As the global conversation around mental health continues – including the White House’s new unity agenda strategy to address mental health in the United States – finding effective resources and knowing how to get help remains a challenge. Convened by MTV Entertainment Group, Mental Health Action Day was created with an open-source model that has effectively united and galvanized brands, organizational leaders, and cultural leaders to seamlessly integrate the message and spirit into their existing branding and voice.
This years Mental Health Action Day theme, planned in partnership with TaskForce, is Connection as people of all ages continue to seek out ways to cope with loneliness stemming from the pandemic and turn to peer counseling to support their emotional wellbeing when struggling with isolation. We will encourage people to take their first steps towards mental health action whether for themselves, for their loved ones or to advocate for systemic changes through a wide range of tools. Additionally, this year MTV has piloted a new partnership model, Mental Health Action Champions, that empowers interested partners and provides them with the freedom to innovate, manage, and customize a sector-specific strategy powered by Mental Health Action Day.
Abundance of Hope Counseling will go live on Face book at 11:00 am CST with a panel of Mental Health Professionals. The theme is Getting Past Trauma on your Bariatric Journey. Many people are struggling with weight loss and weight management and are in the dark about the fact that childhood trauma has a correlation to obesity and other chronic illnesses. The panelist with have a discussion about this topic along with providing coping mechanisms and resources for participants. This is a free virtual event and participants can Register Here. Chikeitha Owens LPC Abundance of Hope Counseling Website is partnering with other Mental Health organizations (Jamie Bess with Helpful Living MagazineWebsite), (Hope Gilchrist LCPC with Hope Gilchrist Enterprises LLC Website), ( Dr. Renetta Weaver LCSWC with Regain No more Website) and (Celebrate Vitamins Website). Abundance of Hope Counseling is taking Mental Health Action Day by storm providing education and information on how Trauma can lead to Obesity and other Chronic Illnesses. The goal is to help those suffering with weight loss /Bariatrics and struggling trying to lose weight or maintain their weight loss but havent acknowledged how their past trauma has led to emotional eating and other factors. The W.A.I.T program is a 12 week program that Abundance of Hope is offering and can be found at www.dfwwaitloss.com. Abundance of Hope main site is at www.abundanceofhope.com.
The last two years have brought to light mental health challenges and made it easier to talk about them but there is still so much work to do to help people take actions to address them, said Erika Soto Lamb, Vice President of Social Impact Strategy at MTV Entertainment Group. Thats why the second Mental Health Action Day will focus on connection by providing leaders with resources to encourage and empower people to take action and those struggling with mental health and isolation with the tools they need to improve their emotional wellbeing.
Partners will encourage people to take their first steps towards mental health action whether for themselves, for their loved ones or to advocate for systemic changes. Free resources and tools, such as an employer toolkit and platforms for hosting and organizing events, are available for organizations and groups to help support their audiences through a myriad of ways – from starting a meditation practice to learning how to support a friend to advocating for change.
Additional participants and more information about how each partner will activate on May 19 will be forthcoming. More on Mental Health Action Day and a current list of partners can be found at www.MentalHealthActionDay.org
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