For many practitioners, the provision of mental health care can feel like a dark abyss or even a black hole of swirling ambiguity and difficulty. This arena challenges us all as it requires us to understand the whole person to be most helpful. We need to grasp a body-mind-spirit based perspective of each individual or we end up with a more one-dimensional care plan that does not reflect his or her wholeness. We need to have some dexterity moving from biological issues like nutrient deficiency or gut/diet imbalance to psychological issues like relationship conflict or critical self-talk. Beyond that we must feel comfortable appreciating spiritual malaise from an existential crisis or question of self-purpose. Trauma/abuse intermingles of all of these issues and presents an even more complex mix of hardware and software issues. The challenge is clear.
 

We are pleased to wade into this with you and offer some ideas and experience. Luckily, a crucial element is the one that likely comes fairly easy for you. Each individual in need craves a caring person to listen and be present. This is the core and foundation of all real healing and health care. We build upon that base to create a comprehensive model to assess each person and then develop a coherent treatment plan. In this mental health module we will present a mix of theory and practical tools. We need both to navigate and understand the whole person fully.

The content for this module is divided into four areas:
 

1. Introduction: The first section offers some background on philosophy, theory and our ecologically founded nature. Next epigenetics and neuroplasticity provide a solid scientific foundation for a systems view of human mental health. From here we craft a wholeness-oriented perspective that best honors the person in front of us.
2. New Ways of Thinking. It is crucial in mental health that we move beyond the superficial understanding the DSM-5. We need to explore, assess and grasp underlying mechanisms if we are to treat the whole person and move beyond the mere suppression of symptoms that current psychiatric medications offer us. Inflammation, the microbiome, auto-immunity, mitochondrial issues, nutrition and psychedelic medicine all offer some unique guidance to us. I will explore a few of these in more depth.
3. Depression as a Model. The worst thing that I could present would be a series of wide ranging protocols that would be aped without crafting a true reflection of the whole and unique person in your care. So, instead, depression is presented as an example of a common mental health concern that is multi-faceted, complex and unique to each person. The goal is to foster the appreciation for the breath of what depression is and provide inspiration for a broad and comprehensive model of care for this concern. Some tools are more helpful than others. In this later material you'll receive guidance and experience on some safe and helpful interventions for depressive mood.
4. The Power of Spirit in Mental Health. The human spirit is our most unique and valuable gift. It holds tremendous power to alter our physical, mental or emotional landscape. Unfortunately, it is dramatically misunderstood and commonly ignored in health care. In this section we explore the spiritual realm and its power to heal. Before we get there, the topic of healing is considered in some depth to create a foundation for this perspective.

No matter what specialty or professional discipline that you embrace, mental health plays a substantial role. All of us can improve our own mental health. Likewise all of us can improve our skills for better understanding each person that we treat. This, in turn, leads us closer to the provision of sound care for the whole person. The downstream and ecological effect of this care alters countless lives and supports the community we exist in, we all benefit.