Supporting mental health: Come together in Tri-County crisis

This column seeks to educate our community about emotional healing through grief. People may write questions to Golden Willow Retreat and they will be answered privately to you and possibly as a future article for others. Please list a first name that grants permission for printing. Dear Dr. Ted:

Since you talk about emotional healing, I thought I would direct my question your way. I was at the meeting last week in Taos in which there was an announcement of the closing of Tri-County Community Services. The meeting seemed heated and angry, which surprised me. When the meeting was cut short due to another incident, people seemed to stay angry. Why is there so much anger and what needs to happen to change it? Thank you, Phillip Dear Phillip,

The closing of Tri-County is a very complex issue made up of both historical problems and amazing support for our communities of Northern New Mexico.

I don’t have the answer for what needs to happen, and I hope our state and community leaders will help guide us through a process that has the least amount of negative impact on the people in need as well as the providers who are dependent on their jobs.

Tri-County provided multiple types of mental health services for Taos, Union and Colfax counties and has been the backbone of support for many years. The loss of the organization is an enormous blow to the infrastructure of mental health supports for Northern New Mexico.

With this type of unexpected loss, fear is going to be high because people are caught in the unknown: the unknown of how to get support, what is going to happen next, what happened to cause this and the list goes on and on.

As these questions increase, fear and panic grow, which leads to more and more anger. Anger can easily lead to rage in which yelling and screaming, blaming, accusing, threatening and defending become the fuel of chaos and more fear.

This emotional avalanche does not lead to empowering a community, only to more destruction. In times like this, people within the community and the state need to come together and become proactive in using present resources as well as finding new resources to make sure people are supported during the transition of services, not only for the short-run but also for the long-run.

Quick fixes rarely work, but sometimes temporary support must be provided to answer immediate needs while the long-term mission is defined. Leaders need to give clear and reliable information, show transparency in the process, give information quickly so fewer surprises emerge, be willing to get in the “trenches” with the other workers, communicate clearly and be consistent with actions and words.

With this type of process, clients and providers can feel more at ease, trust at a higher level and successfully transition with fewer negative consequences.

As a community, we need to come together and respond to the situation from a mindful place rather than a reactive place. I have witnessed how our communities can come together and rise above the present chaos and succeed because they are not driven by fear.

Setting aside personal agendas and working together can bring a community back together rather than tearing it apart. I hope we can remember each person involved is a human being who has feelings and bleeds just like you and me.

Thank you for the question. Until next week, take care.

Golden Willow Retreat is a nonprofit organization focused on emotional healing and recovery from any type of loss. Direct any questions to Dr. Ted Wiard, EdD, LPCC, CGC, Founder of Golden Willow Retreat at GWR@newmex.com.