an easy process but programs like Healing Hurt People help to promote recovery in traumatized, angry young men. This program, in partnership with local medical services, aims to provide therapy in place of violence, which would only cause more trauma down the road. Those who stick with the program have found great success in overcoming their pasts.

The Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium in partnership with Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute is working to train healthcare providers on how to identify and begin treating mental health concerns. The training program began in 2022 and about 74 providers participated in its first year.

In a statewide, multi-business effort, California is working to identify a way to use technology to intervene in mental crises through the use of psychiatric apps. Acting as an early warning system, the piloting of these apps has allowed for collaboration between state officials, the app engineers and the users themselves.

Milwaukee County’s mental health system put more resources in expensive emergency care rather than invest in programs that offer continual care. As a result, Milwaukee County identifies nine solutions from other cities that have had success in repairing mental health systems. Solutions include the ending of reliance on emergency care, expand community support programs, change laws, and supportive housing.

Street medicine teams across California are bringing therapy directly to unhoused people to address the widespread but overlooked mental health crisis among people experiencing homelessness. These teams conduct flexible, location-based therapy sessions using coping strategies adapted for life on the street, such as journaling and coloring. Multiple patients credit street therapy with helping them stabilize enough to navigate the complex housing application process and maintain housing once obtained.

CAHOOTS offers counseling, conflict resolution, mediation and referral and transportation to social services and/or basic emergency medical care to people experiencing a mental health crisis. CAHOOTS is available 24/7 and sends out crisis workers and medics as an alternative to uniformed police officers. CAHOOTS has significantly lightened law enforcement’s load, allowing officers to focus more on other public safety issues while preventing unnecessarily sending people through the criminal justice system.

Crisis Intervention Training classes provide law enforcement with the necessary knowledge to effectively help those experiencing a mental health crisis. Currently, planning is underway to enhance this training to help strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and the mental health system by better collecting data, screening calls and opening a downtown urgent care center.

Across Georgia, a community-based mental health care approach has decreased both the duration and frequency of hospitalization for clients. This approach relies on mental health and other healthcare specialists delivering care to clients via mobile teams.

Online counseling websites that utilize the practice of cognitive behavioral therapy are helping teenagers and young adults access services they may need during challenging times. Psychologists do caution that these aren't replacements for face-to-face therapy, but that they do help when in-person options are not available or feasible.

In rural counties, it's not always easy to seek mental health treatment. To address this, several different resources have been built over the years in Richmond County, Ohio from call or text hotlines to educational campaigns specifically targeting school-aged children.