Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and JFCS is deeply passionate about the occasion. Mental health deserves to be treated with care and empathy, and marking this special awareness month helps us all work towards ending the stigma that comes with mental health struggles.
The occasion has been held in the United States since 1949, and recent years have each held their own theme. This year’s theme – More Good Days, Together – encourages us to reflect on what a “good” day means to ourselves as individuals and communities.
Nearly one in five adults in the United States has a mental health condition, a category including but not limited to anxiety disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. This prevalence serves to reinforce that there should be no shame or embarrassment attached to struggling with one’s mental health, and no shame or embarrassment attached to needing help from time to time.
JFCS offers a wide range of mental health services for all in need who live in Louisville. Our individual counseling services are accessible to anyone needing guidance. We also offer couple and family counseling services for those whose mental health struggles are interpersonal. Our multiple support groups are available for anyone caring for aging loved ones, to parenting transgender children, to working through relationship struggles. This is not to fail to mention our counseling services catered specifically to older adults who may want guidance through the process of aging.
Beyond counseling, we offer a personal coaching program that focuses on each client’s specific strengths and goals. We also hold parenting coaching assistance to aid in dealing with struggles faced by children such as stress, school issues, behavioral difficulties, and general childcare concerns. Our Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) program specifically aids parents in familiarizing themselves with strategies to reduce childhood anxiety and OCD. Finally, our psychiatric practitioner can review clients’ individual symptoms and medical histories to determine whether that client could benefit from medication, and will monitor the progress of said treatment if so.
While Mental Health Awareness Month only lasts through May, the importance of mental well-being persists beyond the month. Our services will always be available to those who need them.
During this month and beyond, JFCS will always work towards ensuring that everyone who struggles with mental health can access needed assistance. If you feel that you could benefit from such assistance, please don’t be afraid or ashamed to reach out. If you’d like to utilize any of our mental health services, please send us a message at this link. Regardless of whether you would like our support, please make sure to take care of yourself.