A Closer Look: Behavioral Health at TOA
By Sarah Andre
You walk into a room and stop, one foot midair. Why did I come in here?
Sound familiar? As the COVID pandemic wanes on, these moments of confusion and frustration are familiar to many. Perhaps you feel overwhelmed but bored, exhausted yet anxious. Having spent a year adjusting, adapting, and making the best of things, you can’t wait for things to be “normal” but are really worried that you won’t be able to handle the old routine. You have a headache; you aren’t sleeping well…
By now, the terms “pandemic brain” and “COVID brain fog” have become part of our conversations at work, home—and via the safely distanced virtual spaces on social media. The cultural recognition of this mental fog caused by trauma, boredom, stress, and inactivity is a positive shift. For the first time, many people are aware of their own mental health and the environmental factors that impact it. Knowing that you are in good company, that what you are experiencing isn’t your fault, helps.
At this time of increased awareness regarding the importance of mental well-being, we believe that this is an opportune moment to highlight the programs at the Opportunity Alliance and our dedicated professional staff working in the field of behavioral health. Whether you are looking for services for yourself or a loved one, because you are concerned about mental health or substance use, or you are curious and empathetic to those who have long struggled with those challenges, we want to let you know how to find help and learn more, starting with some basics (and tackling jargon).
Behavioral Health refers to mental health and substance use and can include developmental disabilities/differences and autism. The shift in language around mental health is gradual and ongoing, but the use of behavioral health to replace others such as “mentally ill,” “addiction,” and “substance abuse” reduces stigma by referring to a group of treatable conditions that people have—rather than defining people by how those conditions affect them.
At home, at work, and in our communities, no American is left untouched by the collective anxiety and depression caused by a global pandemic and social divides. As we reckon with the impacts of pre-existing inequities such as racial injustice and poverty, additional disparities in resources and supports have been exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result there has been an increase in awareness of the impact of such inequities on mental health and a recognition of the widespread, collective anxiety and depression that affects a large portion of the population. In addition, there is an increase in acknowledging the impact of childhood abuse, racial trauma and generational poverty on individuals’ mental health.
To approach behavioral health treatment with the lens of understanding one’s behavior in the context of one’s environment and lived experiences is to provide trauma-informed care. At TOA we have committed to ensuring that all staff are provided with training and appropriate support to engage and partner in the work with people from traditionally marginalized and oppressed populations, including BIPOC and the LGBTQ community to provide equitable and appropriate care.
“We honor every question and every person who calls.” -2-1-1 Maine.
If the Maine Crisis Line and 2-1-1 Maine are the doors to behavioral health services at TOA, then the community programs and services can be found inside. In fact, the model of care provided to many of our clients is known as a behavioral health home. TOA’s three “homes,” Behavioral Health Home (BHH), Children’s Behavioral Health Home (CBHH), and Opioid Health Home (OHH), are not physical structures or places—but the method and delivery of service provided by the program teams. Care coordinators work closely with clients, guiding and helping them determine their own paths to well-being. The belief that recovery is possible underpins the programming at TOA, and we understand it to mean that everyone served “will be able to achieve the level of health and wellness that they desire and maintain this success on their own.”
Because mental health and substance use issues seldom occur in isolation, care coordinators facilitate and ensure open communication and cooperation between a client’s providers: medical doctors, counselors, therapists, and social services. Unfortunately, barriers persist that slow the flow of information, such as legal and organizational limitations, legitimate privacy concerns, and structural failures to link clinicians to one another. In addition to external resources, TOA clients benefit from being part of a comprehensive agency providing crisis and acute care, medication management, residential, and outpatient services to adults, children, and families. Care coordinators meet clients in community spaces, at TOA offices, or at a client’s home—wherever it feels comfortable. Regardless of where the work occurs, its “home” is with the individual working to achieve their full potential with a caring team behind them.
“The goal of the Behavioral Health Home is improved mental and physical health and engagement with the larger community, helping to achieve a person's full potential,” says Aaron Hoffman, BHH care coordinator who, in addition to his clinical role, has worked with clients to define and reach their own stated goals: from budgeting for a new laptop to adopting an emotional support animal.
Another important piece of recovery for many is connecting with a peer navigator. Peer navigators are members of the BHH team who outwardly identify as having lived experience with a mental health. In one-on-one supportive conversations, they help clients talk through their goals and dreams as well as possible measures to achieve them. Connecting or informing clients of resources in the community is a special role that peer navigators play with sensitivity to everyone’s personal journey. Deepening the level of trauma-informed care, peer support groups and workshops are led by navigators as part of wellness programming, providing a bridge to the natural supports that may be lacking in clients’ lives but are so crucial to mental and physical well-being.
The Opportunity Alliance has more than 50 years’ experience and nearly a dozen community mental health programs for children and/or adults. Within these programs and all our services, staff provide responsive care unique to every individual. Understanding persistent serious behavioral health challenges as simply an amplified state of “pandemic brain,” is too simple, even when considering the physical effects: the suppressed immune systems, fatigue, and achiness. However, perhaps it can help us to think about behavioral health as something that everyone must care for, and within which anyone can struggle. As we move out of the COVID crisis as a community, state, and nation into our “new normal,” let’s go forward with compassion and a deeper commitment to support and advocate for ourselves, as well as loved ones, friends, and neighbors affected by mental health and substance use.
Help Starts Here:
The Maine Crisis Line- TEXT/CHAT or call 1-888-568-1112
Access & Intake - (207) 523-5049 / intake@opportunityalliance.org