Recent News

Use of Telehealth in Mental Health Services During and After COVID-19 Mental health services have undergone a rapid transition to telehealth and video technologies over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. A study, published in Community Mental Health Journal, examined the adoption of these technologies across the mental health service continuum, acceptance of these technologies, […]

  View or download the infographic. Access additional resources. FCC Suicide Prevention Hotline Veterans Crisis Line National Mental Health Response  

Celebrate Pride Month with Mental Health Resources National Resources   Top Health Issues for LGBT Populations Information & Resource Kit (SAMHSA) - This kit equips prevention professionals, health care providers, and educators with information on health issues among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations. It includes an overview of terms related to gender identity and sexual expression. […]

Suicide and Serious Mental Illness: An Overview of Considerations, Assessment, and Safety Planning SMI Adviser and the Suicide Prevention Resource Center have created a new guide addressing serious mental illness (SMI) and suicide. The resource provides an overview of the considerations and suicide prevention measures at the intersection of suicide and SMI.   The guide […]

Telehealth for the Treatment of Serious Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders This guide, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, reviews ways that telehealth can be used to provide treatment for serious mental illness and substance use disorders among adults. It includes a brief overview of the current landscape of telehealth, current evidence […]

Participate in the Region 8 Mental Health Needs Assessment Survey! Identifying Mental Health Training Needs The Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) is asking for less than ten minutes of your time to complete a short needs assessment. This needs assessment is intended to identify mental health training and technical assistance needs among […]

The Weight of the White Coat Physicians in the United States have the highest rate of suicide of any profession. The "weight of the white coat" refers to the magnitude of responsibility that comes with being a professional healthcare provider while facing unrealistic expectations related to duties, infallibility, and omniscience. The lab coat signifies expertise, knowledge, and […]

Medicaid & CHIP and the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Preliminary Medicaid & CHIP Data Snapshot - Services through October 31, 2020 As of October 2020, over 100 million Americans, including children, pregnant women, parents, seniors, and individuals with disabilities, were enrolled across each state’s Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for at least […]

Understanding and Responding to Kids in Distress - Webinar and Toolkits May 27, 2021 10:00 AM/MST | 11:00 AM/CST Join the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in Region 8 (CO, WY, UT, ND, SD, MT) for a training to learn how to understand and […]

Region 8 MHTTC Co-Project Director Retires Thomasine Heitkamp, Co-Project Director of the Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (Mountain Plains MHTTC), is retiring after a 39-year career at the University of North Dakota (UND). Dr. Shawnda Schroeder will fill Heitkamp's role at Mountain Plains MHTTC as the new Co-Project Director at UND, alongside Dennis Mohatt, Co-Project […]

Child & Adolescent Mental Health ECHO for Native American Youth Thursday, June 17, 2021, 12:00 PM - Thursday, August 26, 2021, 1:30 PM PST Overview The Child & Adolescent Mental Health ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) for Native American Children and Youth project is a collaboration between the Stanford Center for Youth Mental Health and […]

Helping Your Loved One Who is Suicidal: A Guide for Family and Friends This guide, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), will help families who have a loved one who is suicidal or has made a suicide attempt. It provides information on understanding suicide, warning signs and action steps to take, and how […]

Improving the Mental Health of Rural People The American Psychological Association (APA) has provided recommendations to achieve health equity for rural and frontier populations in response to a Request for Information (RFI) from the National Institute of Mental Health. The recommendations come from various divisions, boards, and committees across the organization whose psychologist members have […]

May Is Mental Health Awareness Month Celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month with the following activities and resources! Action Alliance - National Weekend of Prayer for Faith, Hope & Life is May 14-16, which brings together all faith communities from across the country to pray for those touched by suicide or who are in crisis. Promote #BeThere on social […]

National Women's Health Week Webinar Series It’s Not Just You, this is Hard, Especially for Women: Caring for ourselves and cultivating resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic   The COVID-19 pandemic has created profound stress due to a range of experiences, not limited to grief, economic hardship, fear and ongoing uncertainty. No aspect of our lives […]

A Poem by Robe Walker Robe Walker lives in the Fort Belknap Indian Community in Montana. Walker has served in many roles, including teacher, counselor, emergency medical responder, and artist. Implementing creative ways to keep his community connected during the pandemic has been a top priority for Walker, even as he battled with COVID-19. Robe […]

A Strengths and Culture Based Tool to Protect Native Youth from Suicide CULTURE FORWARD: A Strengths and Culture Based Tool to Protect Native Youth from Suicide is a new 54-page report with tribally driven, evidence- and practice-based solutions to prevent Native youth suicide. This report was developed by the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health […]

Webinar: Building Resilient Communities with Resilient Youth April 22, 2021 12:00pm - 1:30pm MST | 1:00pm - 2:30pm CST This FREE webinar will highlight the South Dakota Resilient Communities framework and how Brookings County is implementing the initiative to support adolescents and young adults. The Brookings County Social NET Works grassroots group (Brookings School District, […]

Leadership Academy Facilitates Personal Growth and Peer Networking The Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center’s (MHTTC) 2nd  Annual Leadership Academy for new and emerging leaders working in Region 8 states (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, and WY) ran from November 2020 through February 2021. Participants with diverse backgrounds assessed their leadership style and learned […]

Voices from the Field: A Blog Series Valuing Community Connectedness “Hello again.” To get to know Robe Walker and how he serves his community, simply ask him for his name. The answer won’t be as straightforward as you think, but it will certainly be insightful. “When I was little, I was called by ‘Baa’s tsii’h ii’h hii’h (Bass-tse-eh-he), which means ‘a lot […]

Rural Communities Improving Resilience and Well-Being Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) Co-Director Dennis Mohatt recently participated in the International Initiative on Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL), which hosted representatives from five rural counties in Texas to learn about rural community development and well-being.   Participants discussed the value of listening to one’s community, […]

Online Role-Playing Games as Group Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic Role-playing games (RPGs) are being used in telehealth group therapy to facilitate individual growth in a group context. RPGs enlist players as adventurers, working together to overcome challenges and earn rewards. Facilitators, or "dungeon masters," narrate a story while players describe how their characters respond. For […]

Voices from the Field: A Blog Series Recharging Empathy via Self-Care Well before the coronavirus pandemic gripped the nation in 2020, Kara Cunningham was on the front line of a deadly crisis in her home state of Utah: the opioid epidemic. Carbon County, where Cunningham lives and works as a clinical director for Four Corners Behavioral Health in […]

Request for Information on Rural Mental Health Research Priorities The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Office for Disparities Research and Workforce Diversity, as well as the Office of Rural Mental Health Research, promote research that can address mental health issues facing rural residents and communities. NIMH has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking […]