Products and Resources Catalog

Nearly one in four youth and young adults (YYA) in the United States identify as Latinx or Hispanic. While diverse in terms of personal circumstances, heritage, language, culture, strengths, and needs, many Latinx YYA share challenges related to poverty, discrimination, and cultural identity. They are at heightened risk of depression and suicidality, and their mental health needs are often unaddressed and untreated. As Latinx people are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and its far-reaching effects on their families and communities, it is more important than ever for organizations and practitioners to increase their capacity to support Latinx YYA in coping with the many challenges they face. The New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center held an interactive conversation with Juan Velez Court, Kristine Irizarry, Andrea Mendiola, and practitioners from New England and beyond.

With the increase in traumatic backgrounds, coupled with continued experiences of discrimination, many affectional and gender minorities find the transition to parenthood to be difficult.  Affectional and gender minority parents find it tough to rely on social support.  Practitioners need to understand the current state of affectional and gender minority parenting and the various relationship dynamics that are affected. Once an affectional or gender minority couple have a child, it appears that they tend to experience more burdens associated with family life than heterosexual and cisgender couples. Many affectional and gender minority couples with children are twice as likely to be living in poverty as different-sex couples, despite their higher levels of education, as well as experience higher rates of unemployment. Furthermore, affectional and gender minority families face struggles when advocating for their children in the school setting, seeking appropriate medical care for their children, developing and defining their roles as parents, dividing childcare, and housework. This presentation will highlight the struggles of affectional and gender diverse families, as well as provide strategies and skills to support them.  Also, this presentation will provide resources to support practitioners in increasing their competence and providing ethical support to affectional and gender minority parents.     Webinar Objectives: Understand the multiple cultural identities of parents who identify as affectional and gender minorities Discuss how past relationships and familial traumatic experiences, feelings of oppression, and privilege shape the development as a person and as a parent Provide strategies for supporting affectional and gender diverse families   View and download presentation slides and transcript       

Presentation slides and transcript

The coming out process is a unique and individualized process, preferably driven by the client. Often times, many individuals that identify as a sexual or gender minority face the coming out process multiple times. This webinar will highlight the impact of coming out and how to best support someone through this process.   View presentation slides and transcript

The Coming Out Process: Presentation Slides and Transcript   The coming out process is a unique and individualized process, preferably driven by the client. Often times, many individuals that identify as a sexual or gender minority face the coming out process multiple times. This webinar will highlight the impact of coming out and how to best support someone through this process.

Farm Stress and Mental Health Resources The Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center team is dedicated to addressing rural mental health. However, they also recognize that the agricultural community encounters unique challenges related to the accessibility, availability, and acceptability of mental health services. In response, specific trainings and resources have been developed to address mental health and suicide among agricultural workers and their families. For clarity, unless otherwise specified, “farm” and “farmer” refer to ranchers, farmers, farm managers/owners, and agricultural workers. Farm Stress and Mental Health Resources The Rural Mental Health & Farm Stress resources page houses several resources that provide summaries of agricultural mental health concerns, up-to-date data visualizations, and toolkits for addressing barriers to mental health services for farmers, farm managers/owners, ranchers, agricultural workers and their families. If you have questions about this website or products you thing would be valuable on this page, please contact Shawnda Schroeder at [email protected]. 

On July 31st, we held a webinar on "Affirming Gender Identity in Clinical Practice". Megan Graham discussed the distinction between sex and gender, and provided a better understanding of the range of gender identities that exist. She also reviewed strategies for providing an open and affirming stance for clients and families to talk about their gender identity, and to help clients to advocate for their needs.

Farm Crisis and Behavioral Health June 19, 2019 Charles Griffin provided a backdrop to the recurrence of the farm crisis, new legislation to address the crisis, as well as strategies for addressing the needs of farming communities. Slide deck Recording

This 45-minute video interview presentation created by Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC), representing HHS Region VIII, is a professional learning tool to explore how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) affect the human population. Director of Mountain Plains MHTTC, Professor Thomasine Heitkamp, interviews a national expert on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Dr. Donald Warne, who offers insight to providers and educators interested in gaining a deeper understanding of ACEs, including content on historical trauma and addressing stigma. WHAT ARE ACEs? Adverse Childhood Experiences ACEs are experiences in childhood that are unhappy, unpleasant, and/or hurtful. They are sometimes referred to as toxic stress or childhood trauma. ACEs are categorized into three groups: abuse, neglect, and household challenges. Each category is further divided into multiple subcategories. The prevalence of ACEs is organized by category. All ACE questions refer to the respondent’s first 18 years of life. Abuse Emotional abuse: A parent, stepparent, or adult living in your home swore at you, insulted you, put you down, or acted in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt. Physical abuse: A parent, stepparent, or adult living in your home pushed, grabbed, slapped, threw something at you, or hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured. Sexual abuse: An adult, relative, family friend, or stranger who was at least 5 years older than you ever touched or fondled your body in a sexual way, made you touch his/her body in a sexual way, attempted to have any type of sexual intercourse with you.   Household Challenges Mother is treated violently: Your mother or stepmother was pushed, grabbed, slapped, had something thrown at her, kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, hit with something hard, repeatedly hit for over at least a few minutes, or ever threatened or hurt by a knife or gun by your father (or stepfather) or mother’s boyfriend. Substance abuse in the household: A household member was a problem drinker or alcoholic or a household member used street drugs. Mental illness in the household: A household member was depressed or mentally ill or a household member attempted suicide. Parental separation or divorce: Your parents were ever separated or divorced. Incarcerated household member: A household member went to prison.   Neglect Emotional neglect: Someone in your family helped you feel important or special, you felt loved, people in your family looked out for each other and felt close to each other, and your family was a source of strength and support. Physical neglect: There was someone to take care of you, protect you, and take you to the doctor if you needed it, you didn’t have enough to eat, your parents were too drunk or too high to take care of you, and you had to wear dirty clothes.   Research Findings The Center for Disease Control-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the largest investigations of childhood abuse and neglect and household challenges and later-life health and well-being. The original ACE Study was conducted at Kaiser Permanente from 1995 to 1997 with two waves of data collection. More than 17,000 Health Maintenance Organization members from Southern California receiving physical exams completed confidential surveys regarding their childhood experiences and current health status and behaviors. The CDC-Kaiser Permanente ACE Study uncovered how ACEs are strongly related to development of risk factors for disease, and well-being throughout the life course. More detailed information about the study can be found in this article, “Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults External.”

The World Health Organization has stated the “single most important barrier to overcome in the community is the stigma and associated discrimination towards persons suffering from mental and behavioural [sic] disorders.” In response, researchers collected data in North Dakota utilizing an existing and nationally validated instrument for measuring stigma. This brief presents the results of the survey and implications for communities.   On November 20, 2020, Sage Journals published an article based on this product entitled, "The Role of Rural and Urban Geography and Gender in Community Stigma Around Mental Illness." A subscription may be required for full access. Authors Shawnda Schroeder Thomasine Heitkamp Chih Ming Tan