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Former U.S. Army Specialist Tara Barney will never forget the 2013 night when a fellow soldier cried as he described holding a dying friend in his arms, a wartime memory he had not shared with anyone. “I can’t even talk to my wife like this,” she recalled her friend saying. “Nobody would understand.” Barney, now 34, says that moment defined her future.

She finished her four-year enlistment and enrolled in William James College, which says it is the only U.S. psychology graduate school focused on training veterans as counselors.

Founded in 2011, the school’s programs aim to address the high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other mental health conditions experienced by veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other conflicts.

“If you talk to most vets, they want to talk to people who have had the same sets of experiences,” said Robert Dingman, the director of military and veterans psychology at the school, located west of Boston. “We don’t believe by any means that only vets can help vets, but we think it’s a good career pathway.”

Estimates of how many of the country’s 19 million veterans experience mental health problems vary widely. A federal government report released last year found that about 40 percent of veterans who received care through the Veterans Health Administration were diagnosed with a mental health or substance abuse condition, most commonly depression, followed by post-traumatic stress disorder.

Other data suggest that figure may represent a higher rate of mental health and substance abuse than is seen among the overall population of veterans. An analysis of medical research by the RAND Corp think tank found that rates of PTSD likely range from 5 percent to 20 percent of veterans.

William James College wants to bridge the cultural divide between veterans, some of whom view seeking mental health care as akin to admitting weakness, and psychologists and counselors, many of whom know little about military culture.

Read more on Reuters.com.

According to Postpartum Support International, women may become depressed at any time during the first year after giving birth. While the exact cause is unknown, stressors, such as hormonal fluctuations, sleep deprivation and lack of social support, may contribute to this mental health disorder. Symptoms include feelings of sadness, anxiety and irritability. Depressed mothers may also have difficulty bonding with their babies, and in severe cases, they may think of harming themselves. Many new mothers are never diagnosed with this childbirth complication, and only 15 percent of women receive treatment.

Reaching out for psychological help is challenging for many mothers. Balancing the multiple demands of new motherhood often makes it impossible to find time for psychotherapy. For women living in small towns or rural areas, finding help can be even more overwhelming.

“Women living in rural areas have limited access to postpartum resources, such as psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and support groups,” says Karen Kleiman, founder and director of the Postpartum Stress Center and author of several books on postpartum depression and anxiety.

This limited access to treatment, along with lengthy travel times, means rural residents often wait longer to receive mental health care. Delayed treatment may be especially precarious for depressed mothers, because an early diagnosis is essential for a healthy recovery.

Because it can be so arduous to locate local help, many rural mothers are turning to remote methods of connecting with therapy services. Though smartphones, computers, and Skype are convenient ways to connect with a psychotherapist, easier access doesn’t remove all of the barriers.

Read more on HuffingtonPost.com.

Time after time, Joy Luangphaxay would see Asian-American seniors come to the nonprofit Hamilton-Madison House accompanied by their adult children and complain to therapists about their difficulty falling sleeping. That they’d had many a restless night. 

But Luangphaxay, of the social services group based in New York City, said there would be more meaning behind their words. Often, she told HuffPost, the seniors were going through anxiety and depression but just weren’t sure how to vocalize it. 

Mental health is a touchy subject in the Asian-American community, especially for the senior population. But experts say it’s time to start talking about it. Asian-American senior women have the highest suicide rate of any racial group, according to the American Psychological Association. Yet Asian Americans are almost three times less likely than their white counterparts to seek mental health services.

The subject has remained out of the spotlight in part because Asian-Americans hesitate to speak about their mental health issues from fear of being shameful, experts say. They’re calling for more culturally understanding mental health strategies available in more languages to help the community, as well as a better understanding within the community that mental health problems are normal.  

Read more on HuffingtonPost.com.

At the Racial Empowerment Collaborative (REC), they view the ability to cope with racial stress as a matter of skill, not character or morality. The REC Summer Institutes seek to increase racial literacy—the ability to read, recast, and resolve racially stressful social interactions—in our participants. The more we practice the skills of racial literacy, the more competent we become in navigating racially stressful encounters across various social contexts.

Hosted at onsite at the Racial Empowerment Collaborative in Philadelphia, participants join Dr. Howard Stevenson and the REC staff for three days of workshops, trainings, and practical applications. You will increase your own racial literacy, and uncover strategies and challenges in making practical and ethical decisions in your personal and professional practice. Registration deadline is June 30, 2017.

Program Dates:

• July 26-28, 2017
• Aug 2-4, 2017

Track One – Promoting Racial Literacy In Schools (K-16): This track is designed for superintendents, administrators, teachers, and students to engage with racial conflicts in that occur in schools. These often remain hidden at the expense of a healthy school climate and the well-being of Students of Color. Attendees will learn: A model that applies culturally relevant behavioral stress management strategies to address racial stress in schools; Workable solutions for students, parents, teachers, and administrators; Measurable outcomes and strategies for developing racial literacy skills that can be integrated into the K-16 curriculum and teacher/faculty/staff professional development; Teaching and leadership skills that will create a more tolerant and supportive school environment for all students.

Track Two – PLAAY! A Sports-Based Academic Success and Racial Healing Intervention: PLAAY! (Preventing Long-Term Anger and Aggression in Youth) is a Sports-Based Academic and Racial Healing Intervention. This culturally relevant intervention relies upon Recast (Racial Encounter Coping Appraisal and Socialization Theory) to promote the development of healthy coping skills and academic achievement for Black male youth. Recast theory suggests that the more racial socialization (the more youth receive feedback and skills in navigating racially stressful encounters) one receives, the better prepared and confident one is to engage rather than avoid these encounters and use better decision making toward positive health outcomes. This training will teach participants how to see the impact of racial and gender stress, conflict, and literacy on youth who must cope daily with rejection from teachers, peers, police, and neighbors. And, how to use these physical and psychological coping skills to promote academic engagement and success.

Read more on recastingrace.com.

The rate of suicide among Black youth has doubled in the last 20 years, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. In fact, it is the third leading cause of death for Black Americans ages 15 to 24.

Though mental illness is not a new problem in the Black community, it has gone gravely overlooked. Historically, people of color in the United States, specifically Black Americans, have not had the freedom to express their mental-health concerns. The subject has been taboo within Black families for generations. But lately, many who battle mental illnesses, like Brown, have used social media platforms to tell their stories, good or bad.

And mental health care professionals are responding likewise. As a result, millions are becoming aware of the problem, as well as ways to help those who suffer from it.

Licensed Professional Counselor Monique Mort wants those who are battling mental illness, or whose youth may be battling it, to know that it’s OK to seek help. “It’s not a sign of weakness. It’s actually a show of strength,” says Mort, who works with youth in her private practice. “It’s so important for people of color to educate themselves on the prevalence of mental illness. We are not exempt. We are human.”

Mort and Jennifer Roland, PhD, a social worker/program developer who works with teenage girls and young mothers of color who have faced trauma, discuss with YES! coping mechanisms and cultural barriers. They give five ways to embrace and help Black youth who battle mental illnesses: 1) Keep Communication Open, 2) Encourage Less Time on Social Media/ProSocial Activities, 3) Be Supportive, 4) Take Their Feelings Seriously, 5) Erase The Stigma!

Read the full article on YesMagazine.org.

A new article posted on The Pew Charitable Trusts website highlights seven states taking the lead in systemwide, multicomponent, juvenile justice reform as part of Pew’s Public Safety Performance Project. In the article, Project Director Jake Horowitz describes his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee about policy reform in the first six states to join the project—Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, South Dakota, and West Virginia. Utah also recently passed comprehensive reform under this initiative. The states’ reforms aim to lower juvenile incarceration, protect public safety, reduce recidivism, control costs, and reinvest savings into evidence-based programs. With funding from OJJDP, the Crime and Justice Institute at Community Resources for Justice is currently helping these seven states implement their recently enacted reforms. The states have already reduced the number of youth sent to state custody, closed juvenile correctional facilities, and reinvested nearly $50 million in community-based services.

Read more on PewTrusts.org.