Do you ever feel you need some sort of help but are not sure what exactly it is? Asking for help is never really an easy task for most of the individuals, but it is the best you can do when you think you need help. People who have doubts related to mental health services can always get in contact with the local mental health centers and can obtain the required information. You can know about the various services designed for people with mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, phobias, schizophrenia, etc.

Defining mental health is never easy, rather it is easy to define what mental illness is. If you are wondering what exactly is the kind of treatment you will get in a mental health center, then there are a lot of kinds of treatments. Professionals at these centers work with individuals and determine the best needs for them. Depending on the type of illness, treatment or psychotherapy with medication is recommended. If you are in doubt that you need external help, then either you can have a straight talk with a medical counselor or if you prefer to find out on your own, they use internet. Go online and you can find information related to almost all the disorders explained in detail along with the symptoms. Once you confirm whether you are suffering from a disorder, you can then find a therapist or a counselor and seek consultation.

Therapy for emotional and mental problems may or may not always produce results. It is mostly interdependent on the honesty with which an individual shares his or her concerns with the therapist. Hence, it is always best to establish a trusted relationship with the therapist. Mental health services cater to all kind of age groups right from children to old people. Read more…

In a time when resources are scarce and problems are many, professionals are choosing evidence-based practices to improve outcomes related to services. Evidence is emerging that school-based mental health services are an effective and cost efficient way to improve school performance and mental health and reduce behavioral problems. To assess the effectiveness of school based mental health (SBMH) services to provide these outcomes in students from Pre-K – 12th grades, Robert Schmidt, M.Ed. and Kathryn Seifert, Ph.D. collaborated on the evaluation of outcomes for a SBMH program for a mid-Atlantic rural school district.

The project began in 1999 after a Federal grant was awarded to the school district. The children’s scores on the Devereaux, BASC, CARE and several school measures such as absenteeism, disciplinary referrals, and suspensions were measured from the beginning of services and at the beginning and end of each school year. Youth were referred to the project from teachers, guidance counselors, parents, student self-referrals and other agencies such as the Departments of Social Services and Juvenile Services of which resulted in 1,247 SBMH referrals during a five-year period.

From 1999 to 2004, 36% of these students were referred because of symptoms of depression, 26% because of family problems, and 24% because of behavior problems. There were 84 referrals to the program in 1999, compared to 437 students in 2002 and 239 students in 2003. Peak referral times were consistently observed during the months of October and February. Youth in the transition years of sixth and ninth grades were referred to the program most often. More Caucasian females participated in the project than any other ethnic/gender group. In 2000, 2,132 mental health sessions were provided, in contrast to an amazing 15,763 sessions during the 2003/04 school year. Read more…