If you are not all talk and are truly
interested making a difference beyond your own private practice, here are some meaningful ways that you can contribute to the development of your community’s mental health and even systemic / institutional change. Consider some of these . . . .
- Volunteer your time with a local agency like Mental Health America.
- Facilitate a support group like the one offered at Nathan Adelson Hospice in Las Vegas, Nevada
- Put your own recovery story in writing in Firewalkers Anthology.
- Get trained and teach Applied Suicide intervention Skills Training (ASIST) to your community.
- Write a letter of concern about the DSM-5 revision process. (And, if you don’t know what to say . . . just ask me!)
- Organize or volunteer to speak at a brown bag speaker series like this one hosted by Ohio State University’s Nisonger Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.
- Work a phone line at the Crisis Line in Birmingham, Alabama.
- Drive participants to and from Special Olympics events in Grand Rapids Michigan.
How does this help you build your practice? Well, by engaging with your community, you have multiple opportunities to meet others who share values similar to yours. Those are exactly the potential referral sources that you need to connect with and introduce to your practice.
Perhaps you are already involved in improving your community’s mental health through volunteering, social justice and advocacy. Care to share with us what organizations you have gotten involved with and what you are doing to foster professional relationships with them?
Is the Grand Rapids post specifically for me? 🙂
I am so for social justice and advocacy. Given the population I work with, lasting change will be very difficult without community change. The misinformation about sexual offending is too prevalent in society. What can be done to change this? Really, advocacy and social justice is about being involved with others. It is building relationships and not just doing something for a weekend or a day to feel better (this is a good place to start). Do you have relationships with different cultures in you community? Are you personal friends? It is not me helping them but us working together. Helpers (at least me) tend to jump in and help without really being asked or paying attention to the context and listening.
My daughter had the opportunity to participate in the “Be Nice” mental health campaign. It was great to see her learn. I was able to explain more to her about why people may behave the way they do so she can have some understanding and compassion when interacting with classmates, such as those who wear the same clothes everyday or get into trouble and sent to the office. While this is my responsibility as a parent, I know that she will speak to her friends about this and help them understand. Maybe the best chance is for the next generation to make a difference.
Bryan, I think you are so right – this next generation really is making a huge and positive difference! I am so optimistic about our future because they do seem to be building bridges where there have been none! I’m not a parent but I can only imagine how rewarding it must be to plant the seeds and live to see them come to fruition in your children!
Thanks for the doing the really hard job of parenting and making the world a brighter place!
Hi Tamara,
I’ve been actively involved in music therapy advocacy at the state level for a long time, with the goal of increasing access to music therapy services for all populations. I’m also involved with the Mental Health and Aging Coalitions in Kansas and Missouri. That one is new for me, but I can already tell that the people in those groups are folks I need to know. It’s great to work with people who care about the same issues I do.
Rachelle
Rachelle what a fabulous way to combine issues of social justice with advocacy for your profession, too! I think that’s so smart! You are combining what I call “heart work” of meeting other people’s needs with the hard work of meeting your own business and professional needs! Nice job!
Hi Tamara!
Yesterday I came across an ad for Give An Hour – which can be found online at http://www.giveanhour.org. It is an organization that offers free mental health services to military personnel affected by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. I just registered to be a provider so I can’t speak to how it works just yet but I’d be happy to put an update here after I have a chance to be involved for a while. Just thought I’d offer another option to folks that are interested!
Thanks,
Cathy
Thanks, Cathy! I love Give an Hour and had completely forgot about them! When I return home, I’ll try to remember to post a link to them on the sidebar, too! Thanks for thinking of us here and recognizing a terrific way to give back!