Have you ever seen the path to mental health care as a twisting and looping bridge to nowhere? It's not just access to quality mental health care that's a challenge in our nation, it's the lack of empowerment an individual or family faces to find that supportive care and have knowledge as to what options are available to service the need. Bridging that gap between need and knowledge to access quality mental health care is what Get Support Together is all about.
Mental Health is a Progress, Not Perfection. So the Mission of Get Support Together is Intended to Evolve Too.
How many of you were raised on the ideology, "Practice Makes Perfect?" Another generation can boast about the evolution in thinking because they were taught, "Practice Makes Progress." The problem is, or at least it was for me, once there's a promise that perfection is attainable, it can take over rational thought with obsessive behaviors. I am here today offering the promise that Get Support Together will remain rooted in progress, knowing the landscape of mental health services and the severity and onset of mental health conditions will be represented in our online community.
The Roots of Get Support Together
There is a poorly kept secret within my diverse network that my life has been full of trauma, complicated by children with demanding needs and a life burdened with constant chaos that my personal drive to perfection contributed to. (Note, I was raised in the generation of "Practice Makes Perfect.") What less than a handful of people know, however, is despite a flourishing career in marketing where I could generate and execute exceptional marketing strategies, I was crippled by insecurities which often created self-fulling prophecies in my life of try, <insert inner voice you are going to fail>, work harder, push more, fail.
The development of Get Support Together is no different from this. The concept first came to me when at age two my daughter was showing signs of mental dysregulation and physical pains. It took us five more years to close that chapter with the diagnosis of a neurological condition, but the hopelessness and loneliness of not being able to find support for her stayed with me as a small black spot on my heart. I simply could not figure out why getting mental health treatment for a child was so difficult. My tribulations didn't end there as many times throughout my child-raising years I sought support for me, my husband, my kids, but we didn't really know what type of support we needed and heaven-forbid in some of the more traumatic times, hospital social workers couldn't even provide answers!
Currently there are suicide text lines and crisis hot lines and 24/7 psychiatric hospital emergency rooms, but for anyone using these services or even managing their way through a period of sadness or grief, there is nowhere to look, learn, and take action for your own mental health recovery. We are aiming to narrow that gap between need and knowledge by building a community full of resources needed to get through today, take the next right step, and live a happy, balanced, productive life.
The issue I see most prevalent in finding quality mental health care is people having access to the information required to service their need. If you're suffering from generalized depression or anxiety, chances are the tools of a community therapist or group program could give you the support you need. But what if that depression grows to chronic inability or desire to participate in life? Consider a neighbor swears Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is the perfect solution for you and you want to hear what mental health clinicians have to say about the aggressive treatment or find a mental health service provider near you? What if this advice is so misdirected and this treatment is so far off from what you need, but you don't know what to consider? Get Support Together will be your solution.
How will Get Support Together Change the Face of Mental Health Care Access?
I remember seeing my first therapist when I was 23, back in the late 1990s. I called my insurance company and was mailed a list of approved therapists in my city. This list of blank names was supposed to reassure me there were plenty of people to help, yet had the opposite effect of making me feel extremely alone. As it happens, I randomly picked a female from the list and lasted only two sessions with her because whenever I expressed a feeling she audibled a deep "awe", causing me to feel like she pittied me. I'd say this was not a good therapist-client match.
Get Support Together will put you, the potential patient, in the drivers seat of selecting what's the most meaningful to you, or what you may want to learn more about to make an informed decision, to take that next right step. With dozens of filters acknowledging diagnoses beyond the DSM-5, advancing treatment modalities, structure of treatment environments, communities served, provider training supported by continuing education courses, social insights, and more will be available in the first release of Get Support Together. You can expect to see many more improvements as we fundraise to build the community each of you deserve for your mental health journey.
For Mental Health Providers
We invite you to be a part of the change in mental health care access today. Sign up for Get Support Together during our pre-launch phase, a limited number of free memberships are available with a small commitment to help us test the content and functionality of the directory. Starting with licensed individual therapists, counselors, social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists, a top-tier membership will be free for six months after the directory is launched.
Or, you can also contribute to the change by providing your information to be contacted closer to launch to consider our free basic listing or enhanced membership plans. A huge benefit to Get Support Together will be if you opt to maintain a free listing, you will have complete control over the information displayed and what you want your profile to focus on.
Accomplishing our mission to deliver you this robust offering will require significant "grass roots marketing" initiatives to spread the word and build connections for this unique solution in finding quality mental health care. If you're not yet following our social channels, please do so and share posts so we can reach as many therapists, doctors, treatment centers, religious institutions, communities, and more in efforts to build the directory to over 5,000 participants before it goes live. Check back often to see how we are progressing towards our goals and preparing knowledge resources for you.
It's an honor to be the messenger of this powerful new mental health resource.
Be safe and find happiness.
Brea Berman-Black
