Our Mental Health Team is Here For You.
Meet our team! View below for a brief summary of each team member.
If you or someone you work with needs to be connected to non-emergent mental health support, please complete our online referral form.
You can expect the following from our Referral Process:
- You complete the referral form
- Within 2 business days, a Community Health Worker will verify that we have all the information we need.
- TIP: We also need current consent and registration forms for everyone. You can speed up the process if you update those now.
- If we need more information, we will call or text you
- When we call, we can also talk about other things you may need:
- Housing support
- Financial support
- Medical care
- Nutritious foods
- Substance use support
- We will also schedule an appiontment or let you know about our wait list, if appointments aren’t available.
- If you are on our wait list:
- We will check in with you along the way and connect you to other supports.
Why Mental Health Matters
It’s no secret that there is and has been a mental health emergency in rural America; according to the Rural Health Information Hub, mental health conditions can develop in early childhood and impact an individual’s long-term health and well-being.
Recent research highlights that rural children and adolescents have a higher prevalence of behavior problems, anxiety, and depression. Factors such as lower household income and limited access to learning and recreational spaces can negatively impact the mental health of rural youth. Adolescents and children growing up in high stress home environments may experience more behavioral problems, emotional dysregulation, and long-term mental health concerns according to the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH). Furthermore, high cost of mental health services and mental health provider availability can deter parents / caregivers from seeking needed services for their children.
In 2022, 18.62% of youth in Oregon experienced at least one major depressive episode and 49.7% of youth with major depression did not receive any mental health treatment (Oregon State University). We would also be remiss to not mention the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has had; the pandemic created or exacerbated existing stressors – creating further isolation and barriers around social distancing and remote learning. These factors contributed to loneliness, despair, and contributed to increased domestic violence, drug overdoses, symptoms of mental illness, and calls to the suicide hotline (Oregon Health Authority).
To best serve rural youth, mental health programs can develop strategies to improve access to mental health services. One way to accomplish this is through partnering with local schools. Schools play an integral role in rural communities, and school-based health centers are an effective way to improve mental health outcomes for youth. For example, rural communities may consider collaborating with schools to integrate primary care providers, mental health therapists, community health workers, and other outreach & engagement specialists who specialize in providing connection, belonging, and support to youth in rural population centers.
The mental health providers located within the school-based health centers or co-located within the schools provide assessment, goal setting, therapy, skills development, safety planning and other activities that are tailored to the unique challenges faced by children, youth, and their families. We also have a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner available who can consult, provide assessments and ongoing medication management to children (6+) and youth who may need additional support related to their mental health symptoms.
Rural youth often find themselves geographically isolated from peers and support systems, and for members of marginalized groups, these feelings of both social and geographical isolation are even more severe. These experiences of isolation are identified as a risk factor for poor mental health and suicide (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Other ways to improve access to mental health services among youth include telehealth and fostering opportunities for youth community engagement.