Do you have a mental health condition? 

For many of us affected by mental health conditions, reducing suffering, tapping into inner wisdom, and leading a contented life can feel like ever-elusive tasks. Yet, all are possible. The question is: How to go about caring for ourselves, so these tasks feel doable?

Counseling can be a useful starting point.

Counseling sessions offer a designated time/space to talk with a psychotherapist about a mental health concern and related needs. It can help affected persons consider how their condition is impacting their life and relationships. It can begin to facilitate better coping and healing, as well as aid in tapping into other mental health treatments that potentially support the management of their condition. It can help clarify their goals and dreams, and then identify next steps to actualize them.

If you are interested in exploring counseling as an option, please reach out to the Mindful Counseling Center.  

Yet mental health treatment is not the only vehicle for promoting self-care for persons with mental health conditions. There are many resources “out there”— local, regional, statewide, national and international—designed to inform them and aid them in living full, satisfying lives. Such resources may be available via the internet and/or virtual and in-person forums.

You may benefit from a combination of individualized mental health treatment as well as informational/peer support from such sources (and of course, support from your personal network of family and friends). Below we focus on informational/peer support.

The Right Information and Support for You

It can be hard to locate spot-on support resources that boost your coping with a specific mental health condition and connect you to a caring community of others dealing with similar issues. Some suggestions to get started are offered. 

• Remind yourself that tapping into support that you can tailor to your self-care may take considerable time, patience, a spirit of curiosity and an understanding that there will be trial and error in the process. Give yourself permission to call it a day when your brain feels maxed out or frustrated from the search and pick up fresh another time. 
• International and national advocacy organizations which address broad and specific mental health conditions, as well as their regional/local chapter affiliates, are potential pathways to information and support. Many offer a mix of targeted educational materials and online/in-person skills training and peer support forums. Some also offer opportunities to volunteer and/or engage with others with shared situations.  

Jumpstarting your Search

Go to Support Resources on our website (under News and Resources) and scroll down to “Those with Mental Health Conditions.” This listing includes a range of related advocacy organizations and resources they offer (as listed on their websites when the information was compiled for this article in the fall of 2022). While it is far from all inclusive of such organizations or of mental health issues, it’s a start. May it help jumpstart your self-care efforts.

Let the Mindful Counseling Center know of other related support resources you have found helpful! Thanks.

Article by Kristin Littel