Arkansas Mental Health Guide 2023

Arkansas

Mental Health Guide A Publication of AY Media Group

COMEBACK

Unleashing the Warrior Within: Darren McFadden's battle for triumph and unyielding pursuit of freedom

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INTRO Welcome to AY’s 2023 Mental Health Guide. It includes valuable information, a resource directory and powerful stories featuring individuals facing mental health challenges and organizations trying to help.

We hope you will use this guide to gain knowledge and to direct others. Our goal is to be as complete a resource as possible. To that end, we will update the electronic version of this guide periodically.

You’ll find more information online at armentalhealthguide.com, as well as via our social media outlets.

We hope that this is a valuable resource. Please let us know if you have ideas for the next issue.

CONTENTS 10

RUNNING FOR DAYLIGHT

18

SHELTER FROM THE STORM

26

MINDING THE KIDS

32

THE MIND AS MEDICINE

38

HOUSE OF PAYNE

46

MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCE GUIDE

MOST VIEWED FROM THE 2022 MENTAL HEALTH GUIDE 01

Officer Tommy Norman Remembers Daughter Alyssa, Shares Wisdom for Mental and Physical Healt

02

Addressing Mental Health Care Shortages

03

Mental Health Resource Guide

04

Fostering Life Skills: Supervised Independent Living, Resources for Almost Adulting

05

Supporting Grieving Arkansans: Camp Healing Hearts

on the cover Darren McFadden in his Dallas Cowboys uniform. Read more about his story on page 10.

Photo provided

4 . Mental Health Guide 2023

MHG OF ARKANSAS

PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER Heather Baker • hbaker@aymag.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Dwain Hebda ASSOCIATE EDITORS Sarah Coleman • scoleman@aymag.com Mak Millard • mmillard@aymag.com STAFF WRITERS John Callahan • jcallahan@aymag.com Sarah DeClerk • sdeclerk@aymag.com MANAGING DIGITAL EDITOR Kellie McAnulty • kmcanulty@aymag.com ONLINE WRITER Kilee Hall • khall@aymag.com PRODUCTION MANAGER Mike Bedgood • mbedgood@aymag.com GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Lora Puls • lpuls@aymag.com Jenna Kelley • jkelley@aymag.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Mary Funderburg • mary@aymag.com Karen Holderfield • kholderfield@aymag.com Tori Owens • towens@aymag.com Jona Parker • jona@aymag.com Dana Rodriquez • dana@aymag.com Bethany Yeager • bethany@aymag.com EXECUTIVE ASSIATANT Jessica Everson • jeverson@aymag.com ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Angela-Maria Jones • ads@aymag.com ADMINISTRATION bvilling@aymag.com CIRCULATION circulation@aymag.com CONTRIBUTORS Todd Traub TO ADVERTISE: Email hbaker@aymag.com MENTAL HEALTH GUIDE 2023 | VOLUME VI | ISSUE 5 ARMENTALHEALTHGUIDE.COM Arkansas Mental Health Guide is published annually by AY Media Group, 910 W. 2nd St., Suite 200, Little Rock, AR 72201. Periodicals postage paid at Little Rock, AR and additional mailing offices.

The contents of AY’s Mental Health Guide are copyrighted, and material contained herein may not be copied or reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publisher. Articles in AY’s Mental Health Guide should not be considered specific advice, as individual circumstances vary. Products and services advertised in the magazine are not necessarily endorsed by AY or AY Media Group.

PUBLISHER’S LETTER

A

s the publisher of this mental health guide, I feel compelled to reach out to each and every one of you with a message of understanding and encouragement.

In our journey through life, we all encounter struggles and battles. Each of us carries our own demons and faces challenges that can sometimes feel insurmountable. Over the past several years, I have personally experienced hardships that have tested me in ways I never imagined. Some of these trials have been public, while others have remained private.

However, amidst it all, I have discovered a sense of peace and solace in my unwavering faith in my almighty Father, the heavenly Father.

I am grateful to have an incredible support system in my amazing family, as well as a loving husband who cherishes me beyond measure. Their unwavering presence has been a source of strength during my darkest days, but I want you all to know — each and every one of you — that no matter what struggles you face or what challenges confront you, there is help available.

Guidance and wisdom can be found in many forms. Seek the assistance of licensed professionals who specialize in providing the support you need. Lean on your friends who can offer a listening ear and a comforting shoulder. Find solace in the embrace of your faith community, drawing strength from your church and the spiritual devotionals that speak to your heart — and never underestimate the power of prayer because it can bring comfort and reassurance during the most difficult times.

Above all, I want you to hold on to hope. Know that you are not alone in your struggles, and that there are people who care deeply about your well-being. Your life is precious and there is so much more ahead of you. Embrace the journey because it is filled with opportunities for growth, healing and love.

Please remember that seeking help is not a sign of weakness, but rather an act of courage and self-care. Reach out, share your burdens and allow others to support you on your path to healing. Together, we can navigate the challenges that life presents and emerge stronger, wiser and more resilient.

With heartfelt love and encouragement,

Heather Baker, President & Publisher hbaker@aymag.com / heatherbaker_ar

Mental Health Guide Statistics Courtesy of the National Alliance on Mental Illness

• 457,000 adults have a mental health condition in Arkansas (more than five times the population of Fayetteville) • A rkansas’ drug overdose death rate was 19.1 per 100,000 in 2020 • In 2021, 618 Arkansans died of drug overdose • 4,280 children were in foster care in Arkansas as of Sept. 30, 2020 • 424,000 children live in foster care in the U.S. at any given moment

6 . Mental Health Guide 2023

I’m

not sleeping well always feeling anxious not leaving the house much unable to concentrate on work stressing about little things not eating much

Fine

How are you really feeling? Don’t be afraid to talk about it. It’s time we eliminated the stigma of discussing mental health and let everyone know these feelings are normal. For more information visit normalizetheconversation.com. For immediate help, call UAMS AR ConnectNow at 1-800-482-9921, and Take Good Care.

00651.06.01-0723

GOVERNOR’S LETTER

STATE OF ARKANSAS SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS GOVERNOR

“How are you doing?” It’s a simple question, but one we don’t ask nearly enough. And even when it’s answered, it’s rarely answered honestly.

“H

ow are you doing?” It’s a simple question, but one we don’t ask nearly enough. And even when it’s Study after study has shown that Americans’ mental health is on the decline. Still, there answered, it’s rarely answered honestly. is a stigma around mental health and mental health treatment this country. many people Study after study has shown thatinAmericans’ mental So health is onabout the decline. there issuffering a stigma around are suffering, but it’s still taboo to talk whatStill, they’re from.mental Thathealth needs to and mental health treatment in this country. So many people change. are suffering, but it is still taboo to talk about what they’re suffering from. That needs to change.

Mentalis Health Guideway magazine is a good way to startproblem. In Arkansas’ Mental Health GuideArkansas Magazine a good to start fixing that fixing that problem. In this magazine, you’ll find everything this magazine, you’ll find everything from community-specific resources to moving from community-specific resources to moving testimonials from testimonials from mental health practitioners patients. a great to to get up to mental healthand practitioners andIt’s patients.

It’s a resource great resource get up tohealth speed with what’s in the mental health speed with what’s going on in the mental space ingoing the on Natural State.

Andspace for those who in the Natural State, and for those who need help and their loved need help and their loved ones, it’s an excellent guide to get started. ones, it’s an excellent guide to get started.

As America’s youngest governor and the mother of three young and kids, the I’m mother keenly aware that our youngest generations As America’s youngest governor of three young kids, I’m keenly aware are on the front lines of America’s mental health crisis. the On the our youngest generations are on the front lines of America’s mental healthOncrisis.

SARAHthat HUCKABEE SANDERS, bright side, they seem more open than ever to have an honest bright side, they seem more open than ever toabout havethis anproblem, honestbut conversation this problem.

GOVERNOR conversation tragically, theyabout also face obstacles to their mentalhealth health – —especially especially onon social But tragically, they also face obstacles to their ownown mental social media – that older generations would never have dreamed of. that older generations would never media have—dreamed of.

In my administration, we’re working hard to put smart policies in place that keep our kids safe and their mental health In my administration, we’re working todoput place that keep our sound. Still,hard we can’t this smart alone. If policies we’re truly in going to address this issue head-on, it will do havethis to bealone. a society-wide effort. kids safe and their mental health sound.

Still, we can’t If we’re truly going to That’s why I’m so glad you’ve decided to pick this magazine address this issue head-on, it will have toread be about a society-wide effort. up and our state’s mental health landscape. Whether you’re a seasoned expert or feel like you’re lost in a sea of information, better place to get learning That’s why I’m so glad you’ve decided there’s to picknothis magazine upstarted and read about our about mental health in Arkansas.

Mental health and well-being state’s mental is critical to health our landscape. Whether you’re a seasoned expert or feel like you’re lost in a sea of information, there’s no better place to get started learning about mental health in communities, Arkansas. our workplaces, Sincerely,Sincerely, our families and our state.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Sarah Huckabee Sanders

State Capitol Building • Little Rock, AR 72201 Telephone: (501) 682-2345 www.governor.arkansas.gov

8 . Mental Health Guide 2023

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RUNNING

FOR DAYLIGHT

By Dwain Hebda // Photos provided

N

ov. 8, 2023, would have been the epitome of a slow news day locally, had it not been for the struggles of the Razorback football team. In print and over the airwaves, Arkansans from one end of the state appeared to have only one thing on their minds, the precipitous fall from relevance of their beloved Hogs. In public forums and private conversations, fans decried the mounting losses — most recently Ole Miss with Alabama up next — turning up the heat to blistering on players and coaches alike.

Few fans saw the more significant Razorback news that day, posted quietly on social media. The post bore a simple photograph of a laser-printed certificate of completion bearing the seal of some entity called ASPIRE Recovery Center of Frisco in one corner, surrounded by a thick blue border. In large script, just above center, read “Darren McFadden.” Below that, in block type was, “One Day At A Time.”

“Well idk how to start this or what to really say…” began McFadden’s post on Facebook and Instagram, “but I’m proud of myself right now.”

The poignant, plainspoken lines that followed hit the reader like a brick.

An Arkansas sports icon, McFadden was revealing his struggle with mental health and alcohol, of how drinking isolated him from his family and “had just turned my life into a shit show, pretty much.” He wrote about his desire to get well and his sense of accomplishment of having reached six months of sobriety. The post, which generated 411 comments from among 92,000 followers, is the last he made to the account, a digital bridge from his old life and the new.

However, McFadden had more to say, and a month later, he sat down to an interview about his life the triumphant and the tragic — in the hopes his story would inspire someone else to get well. He spoke quietly throughout the talk but with a resolve that suggests he personified his illness like a closing linebacker looking to cut his legs out from under him, foiled from doing so only by the force of McFadden’s resolve to hit addiction harder than it can hit him.

“One of my earliest memories of football, I never shied away from contact,” he said. “I’m more so prone to going toward it.”

Darren McFadden was born Aug. 27, 1987, and raised with 11 siblings in what he called “the not-so-good side, not-too-nice side of Little Rock.” His parents, while split, were both in his life growing up, which helped steer him

10 . Mental Health Guide 2023

Cutline: Consent adis remporum nus alibus, quae corepta que re, qui doluptam viduntur saerciunt optae Darren McFadden, center, recently opened up about his struggles with addiction on social media. armentalhealthguide.com . 11

away from the gangs and addicts that were as common in his neighborhood as weeds on a vacant lot.

“As far as growing up in the home, my parents were always big on respect, doing the right thing, staying in school, working, just trying to do better than what was around us as children,” he said. “That was something that kind of molded me through life. I didn’t know as a kid growing up exactly what I wanted to do, but I’d seen enough of what I didn’t want to do.”

McFadden was rambunctious, and by age 6, his folks enrolled him in sports programs to channel his energy. He made friends easily with the kids in the neighborhood, and his immediate talent on the football field did not hurt his popularity.

“At 6 years old, I was already naturally faster than a lot of kids,” he said. “As time went on, I realized me being faster than everybody meant something. I would say probably 9, 10 years old was when I started gaining confidence that I knew I could play sports better than this kid or that kid.”

Honed by his father Gralon and supported by his mother Mini Muhammad and stepmother Ella McFadden, the only thing that could keep up with the young athlete was his growing legend on the football field.

Raw talent morphed into an acute understanding of the game — its angles and curves — stoked by a billowing competitive fire.

At Oak Grove High School in North Little Rock, McFadden would letter in three sports, but the unquestioned feature attraction played on Friday night. Punishing at safety, electrifying at tailback and skilled at many things in between, McFadden was a video game come to life. By the time he graduated, he had racked up nearly 5,000 career yards and almost 60 touchdowns. Easily the best prep player in the state, he was a 2004 Parade AllAmerican, and the high school player of the year by both the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Landers Award.

Rivals.com ranked him the 23rd best player in the nation, but a simple eye test was all it took for most recruiters, a string of which looked to follow Arkansas’ star to pay homage in the McFadden living room. McFadden saved them all the trip.

“For me, it was hands down, I was a Razorback through and through,” he said. “I would say it probably started to kick in as I got older and I realized that I can actually do something.

Once the University of Arkansas offered me a scholarship, I knew.

“I remember talking to my high school coach and him saying if you already know where you want to go there’s no point in wasting nobody else’s time and no point wasting your own time. I had a visit scheduled with Alabama and I ended up canceling that visit. I committed to Arkansas as a junior, and I 12 . Mental Health Guide 2023

‘‘

“At 6 years old, I was already naturally faster than a lot of kids. As time went on, I realized me being faster than everybody meant something. never wavered from that.”

Arriving on the Hill, McFadden created instant buzz that would only grow louder with each passing week. For three years, he thrilled fans with the anticipation of every handoff.

Lethal to bring down and impossible to catch, he made a mockery of opposing defenses in the most competitive conference in the sport. As a true freshman, he amassed 1,113 yards on 176 carries, averaging 6.3 yards a tote and scoring 11 times. He followed that up with 1,647 yards on 284 carries his sophomore campaign, a 5.8 yards-per-carry average that hit pay dirt 14 times, plus one through the air and one on a kick return.

As a junior, the fireworks continued. Sports Illustrated put him on the cover of the college football preview issue, and McFadden delivered, racing for 1,830 yards on 325 carries, averaging 5.6 yards per carry. He scored 16 touchdowns on the ground and threw four more out of the innovative Wild Hog set.

Such production gave him hardware to spare. In three years, McFadden collected the 2007 Walter Camp Award denoting the game’s best overall player, was a three-time firstteam All-SEC (2005 to 2007) and claimed matching Doak Walker Awards as football’s best running back, the Jim Brown Trophy, SEC Offensive Player of the Year and consensus AllAmerican, all coming in 2006 and 2007. Both seasons, he was also squarely in the Heisman conversation, especially as a junior. It is as mind-boggling that he was second twice in Heis-

A “Razorback through and through,” McFadden committed to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville as a high school junior and never wavered from that decision.

man balloting as it is inconceivable anyone would ever have thought him second-best.

“With the Heisman, in my first year I just felt like I was making a name for myself. I came into the Heisman conversation probably four or five games up in the year,” he said. “I just played football, and that’s what I did. The accolades that came along with it, I couldn’t care less about at the time. It was something that wasn’t in the forefront of my mind. I wanted the team to be better.

“Going into it as a junior, I knew that I was going to be one of the Heisman candidates, and I had a goal to win the Heisman at that point. I expected to win it, and once my name wasn’t called it surprised me. I can’t take anything from what [Tim] Tebow did that year. He put up great numbers and everything, but that one hurt right there. I didn’t let it take control of me or depress me or anything like that; I just put it in the back of my head. I get asked about it a lot, and that’s always my answer to it.”

McFadden insists his drinking, which began at age 15 in what he describes as normal teenage experimentation, never posed a problem through high school or college. Yes, he drank, and so did thousands of other college kids who did not carry the hopes and vicarious aspirations of thousands on their back every Saturday and whose missteps evaporated on the ether of anonymity.

“It started with so many teenagers hanging out, some teenagers drinking, offer it to your friend, friend takes a drink, and I was one of those friends that took the drink. I didn’t see

anything wrong with it or anything like that,” he said. “As a kid, you know you’re not supposed to drink or whatever, but we felt like we could handle ourselves and be mature about it.

It wasn’t any type of situation where anybody was like, ‘Go ahead, just do it, man.’ I pretty much did it on my own; once it was presented to me or I had opportunity to, I did it.

“In high school, we’d go hang out at a party and have some drinks and everything. Same thing in college for me, pretty much. I was never a kid like, ‘Oh, I’ve got a class in the morning; let me go get a couple drinks in the hallway.’ It was always a social environment — hanging out, drinking and stuff at parties, college kids getting together to have a good time.”

In truth, fans were far more concerned over McFadden returning for his senior year than if he tipped a few beers on the weekend, and they had reason to be. Most were disappointed, if not altogether surprised, when he entered the NFL draft early. An impressive showing at the NFL Combine paid off with his being selected fourth overall by then-Oakland Raiders which, having been burned by touted but ultimately busted quarterback JaMarcus Russell in a holdout, was eager to lock up the former Hog. McFadden agreed to $60.1 million over six years, $26 million of it guaranteed, Despite what is often said about football turning from game to a job overnight, said he found the transition to the pros a natural one.

“It was still just the game of football to me,” he said. “I never understood that thing about guys going to work and everything because I just looked at it like guys going to football armentalhealthguide.com . 13

practice. That’s what I was doing. In hindsight, it is a career at the end of the day, and that’s the way you have to approach it.

As you get older and you understand it’s a career, a business, how you take care of your family and everything, you have to approach it that way, but, like, at first, going from a game to a career, I didn’t really look at it that way. I felt like I was still playing football.”

McFadden may have still looked at the game the same way, but the pro game did not reciprocate. After receiving much hype in training camp, he turned in a decent rookie season in 2008, with nearly 800 total yards and four scores. His highwater mark came in 2010, with 1,157 yards rushing, 507 yards receiving and 10 total touchdowns. Overall though, much of his pro career alternated between flashes of former brilliance and the reality of nagging injuries that cost him playing time and effectiveness. The nicks took as much toll on his mental state as on his physical gifts.

“Going through something one year and you miss four, five, six games, come back the next year with such high hopes and injure the same thing,” he said. “It makes you question yourself some, for sure. Like, man, what am I doing out here? Can’t stay healthy. Am I even worthy of being on this team still? All the doubts and thoughts start creeping into your mind.

“You can definitely feel the doubt and tension of the people that’s around you and some of your own teammates and stuff. You just have to keep ahead of it and keep working. I knew at the end of the day, I wasn’t faking injuries or anything like that. Just, I can’t go. I can’t go. It’s just part of the game. I just always was like, I know what I can do when I’m out there. No matter how much you tell yourself that, you still have those doubts creep into your mind. For the most part, I just tried to stay focused.”

In 2015, McFadden signed with the Dallas Cowboys, and the change of scenery seemed to bode well as he again topped 1,000 yards rushing, becoming the only Razorback to have two 1,000-yard NFL seasons, but injuries followed him to Texas. As time wore on and new, younger faces replaced him atop the depth chart, McFadden grew increasingly frustrated. In November 2017, he asked for and was granted his release from the Cowboys. He retired from football two days later.

In the grand scheme of things, McFadden had led a relatively incident-free, if statistically modest run in the NFL. Other than a well-publicized lawsuit against a former business partner that alleged fraud and mismanagement, he avoided negative headlines off the field. What the world did not know was the social drinking of his youth had intensified during his pro career, and, with retirement bringing ample time and resources, McFadden had finally met an opponent he could not outrun or bowl over.

“As I got older, being able to drink on my own and not have any big responsibilities as far as having to get up and go do something, I could come home in the evenings and have a couple drinks,” he said “Two, three times a week, I’d have a drink at the house or whatever. Over time, those two or three times turned into every day, and the later I got into my career, when I could feel I was getting pushed to the side, I think I probably

started drinking a lot more then.

“After retirement, it pretty much turned into drunk on the daily. I didn’t feel it was affecting me in any kind of way as far as my day-to-day habits or what I did. I was a functioning alcoholic pretty much. As time went on, it increased, and there were plenty of signs but I just didn’t think about it.”

Looking back, McFadden can see the spiral he was in, accelerated by depression and a rising tide of booze. What he did not know was his was a textbook example of the surge in mental health and addiction issues among elite athletes. Athletes for Hope reported in 2019 that a third of all college students experience depression, anxiety or other mental health issues, but while 30 percent of the general population seeks help, only one in 10 athletes do.

Worse, the higher an athlete climbs in their sport, the deeper mental illness sinks their claws into their back. Athletes for Hope data shows up to 35 percent of elite athletes suffer from a mental health crisis, and without proper help, this often leads to selfmedication in the form of alcohol abuse or drug addiction. In a study, the NCAA found that between 32 percent and 38 percent of female collegiate athletes and between 40 and 50 percent of male collegiate athletes reported regular consumption of more than four drinks of alcohol at a sitting. More concerning, 30 percent of student athletes in the study reported experiencing blackouts, a red flag for alcohol addiction. The same percentage said they did something they later regretted under the influence.

Such habits in college only accelerate among pros who have the resources to get drunk or high and the invincible mentality that the odds will not catch up to them, but catch them it does, be it in Olympic sport (gold-medal swimmer Michael Phelps), individual sports (PGA golfer John Daly, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard), or team games (Super Bowl quarterback Brett Favre, World Series champ Darryl Strawberry), each to varying degrees ensnared by mental illness, pressure to perform or dealing with the end of their prime playing years. It is a tune McFadden knows by heart.

“Football changed everything for me, gave me something to do, gave me a sense of purpose,” he said. “Retiring from football, what do I do now? OK, I’m not doing anything, I can kick back, do whatever I want to, have as many drinks as I want to and not think about whatever. Eventually that drinking grabs ahold of you, and it’s hard to kick it, for sure.”

McFadden’s issues came to a head in 2019, when he described getting into altercations and pushing his family to the breaking point. That year, he was arrested, drunk and passed out behind the wheel at a Whataburger drive-thru, forcing police on the scene to break out the vehicle’s windows to get him out of his SUV. During the melee, in bodycam footage, which was broadcast by TMZ Sports, McFadden appears to inadvertently step on the accelerator, wedging the nose of his truck against the side of the building. As the tires continue to spin, the screech of rubber sounds akin to a call for help, one he would eventually follow into treatment.

“In my mind I’m like OK, I’m going to get it together. I’m going to stop drinking and figure it out,” he said. “You’re los-

Football changed everything for me, gave me something to do, gave me a sense of purpose.

14 . Mental Health Guide 2023

ing your family, drunk, had an accident, pretty much had to be thankful that you were able to walk home and the other person was able to walk home. That was a real eyeopener for me at that point right there. It was time for me to get myself together. I want to do well for myself and be healthy physically and mentally and everything.”

Six months does not a recovery make, but reaching that sobriety milestone in November was enough to make the intensely private McFadden open up on social media about the journey he had been on. If he felt any discomfort over discussing his struggles, the cat was let permanently out of the bag the next day, when David Bazzel and Roger Scott gave him a platform to discuss it on 103.7 The Buzz’s Morning Mayhem. Today, McFadden is much more knowledgeable about his issues, and that brings an ease talking about it.

“Going into [rehab], I told the counselors, ‘I’m going to walk in here and try to get sober, and maybe one day I can drink like a normal person,’” he said, “but the more I heard people talk about their stories, my mind started to change. I realized I had to first admit to myself that I was an alcoholic. Every time I heard somebody telling their story that they’ve been sober for 10 years, I was like, damn. That opened my mind that this is not something that just goes away. You have to continue to work on that every day.

“I started to think this is not something I can do by myself. I’m not just a normal drinker. When I drink, I go on a binge. Listening to people and talking to different counselors just opened my mind up.”

Possessed of a football mind and the skills to analyze on the fly, McFadden seemed to know instinctively where to go on any given play. Finding a crease, exploding through an arm tackle and accelerating smoothly into the clear were all given to him at birth and refined through hours of practice over miles of turf. The field that stretches before him today is not as familiar, his opponent lurking in the crevices of his mind, looking for an unguarded moment to bring him down. The game of his life, barely at halftime, plays out from here with no playbook to guide him, yet he moves into it, slower maybe, but with no less resolve, hoping to help others, as well as himself.

“I’m to a point that I don’t mind opening up about things. You’re embarrassed about it and you don’t want people to know the extent, but that’s part of what kept me in a darker place as far as with the drinking and not being able to come out of there,” he said. “I don’t want to be telling somebody I’m this, I’m that, and then I’m here passed out drunk. Being able to open up and being able to talk about it is something that helps me hold myself accountable.

“There’s people who struggle with things, and you may not even know. Maybe somebody you talk to every day, and you don’t even know. I want people to know they’re not alone in it and it’s OK to talk to somebody about it. I want to be able to help people say, ‘He had this problem.

He got over it. He can talk about it. Maybe I can try to talk with somebody about it.’ Then you have to take it one day at a time. I don’t try to look out and say, ‘What am I going to do two years from now? Will I be drinking, or will I be doing this?’ I take it one day at a time. It helped me to not worry so much about what other people are saying or thinking. It definitely taught me what I am, a very resilient person.” ◊

McFadden’s time with the Dallas Cowboys initially showed promise but was soon marred by the injuries that plagued his earlier career.

armentalhealthguide.com . 15

A

ROOTED IN HOPE AND EMBRACING CHANGE

s communities across the country continue to deal with the ongoing effects of the opioid epidemic and the need for addiction recovery services more broadly, the role of transitional housing has never been more crucial. As a valuable lifeline bridging those in recovery to a new life, there is a tremendous need for safe, stable housing. A warm bed and a place to call home can be the foundation on which someone in recovery builds a healthy, independent lifestyle away from substance use.

One such facility, the newly opened Magnolia Recovery Community, aims to address transitional housing needs in central Arkansas and the surrounding areas. Sitting on six acres, the Magnolia has over 200 beds for those on the journey to recovery. Founder Kasia Pabian, certified registered nurse anesthetist and president of the Arkansas Association of Nurse Anesthetists, has encountered hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals struggling with addiction throughout her years as a nurse and nurse anesthetist, she said. Seeing this gap in resources inspired her to open the Magnolia and provide support to those Kasia Pabian, MSN, CRNA who need it most.

“We provide a structured living environment for those in recovery and in need of transitional living,” Pabian said. “My goal with the Magnolia Recovery Community is to provide as many opportunities and resources as possible. Each individual’s journey is different, meaning their needs are different, as well.”

The Magnolia Recovery Community has resources to assist those in recovery with mental health needs, employment, financial management, goal setting, peer support services and more. According to the American Addiction Centers, millions of those suffering from substance use disorder also suffer from a mental health disorder, making multifaceted approaches like those at the Magnolia even more vital.

While men may be more likely to abuse illicit drugs, according to the AAC, women are just as prone to addiction as men when they use them. This early on, the Magnolia offers services for men 18 and older, but Pabian has plans to open transitional living options for women in the near future.

“I want people to know that we will give 110 percent to every resident that enters our facility,” she said. “We will do our part by holding the residents accountable and performing random drug tests weekly. We require them to attend a minimum of four meetings a week and have a sponsor.”

Pabian also stressed the importance of community support for facilities like the Magnolia, whether it be monetary donations or offering resources such as job opportunities for those in recovery as they rebuild their lives.

“A lot of residents come to the Magnolia directly from detox, drug rehab or off the streets,” she said. “They come here with no money, no food, no transportation and no job.”

Regardless of their situation, every person at the Magnolia can receive the compassion and structured support needed to get back on their feet. They will become a part of a community focused on healing.

For more information about the Magnolia Recovery Community or to tour the facility, call 501-454-6811.

the Magnolia

Recovery Community 3601 W. Roosevelt Road, Little Rock 501-454-6811

NATURAL STATE RECOVERY CENTERS:

T here at Every Step

Brian Fleckenstine, APRN Ebony Montgomery, APRN Melanie Higgins, APRN

N

atural State Recovery Centers was founded in 2018 to help people gain freedom from drugs and alcohol, using an approach that is both comprehensive and holistic. It is comprehensive in that Natural State offers services through every step of the recovery journey, from medical detox through long-term sobriety. It is holistic because Natural State is committed to treating the person as a “whole,” with the support and encouragement to heal physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

“Our mission is to provide individuals who are in the early stages of recovery with a structured and loving environment,” said NRSC Community Relations Specialist Kevin Cleveland. “While in residential treatment, you’re able to get away and focus on yourself as a person.

You must heal ‘you’ first, before you can fix anything else or help anybody else in your life.”

Natural State offers an unbroken continuum of care and support for recovery, from the early stages of detoxification all the way through residential and outpatient care. Medical staff provide medication management when needed, and residential clients receive 24-hour care from a talented team of doctors, nurses, therapists, peer specialists, and care technicians.

That is what truly makes Natural State distinctive: The team of knowledgeable and dedicated administrative and clinical staff, many of whom have experienced firsthand the transformative power of recovery. They know what works and what does not when it comes to addiction recovery, allowing for the kind of understanding and connection that can make treatment a life-changing process. Recovery is a way of life for most of Natural State’s team.

“I think that it speaks volumes, because they understand, when a person comes in for treatment, where they are in life—they’ve been there themselves,” Cleveland said. “They love the recovery process. A portion of recovery is going on to help somebody else.”

Natural State recently moved its outpatient services to downtown Little Rock, allowing them to reach even more of the community in a centralized location. Those participating in the outpatient program receive treatment for substance-use disorder throughout the week while having the opportunity to build and maintain a healthy, independent lifestyle, from working or attending school to volunteering and pursuing hobbies.

“We do recover,” and that is the goal for every person that Natural State serves. That does not simply mean being drug- and alcohol-free.

Instead, it means having the tools and space to cultivate a rich life where drugs and alcohol are no longer needed.

The first step to receiving the help that you or a loved one needs is to fill out an application on Natural State’s website, which is listed below. From there, an intake specialist will contact you about treatment options. For any other questions about the recovery process and how Natural State can help, please call.

Natural State Recovery Centers: Office: 501-319-7074 Cell: 501-539-3893 naturalstaterecovery.com Detox and residential: 10025 Oakland Drive North Little Rock

Outpatient: 924 Main St. Little Rock

NSRecovery naturalstaterecovery naturalstaterecovery

armentalhealthguide.com . 17

Shelter from the STORM As Arkansas’ mental health needs skyrocket, organizations work to improve access to resources

By Dwain Hebda // Photos provided

18 . Mental Health Guide 2023

armentalhealthguide.com . 19

T

he good news is the issue of mental health in the United States is no longer relegated to the shadows. The bad news is the encroaching light of day has illuminated a problem far greater than anyone could have imagined, much less been prepared to address. As a result, government agencies, mental health professionals and private treatment centers alike are struggling under a tidal wave of demand that smashes against the levees of available services and capacity.

“I’m speaking generally about what we’re seeing here,” said Megan Miller, CEO of the BridgeWay in North Little Rock. “I would say that what we’re noticing is people are still having a large amount of mental health concerns and that people are often more ill when they come to the hospital than they’ve been in years past. It seems to us over the pandemic, people waited much, much longer before coming in for help and I think that is still true in 2023.”

Across America, the story is largely the same. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five adults experiences mental illness annually, or 23 percent of the country’s adult population, 58 million people in 2021. NAMI also noted one in 20 adults experience serious mental illness each year, which works out to nearly 6 percent of U.S. adults, or more than 14 million individuals.

As staggeringly high as the incidence of mental illness is, treatment is lagging well behind, with less than 48 percent of adults with mental illness receiving treatment in 2021 and only about 65 percent of adults with serious mental illness getting treatment.

Young patients did not fare much better; despite 7.7 million people between the ages of 6 and 17 who reported having a menPhoto Provided tal health disorder in 2016, only about half received treatment.

Arkansas’ report card on treatment of individuals with mental illness laid out by Mental Health America is mixed. Overall, the organization ranked the Natural State 32nd, taking into consideration factors such as incidence rate of illness and substance use disorder, suicidal itMegan Miller erations, as well as access to and cost of treatment.

While Arkansas was ranked in the top 20 as far as least prevalence of mental illness overall, the state did not fare as well on measurements of how well it took care of the cases it did have. The state’s adult cases score, a composite of the number of adults with mental illness and/or substance use

20 . Mental Health Guide 2023

disorder who reported thoughts of suicide and did not receive treatment for reasons of cost, lack of insurance or other unmet need, ranked Arkansas 32nd nationally. Concerning youth patients, the state was 44th, based on a composite score of essentially the same criteria.

Most concerning of all, Arkansas ranked 45th nationally in its performance serving those patients’ needs, regardless of age, based on multiple

“There’s an enormous link between what you put into your body and how it makes you feel. We do a larger education about different foods that might help us energize ourselves and that would reduce a lot of other symptoms from depression and anxiety.”

— Megan Miller, The BridgeWay factors. These included adults and youth who did not receive any treatment, adults who experienced 14 or more mentally unhealthy days per month but could not afford care, youth whose private insurance did not cover mental or emotional problems, and mental health workforce availability.

Paula Stone, director of the Arkansas Department of Human Services Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, said a relatively poor state like Arkansas relies heavily on public funds to help people get the help they need.

“The bulk of what we do is Medicaid-funded,” she said. “The latest statistics I have were that of all the people who received behavioral health services in Arkansas, 70 percent of those are paid by Medicaid. They are the largest funder and driver of services. “[The state] pays for mental health services and substance use disorder services in a couple of ways.

We have federal funding that comes in, state funding that comes in, and with that funding, we do a couple of different things. One, we either pilot programs with some of those funding sources, or we use that funding for people who are not insured in any way or are underinsured. We use it to fill gaps.”

Stone said while the funding arrangement is not new, the agency is not content to bow to the status quo. In November, she and other DHS leadership appeared before state appeared before state legislators to walk them through extensive changes that will expand care for thousands of individuals.

The new regulations overhaul the state’s Provider-led Arkansas Shared Savings Entity, launched in 2017, which provides government-funded health care to more than 55,000 Arkansans requiring specialized health care. The changes are the result of the work of a 2021 task force convened to study issues surrounding mental health care in Arkansas.

“As the payor of services, one of our roles is to make sure services get out there,” Stone said. “We know there’s big challenges out there with the master’s level counselor workforce. Those counselors have moved largely into private practice.

There’s a lot of online services being offered, which can be very helpful, and we have changed our regulations to allow a lot of the services to be provided via telehealth platforms.

“Another thing we’ve done to address access is working on integration with primary care. There are a couple of really interesting programs where people can identify their needs in a primary care clinic and then also get some services through that clinic, accessing help at the place where you intercept instead of having to call another place.”

Recognizing the intense personnel pressure many private mental health providers are under, Stone said DHS is also tweaking regulations that help broaden the scope of available expertise and equip health care outlets to be part of the solution.

“We’ve changed some programs allowing primary care physicians to employ master’s-level counselors to submit billing for them and have them be part of the team,” she said. “We’ve also written a grant in working with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock on behavioral health integration. It’s about a $9 million grant over the next five years, about $1.8 million a year. That is really working on a model called the collaborative care model where primary care physicians can share a psychiatrist across many different clinics, which is a really great use of psychiatry.

“What they can do is while they’re screening for behavioral health needs or conditions, they can have a care coordinator that staffs those clients with a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist can either provide support for a primary care physician to prescribe medication, provide support for a counselor who’s working in that office, or they can say this person really needs more intensive services than we have currently available in our primary care clinic. A lot of those integrations are very

helpful.”

Stone said the changes identified thus far are only the beginning. The next step lies in maximizing existing resources, strengthening relationships with various entities that connect with the public and strengthening protocols of what to do when coming into contact with a person in need of mental health services.

“We have crisis stabilization units across the state that are not being filled,” she said, “so we’re expanding what they are doing.

Sometimes people just need to come and talk to somebody, maybe need an assessment, but they don’t want to get admitted and spend the night. We’re looking at running some pilots with Paula Stone them of how many people would just come and either sit in a recliner and be assessed, settle down, get some medication, whatever it is that they need, and then move on.

“I know a number of our police departments, including the Little Rock Police Department, have an embedded counselor. Fayetteville is doing some really great stuff in conjunction with the university where they have co-responders who are responding with the police. I think North Little Rock is looking into that. Lots of really great things are coming on how we send people out there who know how to address these situations, and by doing a lot of training with law enforcement, allowing them to help recognize when they’re dealing with someone who has a mental health condition.”

Private mental health care providers are also stepping up to reach more people and address more issues within the state. In October, the BridgeWay celebrated the grand opening of its Women’s Center for Health and Wellness. Miller said the facility offers a unique option that focuses on challenges typically faced by women seeking treatment.

“What drove it was, during [the COVID-19 pandemic] especially, we were seeking feedback from our consumers, and we heard from quite a few who

“A relatively poor state like Arkansas relies heavily on public funds to help people get the help they need.”

— Paula Stone, Arkansas Department of Human Services

Photo Provided

armentalhealthguide.com . 21

are women who said they would have had a different experience if they had been on a specific unit only with other women,” she said. “They would come into the hospital needing care, and being isolated or separated from their children was very difficult. They needed some different accommodations to be able to have those connections.

“They also felt that they got some unique support from other women on the unit and that could be enhanced in that [same-sex] type of environment. There is some truth in that; when you look at the research, women experience mental health treatment differently than men, so [the new center] is a way that we may be able to really accelerate how women get their mental health treatments.”

The new inpatient treatment facility was created within the BridgeWay’s existing acute psychiatric space. It offers 13 beds, which Miller anticipates expanding to 20 in the new year. Individualized treatment plans, which can include assessment, stabilization and focused treatment interventions that utilize a trauma-informed approach, are expected to become more effective thanks to the women-only setting.

“I don’t know that I could exclusively say [a single-sex environment] works for everybody, but I do think there is a large number of women who get a benefit out of being in an area where they feel confident and comfortable opening up,” she said.

“In speaking about trauma, 51 percent of women report at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, and in many cases, that traumatic event may have had some transference with a male.

“Being able to talk about that or other sensitive women-only subjects in a group setting, those could be offered in that unit and may be helpful

“That’s been very important to have someone to help families and people who are experiencing substance use disorder to navigate what can be a really confusing, intimidating system to work through by themselves.”

— Justin Buck , The Wolfe Street Foundation to them by limiting some of those triggers. It will allow us to have a level of privacy to open up about different issues that a patient may not feel comfortable doing in a mixed group.”

Miller said the Women’s Center is also home

22 . Mental Health Guide 2023

to a variety of treatment approaches, including art, music, aromatherapy, yoga and nutritional education.

“Most of [these services] are provided in a group-based format with a specialist in that area coming in to provide that care," she said. "We have yoga instructors, for instance, who come in to do some of those classes for us. We have a dietician, and she meets individually with all those ladies in that program but also may choose to do some group-based work if she sees some trends that would be helpful to pull that all together for us.”

The nutrition component is particularly innovative, Miller said, and one not many people think of when picturing mental health treatment.

“There’s an enormous link between what you put into your body and how it makes you feel,” she said. “We do a larger education about different foods that might help us energize ourselves and that would reduce a lot of other symptoms from depression and anxiety.

“A depressed person generally isn’t taking very good care of their body. They often are isolating.

They may have an increased appetite or a decrease in appetite. They may be picking poor foods or not eating foods at all. They also may be dehydrated during that time. We’re talking to them, especially within their age grouping, about what foods they need to have the energy to get out of bed so they can do the things that are ultimately going to make them feel better.”

Miller said such creative thought is going to be essential in dealing with the surge of demand the BridgeWay and entities like it are experiencing.

She said the need for services is likely to increase as people continue to get more comfortable with seeking treatment.

“If there was a silver lining to COVID, I would say that some of it is we had a reduction in a lot of the stigma [surrounding mental health],” she said.

“With sports stars and entertainers and others in the media being more open about talking about their mental health concerns, it did help people to feel more confident in coming into care. We’re still seeing a little bit of those residual effects.

“It’s not over, however. Stigma still exists. It’s here, and many people are still reluctant to talk about it. We sometimes have people who come in, talk with us about the services and not come back until days later. It’s still hard to make that decision to take the time to really care for yourself.”

One area of treatment that has been particularly challenging concerns substance abuse disorder. KFF, an independent provider of health policy research and polling, reported in March that excessive drinking and drug use accelerated during the pandemic, causing lethal consequenc-

es. During COVID-19, drug overdoses spiked by 50 percent in the U.S., and in 2021, more than 106,000 died due to overdose, the highest total on record.

Alcohol-induced deaths were also up substantially, increasing 3 percent during the pandemic, a rate that was even higher among certain demographic groups. African Americans, for example, saw a 45 percent jump, and those in the American Indian Alaskan Native category reported death rates six times that of the next highest group. Rural areas’ death rates due to alcohol grew at a substantially higher rate than metropolitan dwellers, 46 percent compared to 36 percent.

Justin Buck, director of the Wolfe Street Foundation in Little Rock, said Arkansas’ resources for people trying to get help vary widely by region of the state, not to mention the thorny issues surrounding reimbursement. These and other serious roadblocks often prevent people from getting the assistance they need.

“It’s certainly better, especially in central Arkansas and northwest Arkansas, where there are actually quite a lot of treatment resources for people who are seeking help with substance use disorders,” he said. “The family support side is also getting better; we have some family members who have launched nonprofits and who have launched advocacy movements to help parents find a place. A lot of those resources are for family members who have lost loved ones. I think we still have some way to go for resources for family members who have a loved one actively using substances.

“I think those two factors, [family support and availability of care], come together when it comes to access. When we’re ready to reach out for help, do we have access to those resources? On the one hand, I mentioned that in central and northwest Arkansas and some other places around the state, there are good treatment resources available, but the access is still constricted based on what kind of insurance that you have. To me, it’s very convicting and shameful that the first question you have to ask someone who’s seeking treatment is, ‘What kind of insurance do you have?’ because that really will determine where you can go.”

Buck, who assumed his role in 2021, knows the pain a family suffers under addiction from personal experience. He lost a sister to a drug overdose, and his brother came close to either death or prison before entering recovery. He said a Wolfe Street Foundation program called peer recovery support specialists harnesses the life experience of people like his brother and equips them to reach others dealing with the same issues.

“When a family member or a person who’s seeking help for themselves calls or walks in the door,

they can sit down and meet with a peer recovery support specialist who has shared that lived experience, who’s been through addiction and recovery,” he said. “That peer specialist can help share what worked for them, and they can help people get into treatment the same day if they’re ready to get help.

They also follow up during the treatment process, and after they complete Justin Buck treatment. They connect people to the resources they need to continue a recovery journey.

“That’s been very important to have someone to help families and people who are experiencing substance use disorder to navigate what can be a really confusing, intimidating system to work through by themselves.”

Another hurdle many face is finding quality sober-living environments, which has led Wolfe Street Foundation to redouble its efforts. The organization launched a recovery housing program last fall and is up to 32 beds.

“The reason we did that — and we launched very urgently and we grew very quickly — is because it’s not necessarily that there are not enough places out here; many are just not any good,” he said. “I mean, there are no standards. There are very few regulations. It’s almost as easy as putting an ad in the classifieds that says, ‘Room for rent.’ That’s almost exactly what the barrier to entry is like. There are very few things to stop unethical operators from taking advantage of people in early recovery.

“We launched as quickly as possible, and we used a national standard to inform our program. We’re working now with some other ethical providers and the state to get certified on that national standard.”

Buck echoed Miller’s assessment that shame is still one of the most persistent retardants to recovery for people dealing with substance abuse issues.

He said the more community organizations and groups that get involved in the effort, the more options can be afforded to those who need them.

“Our motto is, ‘We recover together,’ and we really do,” he said. “We find that isolation is deadly.

That means connection is vital. What we’re hoping to continue building is a recovery-oriented system of care, where ethical, mission-minded organizations — faith-based, nonprofit, government agencies — all come together, sit down at the same table and work out solutions in the best interests of people who are seeking help.” ◊

armentalhealthguide.com . 23

Dr. Julie Logan, DC, FMAPS holds a fellowship in the Medical Academy of Pediatric Special Needs (MAPS) with a focus on pediatrics and helping both the client and their parents to overcome autoimmune conditions, developmental delays, gastrointestinal disorders, and chronic inflammatory illnesses.

• Holistic psychiatry and mental health clinic treating conditions such as depression, anxiety and other mood disorders,obsessive compulsive disorder, autism, ADHD, PANS/PANDAS and related disorders.

• Treatment of pediatrics and adults • Integrative approach utilizing conventional, lifestyle, nutritional, functional and biomedical medicine practices to restore a client to optimal health.

• Spravato treatment center

Erin Holleman, APRN, FNP, PMHNP is a dual certified psychiatric and family nurse practitioner who specializes in integrative psychiatry and has over 19 years experience providing holistic care to clients.

501-601-5107 | 1401 Malvern Ave. Ste 100, Hot Springs, AR. 71901

Yolanda McCallum M.Ed., LPC At Strategic Counseling LLC, we focus on helping individuals find solutions rather than dwelling on past mistakes and missed opportunities. We share tools with you to feel good about embracing where you are but also hopeful of future possibilities. Our therapeutic approach is Solution-Focused. We also utilize Cognitive -Behavioral Therapy, Emotionally -Focused Therapy, Evidence-Based Individual and Couples Counseling. Our goal is to help you live the best version of your life!

We are licensed in Arkansas and Colorado.

501-400-0353 #4 Shackleford Plaza, Suite 100 Little Rock, AR. 72211 info@strategiccounselor.net 24 . Mental Health Guide 2023

Quality Products for Quality of Life:

Dark Horse Medicinals

A

s the state’s budding medical cannabis industry continues to develop, Arkansans have a growing number of choices when it comes to how and why they use it — as well as where it comes from. Used medicinally, the importance of quality when it comes to cannabis cannot be overstated. That is where Dark Horse Medicinals, Arkansas’ first cannabis processor, comes in. Focused solely on crafting high-quality products for the consumer, the Dark Horse team has a passion for the science of cannabis, offering a wide range of options to address a variety of needs.

“Almost everybody lives their life in pain for the most part, whether it be mental, physical or something in between,” said Dark Horse Chief Scientific Officer Lucas Haley. “I think one of the best things about cannabis is pain management and quality of life.”

While the research is still ongoing as to the curative properties of different parts of the cannabis plant itself, its supplemental use — especially as a safer alternative to opioids for those at risk of addiction — is invaluable. Another strength of cannabis lies in its adaptability.

Depending on the condition or one’s situation, different products or formulations can be more helpful.

“THC is psychoactive, so if you’re not looking to get that type of effect, there are other products that are better for you to manage your pain without getting high,” Haley said. “Let’s say that you have an ache on your knee; there are topicals that you can use that you could rub on that. There are things called transdermal patches that you could use, very similar to a nicotine patch, that you apply to the skin and it will transdermally absorb.”

For those looking for psychoactive effects without the negative effects of smoking, tinctures might be another good choice. Edibles have a longer onset, but come with the benefit of much longer medication time. Still, products such as vape cartridges and flower concentrates have an important role to play for many, especially when it comes to mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

“For a lot of people, it is almost like a ritual for their day, and it gets them through the day,” Haley said. “Even though you’re smoking something, which is not necessarily the best thing for you, it still gives you some reprieve from what you’re dealing with on a daily basis.”

As with any medicinal product, quality is of the utmost importance.

Haley explained that the state’s robust testing procedures, combined with Dark Horse’s own high standards, ensure products that contain the most benefit with the fewest harmful elements.

“We don’t have heavy metals, we don’t have residual solvents and we don’t have microbials. We’re testing and vetting each one of these products before it gets into a customer’s hand,” he said. “We’ve got a vetting process that makes sure that the customers are getting a good product, that’s not going to hurt them.”

Of course, a product in any industry is only as good as the team behind it, and Dark Horse has that covered as well. Each member of the Dark Horse team is passionate about what they do and what their products can do for customers.

“With any kind of product that you get in your lungs, you want that to be the cleanest thing that you can get,” Haley said. “I would put my foot down and say that we make some very clean products. That can be seen from the certificate of analysis. Even when it comes to full spectrum versus distillate products, we still do the best that we can to refine that product to give you the best that we can.”

“I think one of the best things about cannabis is pain management and quality of life.”

darkhorsemedicinals.com info@darkhorsemedicinals.com armentalhealthguide.com . 25

Minding

I

the Kids

t no longer takes a crisis to get professional mental health counselors into schools.

As much as resources allow, mental health care providers are now there in force, helping to identify students’ needs and head off potential problems before they happen, but greater mental health awareness and recent national and world events have combined to increase demand to a near breaking point.

“The demand has increased significantly,” said Erin Goodwin, northwest region director of children’s services at statewide provider Arisa Health.

Once, outside counseling was mainly made available on a caseby-case basis when the need arose, such as after a horrific event like a school shooting or disaster. However, school districts these days regularly contract with professional mental health service providers, who act as an augment to the counselors and teachers on the front lines when trying to identify students who may need help with an issue. With a parental referral, a student can now normally obtain professional counseling — perhaps on campus, perhaps off — as needed, when needed.

“What we try to do in the schools is when we first see signs of something, we meet with the parents and try to get early intervention for the student so they can have a positive school experience,” said Tiffany Randall, coordinator of student-centered 26 . Mental Health Guide 2023

support services with the North Little Rock School District.

Increased awareness has lessened the societal stigma that can surround the subject of mental health in the U.S., while the COVID-19 pandemic and life in an uncertain world have contributed to the strain on school districts and especially the providers trying to help.

“What we are struggling with now is finding enough schoolbased providers who will be active and consistent and still committed to providing school-based services,” said VaShonda Eason, of northwest Arkansas-based Eason Counseling.

NEED AND KNOWLEDGE With a Ph.D. in educational leadership, Katherine Ellsworth spent 26 years in Alaska before coming to Arkansas during the summer to be closer to her daughter and to escape her former home’s long, cold nights.

As director of student support services for the Bentonville School District, Ellwsorth’s impressions of student mental health needs in Arkansas track with what other districts have been seeing: a growing awareness of mental health issues in society fueling a greater need for services, a spike in that need due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and mental health issues influenced and exacerbated by social media and other external factors.

Mental health service providers dealing with school district demand

By Todd Traub // Photos provided

“A lot of stress here is due to affordable housing. People are doubling up,” Ellsworth said, while some are literally becoming homeless. Data USA reported that in 2022, Benton County, with one of the highest homeless rates in the state, had 11.7 percent of the population living with severe housing problems.

“It could be the home life, or it could not be the home life,” Ellsworth said. “Sometimes it’s the pressure to achieve academically.”

The Bentonville district contracts with Eason Counseling, Arisa Health and Community Services, all of which provide licensed therapists primarily in school settings, but also through office counseling.

“I wouldn’t call them full-time providers,” Ellswoth said. She explained that at the main high school there is a full-time provider, but often the therapists split time between schools.

“It depends on what the needs are,” she said.

Eason Counseling offers individual, family and group counseling in a school-based setting and works with the Bentonville, Rogers, Fayetteville, Springdale and Prairie Grove districts, offering two clinics in the downtown Rogers and Johnson areas.

School-based mental health care has become more popular as it has been made more convenient, Eason said.

“The biggest purpose for school-based therapy, what we were seeing 20 years ago … for lack of a better term, it was inconvenient for parents to have to go check their kids out of school and

take them to the office and take them back,” Eason said.

An intake appointment is typically held at an Eason Counseling office, after which therapy is normally held weekly. Some outlying schools are allowed to offer intake appointments on campus, again, for the sake of convenience.

“We are also depending on districts that allow us to do family or group at the schools,” Eason said.

While the situations are somewhat fluid as far as who is at what northwest Arkansas school location and when, Ellsworth

Erin Goodwin

Tiffany Randall

armentalhealthguide.com . 27

Katherine Ellsworth

VaShonda Eason

said that within the individual counseling framework, there is consistency.

“Once you start with a kiddo, you stay with a kiddo,” she said.

Mental health therapists and school administrators agree that students have always dealt with certain stressors in their daily school lives, from tests to being accepted by their peers. Today, there is simply more outreach by those in need that is spreading mental health service providers thin.

“One of the reasons I think we see an increase in people reaching out to mental health providers is they’re more aware of how to do that,” Ellsworth said. “There’s not as much shame in seeking help.”

CARING FOR THE CAREGIVERS Arisa Health is the product of four community health providers in the state who combined under one banner. Arisa serves more than 2,100 schools in 48 districts and grades pre-K through 12.

“It depends on the districts, but as of this summer, we had about 229 school-based providers,” said Goodwin, a 14-year industry veteran who explained that, depending on school population, location and other factors, there could be two therapists at one school or one therapist serving a three-building smaller district.

Goodwin noted that the favored term these days is “behavioral Photo Provided health,” which is more encompassing than “mental health.” That is partially due to the wide range of issues that can affect students but are also seen in other settings, such as jails and police departments. Trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, adjustment issues, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and substance abuse are problems many people share, whether they are school-age or older.

“It’s everything,” Goodwin said.

The pandemic certainly marked an increase in demand for mental health services, Goodwin said, but demand was on the rise beforehand.

“I think we had seen a rise in access to services,” she said.

“Our numbers as far as client services were increasing before the pandemic.”

The COVID-19 pandemic, however, certainly marked a great divide, a clear before and after. For example, Goodwin observed that suicide rates had been dropping before the epidemic, then went back up after the pandemic struck. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a 4 percent increase in overall suicide rates from 2020 to 2021 after two consecutive years of decline. CDC data from 2020 showed about 19 percent of

28 . Mental Health Guide 2023

high school students had considered suicide the previous year and about nine percent had made a suicide attempt.

“Even before [the pandemic], there were things like cell phone usage and social media increasing isolation and depression in students,” Goodwin said. “There’s other factors — just the traumatic things going on around the world.”

Indeed, overlaying the more common problems kids might deal with, such as fitting in socially or achieving academically, are the fears that come with living in an uncertain world full of violence and economic instability.

“We have seen an increase in both the number of clients or students needing services, as well as the intensity,” Goodwin said.

The accelerated demand has strained the ability of behavioral health providers to provide services to those in need.

“We’ve had to say no, unfortunately, I think more than we have in the past. We want to protect the wellbeing of our therapists and not spread them too thin,” Goodwin said.

According to the Commonwealth Fund, as of March, there were 160 million Americans living in areas with mental health professional shortages, and more than 8,000 more professionals were needed to maintain an adequate supply.

“I could probably hire 100 more therapists tomorrow and get them full and seeing clients,” said Goodwin, adding that Arisa has attended recruiting events at universities and even high schools, including a recent event in central Arkansas, in a search for talent.

“I would agree that both the awareness, which is huge and wonderful that help is available … that has been a positive thing for accessing services, but then definitely the demand is tough, and also the decrease in therapists is an issue that we face,” Goodwin said.

Eason pointed out that while awareness was increasing demand pre-pandemic, most mental health service providers were also negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinics shut down for safety reasons, and people were not as likely to allow others into their homes, so there was an interruption in services right when students may have needed them the most.

“What I gather and the information that I get from my agencies, the thing is the issues were there before the pandemic, maybe not glaring in our faces,” said Lisa Williams, mental health coordinator with the Little Rock School District. “However, after the pandemic, the world had shut down. Families had to stay together. There was abuse, loss of jobs, coming back to school. What did we see? An exacerbation of illnesses, an increase in underlying things that were already there and whatever they experienced during the shutdown, when the school was closed and the world was closed.”

Now that the providers are back in business, the pent-up demand, already on the rise before the pandemic, returned with a vengeance, overworking therapists and thinning their ranks.

“Since 2017, we’ve lost three major agencies in this area where we’re pioneers. … They’ve closed for a multitude of reasons, but one of the reasons is not having enough people to work in a school-based setting,” Eason said.

Additionally, professional health care counselors began utilizing telehealth or telemedicine, essentially taking their caseloads, leaving their agency and going into business for themselves.

“We found that a lot of our clinicians would go into private practices,” Eason said.

Fewer counselors meant those who remained were being asked

unique issues that come with growing up and finding their places in society.

It is important to remember that the first time a student deals with something, it is the first time they are dealing with something, meaning an event can seem like an overwhelming tragedy for a student while also providing an opportunity to learn how to cope with stress and challenges in a healthy way.

“Depression symptoms, anxiety, conflict resolution, adjustment issues,” Williams said. “That runs the gamut from anything — loss of job, changing family dynamics — any unaddressed trauma.”

Normalizing mental health care and making it a part of everyday school life, as well as teaching students how to deal with problems as they arise now, can stave off problems that could manifest when students become adults.

THE NEW NORMAL Mental health “I tell my kids what you’re doing right The North Little Rock School District now is practice for what adulthood keeps a list of approved providers on the therapists and school will be like,” Eason said. “As we grow district website. The first item on the administrators agree that older, it becomes difficult for us to list is approved mental health service learn those skills.” providers. Randall said the providers students have always dealt Having everyday mental must sign a memorandum of underwith certain stressors in their health care and counseling in standing with the district allowing a school setting the same way for confidentiality, and parents will daily school lives, from tests to speech therapy or remedial readsign a referral form for the provider ing are provided further serves to being accepted by their peers. they choose. normalize the notion that good “We just give the therapist a space Today, there is simply more mental health can be approached on our campus for them to do the work they need to do,” Randall said. outreach by those in need that shamelessly and without stigma.

Students today might actually point The North Little Rock district’s main is spreading mental health out their therapists to their fellow provider is the STRIVE School Based students, Goodwin said.

Program of the University of Arkansas for service providers thin.

“I heard a couple situations where stuMedical Sciences in Little Rock. The program dents say, ‘Hey you should go see this theraallows there to be a full-time therapist on every pist I see,’” Goodwin said. “They’re a lot more one of the district’s campuses. open about who they’re seeing, and I think parents “It all has to go through the parents, of course, and are more willing to sign kids up for therapy services.” they have to fill out the paperwork and do all that, but they have Goodwin noted satisfaction surveys that show 90 percent of that at their fingertips if they want that for their child,” Randall the students who got some sort of counseling or help saw their said. mental health improve, and 91 percent saw academic improveWilliams said the Little Rock School District works with inment. Additionally, Arisa is one of the state’s providers that also house guidance counselors, district-employed social workers and offers free outreach services such as professional teacher develop13 professional mental health care providers with which the disment, behavioral health education for students, leadership educatrict contracts. She stressed that while there are 13 agencies, each tion and Zoom calls with parents. one could potentially represent five to six therapists per school.

Mental health providers may be spread thin as they try to A former school-based therapist herself, Williams said mental help the state’s students these days, and the underlying causes health care has become more prioritized at the district level than are many, but no one really wants to go back to the days when a when she joined Little Rock 12 years ago. mental health referral might be seen to a parent as an insult, an “At that time, agencies, mental health providers were kind of implication that there was “something wrong” with their kid. coming and going,” Williams said. “There were no contracts with The ranks of the therapists may be spread thin even while a district as a whole. There were contracts with schools.” demand is on the rise, but the new awareness is giving school With district help, Williams cleaned up the process to allow districts, teachers, counselors and the professional providers a for qualified district-level contracted mental health service profresh opportunity to show students that there is, in fact, nothing viders. wrong at all; it is OK to talk to someone, it is OK to know you need “The need is there. I’ll tell you that,” Williams said. “You’ll be help and to get it, and it is important to know that everyone is a surprised the need is there. Even though I have that many [perhuman being, and all human beings have problems. sonnel], the need is there, and I could possibly use more.”

“If there’s nothing else I could say in my 12 years, that in itself Forgetting for a moment the pandemic, recent wars, economic is an answered prayer, if you will,” Williams said, “knowing that uncertainty, and other current and recent events that add direct the behaviors don’t come out of nowhere.” ◊ or indirect stress to the everyday lives of young people, kids have always been kids, which means they have always had the kind of to do more, double up workloads or have a presence in more schools. School-based counselors would encounter their own isolation issues because they were essentially flying solo without colleagues or immediate support.

“It can lead to burnout, and it’s not for everyone,” Eason said.

Since behavioral health counselors are as human as their young clients, the age-old issue of care for the caregivers has surfaced due to the increased demand for services. While caring for clients, Arisa Health and other providers are also trying to care for their own overworked people. For example, Arisa partners with the Whole Health Institute through the Walton Family Foundation to help provide for employee wellbeing.

“They are just overwhelmed,” Goodwin said of the therapists.

“They have more students than they can handle.”

Photo Provided

armentalhealthguide.com . 29

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Tiffany Corjay, LCSW TLC 501-492-9456 1401 Malvern Ave., Suite 20 Hot Springs tlcincstableconnections.com

I

n 2008, Tiffany Corjay, a licensed clinical social worker, launched TLC to help children and families in the Hot Springs community.

Opening day was the culmination of a lifelong passion: At just 13 years old, Corjay knew she wanted to help others, and she has never stopped following that calling.

TLC works with couples and individuals of all ages with the goal of equipping clients with the skills they need to grow and thrive. After graduating from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a Master’s of Social Work degree, Corjay spent time in many different settings, from hospice and inpatient care to school-based therapy. These experiences gave her a wide knowledge base, allowing her to better treat her clients in private practice.

In 2017, Corjay became certified as a trauma specialist in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, or EMDR, through the EMDR International Association. In EMDR, a therapist guides an individual through eye movements or other forms of rhythmic, bilateral stimulation in order to process traumatic events.

“EMDR is a psychotherapy technique that has been proven to be effective in treating past or present trauma,” Corjay said. “While in a safe and supported environment, this treatment can be used to help the individual process memories and emotions that are impacting their mental health and wellbeing.”

Corjay has continued to deepen her knowledge of other treatment approaches as well. In 2022, she became certified in equine-assisted psychotherapy, and she is currently studying internal family systems. IFS views the psyche in different parts, each with its own unique characteristics and experiences, and encourages individuals to integrate and balance the relationships between these parts for greater self-awareness and emotional regulation.

Equine-assisted psychotherapy is a technique that is especially close to Corjay’s heart, as she grew up on a family farm and has ridden horses all her life. The animal-assisted intervention facilitates emotional growth and learning, and it can be beneficial for individuals with conditions such as depression, anxiety, mood disorders, addiction and PTSD, Corjay said.

“The horses serve as a mirror for the individual’s emotions and behaviors. This provides valuable insight into the client,” she said. “When combined, I believe EAP, EMDR and IFS are more effective than any other treatment I have experienced. They offer a powerful and comprehensive approach to healing and personal growth.”

People often wait too long to reach out for help, Corjay said, and when an individual does decide to seek treatment, it is a vulnerable and courageous step towards healing. She encouraged anyone wondering about their options to reach out and explore what is available, since stabilizing one’s mental health should be “a top priority, not a last resort.”

“As we shift our priorities to include self-care and not self-medication, we allow ourselves to begin the process of healing,” she said. “As we experience the power of healing, our relationships, our physical health and our lives change in almost every way for the better.”

Corjay has put no small amount of time, dedication and prayer into building TLC over the years, and she is committed to continuing that growth. As the practice expands, she is looking for volunteers, organizations and even other therapists to partner with TLC and further its reach.

“We rely on outside support to make this treatment available to more people,” Corjay said. “Everyone deserves to have mental health care that works. These services are effective and high-quality, and we want people to experience what we have to offer.”

armentalhealthguide.com . 31

The Mind as

MEDICINE Health care industry paying greater attention to link between patients’ mental health and healing

By Dwain Hebda // Photos provided

Q

ueah Habern may not have been given as many years of life as other people, but few put more life into the years they had. By the time the 34-year-old succumbed to colon cancer in 2011, she had earned a journalism degree and built a successful career in fashion with Nordstrom department stores and as a consultant to corporate America. She also indulged a passion for travel, having visited 13 countries, and made a memorable last trip to Dallas to attend an NBA game less than a week before her death.

Habern also inspired those around her in the attitude and grit she showed during the course of her battle with the disease, which the American Cancer Society reports is skyrocketing in patients younger than 50. One secret weapon in this battle was yoga, which provided for both her mental and her physical state.

“Everyone pretty much knows, first of all, a cancer diagnosis is one of the most stressful things you can deal with. It’s an emotional downer,” said her mother, Donna Terrell. “Now you decide, ‘I’m going to step into this and I’m going to fight this disease,’ but in order to fight it, you’ve got all these horrible medicines and therapies that are going through your body. You’ve got all these doctor’s appointments.

You’re worrying constantly if the tumor is shrinking or if all the cancer cells are gone.

“When you think about yoga and the type of yoga that we’re talking about for patients, when you’re there on the mat, Donna Terrell, TV news personality, left, founded Yoga you’re typically not uptight. It’s the one Warriors Fighting Colon Cancer to help others like place you can go and relax. You come in for her daughter, Queah Habern, right, who died from the an hour of relaxation and meditation. You disease in 2011.

armentalhealthguide.com . 33

don’t have to have any hands touching your body, which, Lord knows, is not necessarily the most soothing thing, and by the time you finish this practice, as it’s called, you have relieved a tremendous amount of stress. Mentally, that’s huge because in order to keep going, you’ve got to find a way to relieve the stress.”

Terrell, who is well known to Arkansans as a longtime local TV news personality, not only watched the positive impact of yoga and meditation on her daughter, but experienced it herself following Habern’s death.

“I knew nothing about yoga while she was doing it. It was offered to caregivers, but at the time, I just felt like this is for her,” she said. “After she passed, I made a decision to hire a yoga instructor to do some one-onone, and I remember being on the mat, and I became very, very emotional.

One of the things the yoga instructor pointed out was this is part of the whole practice, and sometimes in doing this, the emotional part is like a burden being lifted.

“I didn’t go there sad. I didn’t go there feeling any kind of way other than I really want to learn some of these poses and how to make my practice more effective. It brought out something in me that I didn’t expect.”

The interplay between mental state and physical health in healing has perhaps always been a tangential part of a patient’s story. A person fighting serious disease is often described as having a warrior’s mentality, determined to beat their condition. Colloquialisms such as “laughter is the best medicine” also hint at the link between the brain and body.

As it turns out, such notions are more than mere mind games. Building on the well-known placebo effect — essentially where the body gets better because the mind says so — study after study shows that the better a patient’s psychological state, the better chance they have to heal. This fact is leading more in the health care industry to provide for the psychological and emotional side of their patients as an essential part of treatment.

“I have seen the difference between a negative attitude and a positive attitude, that attitude of, ‘I’m not going to let this get me. I’m going to survive this,’” said Jennifer Hare, a clinical nurse navigator with Genesis in Hot Springs. “Having a good positive attitude helps tremendously with the healing aspects.”

Hare, who has spent 24 years in her profession

34 . Mental Health Guide 2023

Terrell said yoga helped her after her daughter’s death, in addition to helping her daughter during her cancer battle.

worked in the ICU before spending the past two decades in oncology, heads a relatively new program at Genesis that serves as a ready resource for patients to feed their emotional and psychological health during treatment.

“All patients go through all the stages of grief. You see it numerous times,” she said. “About a year or year and a half ago, we started really seeing the need for our navigation program. We started seeing the need for patients to have education to know what’s going to happen, start to finish, and to have that single point of contact that we were missing.”

The clinical evidence of the balance of mind and body is relatively recent but overwhelming. One study published by the National Library of Medicine followed patients recovering from an unintentional injury. It found depression to be a major determinant of pain levels and healing. Patients reporting depression at one month following the injury were associated with significantly reduced odds of recovery at 12 months,

adjusting for demographic factors such as age and sex.

Other sources go further, suggesting that mental state not only speeds or impedes the healing process; it can bring on certain ailments to begin with. According to healthline.com, chronic stress has been linked to headaches, migraines and digestive issues; depression can be an underlying factor in eye problems and general pain; and unresolved trauma can trigger autoimmune disorders such as psoriasis and rheumatic arthritis.

Research has also shown the mental-physical door opens both ways, and people suffering from mental conditions are often at risk for a physical comorbidity that can greatly affect lifespan. The Mental Health Foundation found schizophrenia is associated with a tripled risk of dying from a respiratory disease and a doubled risk of dying from a form of heart disease.

Depression has been linked to a 50 percent increase in

Despite this research, the benefits of these psychological and social forces still receive much less attention than drug and device treatments.

“The health care and education systems in the United States generally do not emphasize psychosocial training. As a result, new doctors and health care workers take few courses on how to effectively form meaningful relationships with patients and how best to help them adopt useful mindsets.”

Hare concurred, saying the time spent in nursing school on tending to mental and emotional needs pales in comparison to hands-on medical training, despite nurses being in a prime bedside position to serve the whole patient.

“We had our mental health course, but I would say very little really prepares you for the actual realization of dealing with patients with this type of diagnosis,” she said. “We barely had any courses on oncology. It was like a very quick, ‘Oh hey, this is cancer and this is what it is.’ There’s not a lot of teaching a nurse how to have that compassion and to be able to listen to their patients. It’s learned more on the job than in nursing school.

“I also think in order — Jennifer Hare, to work in oncology, you clinical nurse navigator at Genesis already have to have a lot of that compassion built into you. It is a specialty a person’s risk of dying from cancer and a 67 percent area, and not all nurses can handle it. A lot of nurses increase in death from heart disease. develop that skill as they go through their career, but Despite source after source piling onto this mounwe’ve also had nurses that have come to work with us tain of evidence and a growing call for mental health and then are like, ‘Nope, this is not what I want to do.’” evaluation to be part of any diagnosis or ongoing treatThat said, there are examples of health care organiment plan, resources for patients in the field remain zations and practitioners who are paying better attenlimited. tion to the psychological needs of patients during and “I see this is a major need in the aspect of health after treatment. A model of this approach exists at Arcare,” Hare said. “There are not a lot of resources to kansas Children’s in Little Rock, where Jason Williams send patients to that need help and support. Levi Hosserves as the hospital’s first senior vice president and pital is a good place in Hot Springs that we can refer to, chief mental and behavioral health officer. The newly and there’s a couple other offices here in Hot Springs, created role, which came online in January 2023, overbut there is a major need for mental health assistance sees both outpatient therapy services and embedded in all aspects of medical care, regardless of what it is. mental health specialists working with children bat“I feel, personally, that years ago, when [the governtling disease. ment] started cutting all the funding to mental health, “The field of positive psychology has actually been that there were going to be issues because of that bestudying this for a long period of time, both on the cause there’s nowhere for these patients to go. It’s a chronic illness side of things, but also on the wellness huge need.” side,” Williams said. “We do know that when you have a The medical community overall has been slow to repositive outlook in life, generally, it affects how you overspond and step into the breach. As Stanford Medicine come adversity, such as how you might be able to manage reported, “Social context, including patients’ relationthe physical event of going through chemotherapy. ships with their doctors, as well as patients’ expecta“We also know that if I’m doing that on an ongotions about healing, can drive these placebo responses. ing basis — for example, by having a daily practice of

“There is a major need for mental health assistance in all aspects of medical care, regardless of what it is.”

armentalhealthguide.com . 35

“When you come through our doors, we’re considering both your mental and psychological needs, as well as your physical needs.”

— Jason Williams senior vice president and chief mental and behavioral health officer at Arkansas Children’s

positive affirmation with my family around the dinner table — I’m likely to have a better cardiovascular system. I might have lower blood pressure as a result of those types of conversations. While it might be subtle, we do see that brain chemistry changes with positive attitude.”

Arkansas Children’s approach when dealing with serious medical issues is to introduce mental health professionals from the get-go, giving them a seat at the same table as the various specialists who will coordinate the aspects of physical care.

“A way of thinking about it is a whole-child approach to care,” he said. “We have services where we know there’s a high risk for emotional need, such as something like a cancer diagnosis. Those services are automatically available. Kiddos and families have the capacity to be able to connect with a mental health professional as part of that team so that we can support the overall wellness and health for that and have the best outcome.

“When you come through our doors, we’re considering both your mental and psychological needs, as well as your physical needs. When you enter our emergency department, one of our emergency department physicians or [advanced practice registered nurses] is equipped to say, ‘I’m worried about how you feel. I’m worried about the screening that we just provided you with thoughts of self-harm. I’m going to get a mental health professional to come and speak with you.’ We have the ability to deploy somebody in that same way.”

Williams said while mental health services exist in health care, it is rare to have a system as formalized as Arkansas Children’s, complete with someone placed as high as he is in the administrative structure.

“Mental-health-in-chiefs are actually a new phenomenon in health care systems across the country,” he said. “There are a number of children’s hospitals that have started to build out a role like mine, and Arkansas Children’s Hospital is one of the first top 10 to do that in the country.

“There have been many different types of roles where mental health providers have really been sort of siloed off to the side of physical health. That doesn’t mean

36 . Mental Health Guide 2023

that there hasn’t been support at the patient level for mental health concerns, but really, the hospital system here is making the commitment and saying very boldly, ‘We are going to treat mental health at the same level that we would a surgeon or a pediatrician.’”

The next step in normalizing mental health care, Williams said, is to incorporate it into the more routine elements of doctoring and wellness.

“We have on hand a group of professional team members who can support mental health for kids who are here for physical needs, as well as those team members that are also embedded in both primary care, as well as our specialty care within the hospital itself,” Williams said. “We’re really trying to focus a lot of our efforts on the primary care setting, where we can identify kids when they go to the doctor to get their vaccinations or they go to the doctor to have their well checkup or their school physical to be able to play sports.

“We want that conversation to also include, ‘How is the family doing?’ and, ‘How is that child doing emotionally?’ so that we can support the pediatrician and also have a mental health professional alongside that doctor to be able to support the mental health of that family.”

Groundbreaking though the program may be, it has its work cut out for it in Arkansas, Williams said, from stemming the rising tide of youth suicide to improving the reach and access for families in the more remote portions of the state.

“Unfortunately, we still are living in a mental health crisis for youth,” he said. “When suicide is continuing to be the second leading cause of death for kids over 12, that’s a problem, and that’s a failure of our systems, broadly speaking, both societal as well as health care. That’s one of the reasons Arkansas Children’s is committed to this role and to me to come in and to try to figure out, ‘How do we do this?’ so that crisis gets averted and we actually deal with the future of wellbeing for the youth in our society. That’s the reality. We don’t shy away from that. We take on that challenge as it comes to us every day.

“A gap that I would say is still continuing to be a struggle is the reality of silo natures of health care

systems where you, at times, have one group of people working independently from another and may not always recognize that, if they worked collaboratively and more closely, that they could benefit and serve more effectively.”

Part of that effort lies with leveraging community resources such as nonprofits dedicated to advancing mental health as a normal part of wellness and healing. Terrell is part of that effort, having translated her lived experience and that of her daughter through Yoga Warriors Fighting Colon Cancer, a 501(c)3 nonprofit she launched in 2014.

“When [Queah] was battling the disease, at one point she was going to a hospital down in Texas, and they offered yoga to patients and caregivers, so she started doing yoga,” she said. “She called me one day and said, ‘Mom, I did yoga, and it made me feel better.’

That always resonated with me, so I thought, OK, let’s create an organization for cancer patients and any other person with an underlying illness or an illness that prohibits them from moving and running and racing.

Let’s create an organization that really caters to them, and at the same time, let’s introduce the rest of the community to yoga and let them see what the benefits are all about.

“The idea initially was just to raise money so we could provide this resource to cancer patients who really want to do it on a regular basis. That was our aim. As time passed, we just started growing and earning more money. More people were buying into what we believed in, and we grew from there.”

Today, the organization promotes awareness of early detection of colon and other cancers and helps pay for housing for cancer patients traveling for treatment.

It also has provided yoga activities to thousands by establishing yoga studios at health care facilities and via vouchers for free classes to patients and survivors honored at a network of studios in the state. While she would not disclose details, the group is also very close to announcing a big brick-and-mortar presence coming soon to central Arkansas.

With so much time and effort wrapped into the mission of her nonprofit, one would think Terrell would not miss an opportunity to practice yoga herself, but she confesses to being far more casual about it than her daughter was.

“There are times when I really get into it, and then other times, I kind of slack off,” she said. “I know a lot of the poses, and sometimes I’ll do those in my stretching routine.”

Nevertheless, it is immediately apparent how the practice has worked its magic in her life, helping her cope with loss and renewing her commitment to help other people fighting similar battles.

“You can do yoga without other people. You can actually learn the process and do it at home. The breathing

“The idea initially was just to raise money so we could provide this resource to cancer patients who really want to do it on a regular basis. That was our aim. As time passed, we just started growing and earning more money.

More people were buying into what we believed in, and we grew from there.”

— Donna Terrell, longtime local TV news personality

is just amazing. You can be sitting in the doctor’s office, and you can practice the breathing technique right there, I mean, actually doing it. It’s kind of incredible how it can work on you, not only mentally, but physically, also, because of the stretching, and while not everyone is as flexible as the next person, when you do this on a regular basis, your body starts to loosen up at its own pace, and that aids in healing, as well.

“There’s still the grief and all of that that I go through, but for me, that first day [of yoga] was one of the biggest stress relievers. I felt good for the rest of the day. It was the best kind of emotional release. When you think of these cancer survivors, once they buy into it and see that there truly is a benefit, that’s a kind of euphoric feeling that they get when they walk away. I like being able to offer that and to open more eyes to the practice and make people realize this is a really good thing.” ◊

armentalhealthguide.com . 37

House of Payne

Recovering addict channels life experiences into helping others

M

By Dwain Hebda // Photos by Dwain Hebda

onte Payne looked down disbelievingly at the crumpled money in his hand. He was in treatment, again, for what seemed like the thousandth time. Before him, a wideeyed girl, his stepdaughter, looked up at him with sorrow in her face. She had been sneaked into the facility to see him, bringing with her the meager currency. It was hardly enough for a couple of stale snacks from the hallway vending machine but was likely all she had in the world. “She gave me $7.85 and said, ‘Here, Daddy,’” Payne said. “I didn’t tell Mama I was up here, but I miss you.’”

Most people in recovery can tell some stories about their struggles, tales that defy the imagination of those who have not been there — tales of driving from one’s affluent home to score in a filthy abandoned house; of destroying themself one sip, one hit at a time; of numbing past pain enough to not care about ever feeling anything ever again.

Yet even as they relate the degradation that follows desperation, many will say rock bottom is often not what is shown on TV. It comes much more quietly, in simple moments of lucidity that calmly, steadily spell out the reality of one’s situation. Bottom, the very bottom, boils life down to simple choices that bring incredibly hard consequences. In a perverse way, it is not so much about dying — death is easy, after all, any fool can overdose — it is about summoning the will to do what it takes to live.

“You know what really, really, really helps me? It’s two things,” Payne said. “No. 1, I’ll call my sponsor because I work a 12-step program. I will also get with my grandbabies. I’ve got 10 of them now, and I’ll call one of the grandbabies in Russellville or here in Little Rock, and they’ll talk to me, and we’ll joke and go do stuff together.

“I live for my grandchildren. I love my wife, and I always have the love of my family. I know if I drink or use, it’s over for them.”

Monte Payne’s journey began about as far away from Arkansas as you can get, in a comfortable middle-class upbringing in Los Angeles. His parents were native Arkies lured to the West Coast for the sandy beaches and a carpet-laying business his father started. Payne recalls a close family unit who wanted for nothing

until his father’s occasional drinking turned into something that would rend the family at the seams.

“My father started drinking, really drinking. He became what you call a weekend drunk, and I remember that started creating some havoc in our family,” he said. “From time to time, he would have to be gone because he would go to jail for the weekend.

“My dad started fighting my mother — no blood or nothing, but they would swing at each other and fight, and my brother and I would lock ourselves in the bedroom, scared. One time I was 13, and I got so tired of it, I came in there and took a baseball bat to my father. Almost a year and a half later, my mother and father divorced.”

Payne remembers the home environment radically improving after his father moved out, but it did not take long for the elder’s absence to warp his life.

“It was better because of not having the arguments, but we were losing a parent in the household, which really affected me at the age of 14,” he said. “I started going down the street and being in places I didn’t need to be. Started smoking marijuana and stuff, drinking.

“Here’s the sad truth: I told myself no matter what I would do, I would never be like my father, and I was able to accomplish that. I became 30 or 40 times worse than my father.”

Payne’s choice of crowd deteriorated in high school when, in addition to drinking and getting high, he sank into gang life.

“I was a funny person, and I used to dance and stuff, and people used to like me,” he said. “I became a part of that group and, as I got older, started smoking marijuana regularly — gave me a little bit more confidence, or I thought it did — and drinking a little bit. Called it giving me some backbone and making me feel like I was a little tougher.

“I didn’t do a whole lot of the gangster stuff that a lot of the gangster dudes did. I stayed close to the area. I did some drivebys. I shot at a couple people — never could admit that I ever hit anybody, but I shot at people. The complete truth, I was unbelievably scared the whole time.”

Payne said while his lifestyle choices never affected his academic performance or ability to graduate from high school, it did

“Drug addiction is about being separate.

Recovery is about being together.”

38 . Mental Health Guide 2023

Monte Payne has worked in the substance-abuse field for 17 years and heads the peer and housing programs at Wolfe Street Foundation in Little Rock.

result in him fathering a child, a responsibility he ran from and kept secret for years.

“When I had a baby, I ran straight to the military, became a drunk in the military, and the military sent me home,” he said.

“I was in the Army, and then I got out and got back in real quick, into the Air Force. After I left the Air Force, I had a substance use disorder.”

His wardrobe of addiction changed as fashion tends to do.

Whatever the season or situation brought him, he clung to it, poured it down his throat or sucked it into his lungs. Weed to booze, booze to crack — addiction was as much a part of him as the color of his eyes, his habit coiled around his legs like razor wire that stopped him from moving forward.

Payne’s issues ran directly opposite to his straight-arrow brother and a mother who worked for the Los Angeles Police Department, and finally, enough was enough. Once, after Payne’s incorrigible behavior finally got him kicked out of the house for

two weeks, his brother reached out in a last-ditch attempt to save him.

“I was walking down my street, and my brother flagged me to the house,” he said. “I came over, and my mom let me take a shower, and she got rid of the clothes I had on and she let me put my old clothes on. I’m thinking, ‘They’re letting me stay in the house.

You had your lesson,’ but at that time, they knew I was dangerous and they did not need me there.

“You know that show Intervention? That is what happened.

They sat me down and said, ‘Monte, we’ve called this place. If you leave for treatment, you’ll get your car back, you can move back in here, and we can get you a job at the police station.’ I’ve never been so offended in my life. I never could see myself as the homeless crackhead I was. I saw myself as Monte, your son, your brother.

Go to a treatment center? I remember that day, my brother and me started arguing to the point where he grabbed me by my shirt, threw me out the house, and threw $10 or $20oej on a;lkmd the ground.

Cutlineal;kd ,dma;lI a;ldkmfeoa;idj a;ldkm leioa; armentalhealthguide.com . 39

Payne, who once lost almost everything to drugs and alcohol, now works to help others get clean and sober.

just picked the money up and cussed them out and went walking.”

Living on the street was a sort of suspended animation as Payne’s life devolved into a daily struggle for survival and drugs with little thought of the future.

“Homelessness was something that I had never believed would ever happen to me, but I became homeless, and then I pretty much gave up,” he said. “That’s the sad truth about drugs — drugs changed my mind to make me not even see that I had a problem. I think that stuff ate my brain up at that time. I was sleeping in station wagons. One time I had a station wagon in a parking lot, and there was a dog in the station wagon. I had to convince the dog to get out of the car so I could get in and sleep.

“I ended up with some other guys who were homeless, and we ended up robbing this guy to the point where we ran to another city. My brother found me and brought me back to Los Angeles, and they put me on a bus to Arkansas, where my dad was.”

As much umbrage as Payne took at his family’s attempted intervention, he welcomed the change of venue. He spent the hours on the bus planning the next chapter of his life and, for the first time in a long time, things looked hopeful, like they would be different.

“I told myself the whole ride, ‘Thank 40 . Mental Health Guide 2023

you, God. I will never do this crap again, God. Things are going to be different,’” he said. “As soon as I got off the bus, I bought me a 40-ouncer of beer with my cousin.”

Payne eventually moved to Morrilton and achieved a certain stability with a new relationship and steady work at a local chicken plant, but as the old saying goes, "No matter where you go, there you are,” and Payne’s familiar demons would catch up with him.

“Well, guess what happens? Guess what comes to Arkansas? Crack,” he said.

“Four years later, in 1991, I was back on that crack. Went in and out of treatment centers. There’s a whole lot of stories I could tell you.”

To all the world, it appeared as though Payne was up to his old tricks, but in reality, this time it was different. This time, he was fighting back.

“I got sober; first I got sober in 1994 for like, five years, and then I relapsed, and then I got sober again,” he said. “I went to treatment 11 times; I went to one treatment center in Russellville three times.

I remember I changed my social security number to sneak in there. I had a hell of a struggle with substance abuse — in and out, in and out.”

“Then that day came with my daughter bringing me that money and my daughter telling me she missed me. It’s been almost 19 years, and I ain’t touched nothing.”

Ironically, his extended time in treatment centers led him to his life’s work.

On the suggestion of a staffer, he started volunteering to help others in their battle to get clean. He not only found the work invigorating, but he was good at it. Volunteering turned to part-time work, and that turned into a 17-year career in the substance abuse field, his latest gig being overseeing the peer and housing programs at Wolfe Street Foundation in Little Rock.

In that role, he trains others who have walked the same path to be a resource for those just starting on the road to sobriety.

“A peer-support person can take a person with a substance use disorder to a meeting with them. They can take that person to a workout session, or they can share some of their own experiences through their own recovery to support another individual,” he said. “They already know the majority of service systems in the city their person’s in. They’ve probably been to detox. They’ve probably been to treatment. They probably had to reconcile with children or work with the judicial system. These are some of the things the peer-support person can connect with the peer.”

Payne said he understands the remarkable second chance he has been given through sobriety, and he has tried not to waste any of it. He has reconciled with family members he hurt, including his mother and the son he kept secret for so long. He said he enjoys his work, and while he harbors no illusion as to the nature of his disease, he spent nearly two decades trying to refashion what he went through into a positive message for others.

“I tell everybody to this day, I’m like the LeBron [James] of substance use disorder in Arkansas because I’ve done been there, and I done played, and I had good scores!” he said. “People make me happy; I interact good with people. I listen. I was taught by some really strong individuals, and I’ve seen a lot of what not to do also. I’m very proud to say I was one of the people that helped develop peer support in Arkansas.

“A clinician can send you someplace, but a peer can take you there and be there with you. That’s the difference, and that’s important. If you feel like you’re together, you feel whole. If you feel like you’re apart, you keep trying to fill that hole. Drug addiction is about being separate. Recovery is about being together.” ◊

INTERVENTIONAL PSYCHIATRY The FUTURE of mental health care.

The Psychiatric Research Institute at UAMS offers pioneering Interventional Psychiatry treatments for depression, bipolar disorder and other mental health conditions.

Interventional Psychiatry treatments include several FDA-approved treatments that are particularly effective when these conditions have not improved through the use of antidepressants or psychotherapy.

Interventional Psychiatry treatments available at UAMS include:  Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) - for severe depression or bipolar disorder that have not responded to other forms of treatment.  Ketamine or esketamine (brand name Spravato™) - highly effective in treating adult patients with treatment-resistant depression.

For more information, visit UAMS.Health/interventional.

If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction, you don’t have to do it alone!

Here to help because we’ve been there!

Peer Support Recovery Meetings Recovery Events Recovery Housing Get help, give help, or make a donation at www.wolfestreet.org.

1015 Louisiana St. Little Rock, AR (501) 372-5662

Together we

recover

armentalhealthguide.com . 41

Our clients have opportunities to go to a local fitness center, rock climbing center, batting cages, and escape rooms to learn how recovery can be fun!

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, Serenity Park Recovery Center is here to help.

Serenity Park Recovery Center strives to provide tools to enable a lifetime of recovery and healthy living using holistic evidence-based treatments to treat the mind, body, and spirit.

www.serenityparkrecovery.com

• Individual & Group Therapy • Couples Therapy • Trauma/PTSD Treatment • Grief Counseling • EMDR • Eating Disorder Treatment • Dialectical Behavior Therapy • Psychiatric Services • Telehealth Services • Nutrition Counseling • Yoga

A Holistic Approach to Mental Health Care

5905 Forest Place, Suite 230, Little Rock 501-777-3200 riverstonewellnesscenter.com

To schedule an appointment, please give us a call at 501-777-3200.

42 . Mental Health Guide 2023

Health in Every Corner:

R

River Valley Medical Wellness

iver Valley Medical Wellness opened in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the already growing opioid and mental health crises facing the state and the country. In just three years, the business has grown from serving 30 patients to over 3,600, with coverage spanning 62 of the 75 counties in Arkansas.

“When we started, we had no idea the real depth and enormity of the crisis,” said River Valley founder Dr. Kristin Martin. “As more people have reached out for help, our team has risen to meet the need. We are a team that responds well to crises, and we don’t ever turn someone away who needs help.”

River Valley Medical Wellness has clinics in Russellville and Hot Springs, and Dr. Martin and her team are on a mission to provide lifesaving care to even more people. Through a partnership with the Arkansas Mobile Opioid Recovery nonprofit, RVMW will help deploy mobile health clinics in all corners of the state. These mobile units will provide integrated care to those in need — especially those in rural and underserved areas, where access to mental health and addiction care is even more limited.

“Instead of expecting everyone to come find us, we actively reach out to serve patients where they are,” Dr. Martin said. “By reaching out and recognizing the barriers for our patients caused by social determinants of health, we are able to serve these communities unlike many others.”

As an independently owned practice, RVMW is able to provide individualized care in a way that larger, corporate-owned clinics cannot.

Meeting patients where they are — in everything from mental health and addiction care to traditional primary care needs — is the hallmark of Dr. Martin’s team. The providers are board-certified and specialists in their areas, working together to give patients wraparound services with access to the resources they need to be successful. The clinic also has five peer recovery support specialists, whose lived experience with addiction

and mental health gives patients an even deeper level of understanding and support.

Dr. Martin’s experience as an osteopathic physician adds another important dimension to the care RVMW is able to provide. In addition to serving as the president of the Arkansas Society for Addiction Medicine and being board certified in both family practice and addiction medicine, Dr. Martin brings a comprehensive approach to medical care that treats people rather than symptoms.

“Oftentimes, we find that there is a more fully developed root cause that is causing those symptoms,” she said. “We believe that mind, body and spirit are all interconnected. What patients feel physically is often related to an underlying emotional feeling. It’s important to acknowledge and respect that.”

This is especially vital for addiction care because the use of opioids can be connected to both physical and psychological pain, trauma and stressors. River Valley’s integrative approach to substance use disorder combines medical treatments with evidence-based therapies such as mental health care and peer recovery support. The clinic has licensed therapists and counselors who specialize in addressing conditions such as depression and anxiety, which can contribute to addiction. This holistic method has been shown to be incredibly effective in helping individuals overcome their addiction.

“Individuals receive treatment for their physical, mental and emotional well-being, which is essential for lasting recovery,” Dr. Martin said. “We believe in all pathways to recovery. Each individual is unique, and we are committed to providing practical solutions to each patient’s complex medical care.”

Kristin Martin, D.O., M.S., FAAFP, FASAM, FACOFP

rvmwellness.com | 833-479-4325 ​2600 West Main Street, Russellville, AR 72801 | 1820 Central Avenue, Ste M Hot Springs, AR 71913 armentalhealthguide.com . 43

MEN TA L HE A LT H ARKANSAS COUNTY Southeast Arkansas Behavioral Healthcare System 870-673-1633 121 Commercial Drive “B” Stuttgart sabhs.org ASHLEY COUNTY Delta Counseling Associates 870-364-6471 1308 W. Fifth St. Crossett deltacounseling.org Phoenix Youth and Family Services 870-364-1676 310 N. Alabama St. Crossett phoenixyouth.com BAXTER COUNTY Chenal Family Therapy 870-340-2636 711 Bradley Drive Mountain Home chenaltherapy.com Community Service 870-425-3840 312 Bomber Blvd.

Mountain Home csiyouth.com Families 870-425-1041 400 S. College St., Suite 2 Mountain Home familiesinc.net BENTON COUNTY Chenal Family Therapy 479-595-0333 632 Lancashire Blvd.

Bella Vista chenaltherapy.com Chenal Family Therapy 479-595-0333 5507 W. Walsh Lane, Suite 201 Rogers chenaltherapy.com Community Service 479-278-7028 1200 W. Walnut St., Suite B-1100 Rogers csiyouth.com

CARROLL COUNTY Chenal Family Therapy 870-340-2636 702 N. Main St., Suite F Harrison chenaltherapy.com

CLEVELAND COUNTY Southeast Arkansas Behavioral Healthcare System 401 N. Main St., Suite 2 Rison sabhs.org

Community Service 870-280-3468 200 Arkansas 43 E., Unit 7 Harrison csiyouth.com

COLUMBIA COUNTY Methodist Family Health 870-234-0739 621 E. North St. Magnolia methodistfamily.org

Community Service 870-929-6023 605 BB Eureka Ave. Berryville csiyouth.com CHICOT COUNTY Delta Counseling Associates 870-265-3808 1127 Second St. Lake Village deltacounseling.org Phoenix Youth and Family Services 870-265-6005 412A U.S. 82 and 65 Lake Village phoenixyouth.com CLARK COUNTY Arkansas Counseling & Psychodiagnostics 870-230-8217 2607 Caddo St., Suite 6 Arkadelphia acapcounseling.com Rise Counseling & Diagnostics 501-891-5492 702 Hickory St. Arkadelphia riseforfamilies.com Ouachita Behavioral Health & Wellness 870-246-4123 640 S. Sixth St., Suite A Arkadelphia obhaw.org CLAY COUNTY Families 870-598-0306 111 South Third Ave. Piggott familiesinc.net

Fresh Roots Counseling 479-986-8655 3901 W. Financial Parkway Rogers freshrootsfamilycounseling.com

CLEBURNE COUNTY Chenal Family Therapy 501-781-2230 105 S. Second St. Heber Springs chenaltherapy.com

Oasis of Northwest Arkansas 479-268-4340 Bella Vista, Rogers oasisforwomennwa.org

Community Service 501-362-2840 115 W. Clinton St. Heber Springs csiyouth.com

Woodland Research Northwest 479-927-3000 609 W. Dyke Road Rogers joinaresearchstudy.com BRADLEY COUNTY Delta Counseling Associations 870-226-5856 1404 E. Church St. Warren deltacounseling.org 44 . Mental Health Guide 2023

Counseling Associates 501-206-0831 115 S. Third St. Heber Springs caiinc.org Methodist Family Health 501-365-3022 515 W. Main St. Heber Springs methodistfamily.org

CONWAY COUNTY Community Service 501-354-4589 100 S. Cherokee St. Morrilton csiyouth.com Counseling Associates 501-345-1561 8 Hospital Drive Morrilton caiinc.org CRAIGHEAD COUNTY Chenal Family Therapy 870-340-2636 2803 Creek Drive, Suite D Jonesboro chenaltherapy.com Crowley’s Ridge Development Council Regional Prevention Program 870-933-0033 2401 Fox Meadow Lane Jonesboro crdcnea.org Families 870-933-6886 1815 Pleasant Grove Road Jonesboro familiesinc.net Methodist Family Health 870-910-3757 2239 S. Caraway Road, Suite M Jonesboro methodistfamily.org Methodist Family Health 870-932-8880 211 Church St. Bono methodistfamily.org Renew Mental Health and Wellness 870-243-0424 1150 E. Matthews Drive Jonesboro renewmentalhealthandwellness.com CRAWFORD COUNTY The Guidance Center 479-474-8084 2705 Oak Lane Van Buren wacgc.org Methodist Family Health 479-632-1022 1209 U.S. 71 N., Suite B Alma methodistfamily.org DALLAS COUNTY Millcreek Behavioral Health 855-508-1794 1828 Industrial Drive Fordyce millcreekbehavioralhealth.com

DESHA COUNTY Delta Counseling Associates 870-382-4001 741 U.S. 65 S. Dumas deltacounseling.org Phoenix Youth and Family Services 870-382-4309 130 Waterman St. Dumas phoenixyouth.com DREW COUNTY Delta Counseling Associates 870-367-2461 790 Roberts Drive Monticello deltacounseling.org The Centers 870-460-0066 936 Jordan Drive Monticello thecentersar.com Phoenix Youth and Family Services 870-367-0711 809 U.S. 278 Monticello pheonixyouth.com

Immerse Arkansas 501-404-9890 1511 Caldwell St. Conway immersearkansas.org Renewal Ranch 501-269-4306 75 Lake Drive Houston therenewalranch.org Rise Counseling & Diagnostics 501-891–5492 1000 SWN Drive, Suite 101 Conway riseforfamilies.com FRANKLIN COUNTY Community Service 479-667-5855 203 N. Fourth St. Ozark csiyouth.com The Guidance Center 479-667-2497 1600 N. 18th St. Ozark wacgc.org

FAULKNER COUNTY Argenta Counseling + Wellness 501-777-5969 815 Exchange Ave., Suite 109 Conway

GARLAND COUNTY Chenal Family Therapy 501-781-2230 100 Ridgeway St., Suite 2 Hot Springs chenaltherapy.com

Arkansas Families First 501-812-4268 1100 Bob Courtway Drive, Suites 8 and 9 Conway arfamiliesfirst.com

Levi Hospital 501-624-1281 300 Prospect Ave. Hot Springs levihospital.com

Birch Tree Communities 501-315-3344 132 Lower Ridge Road Conway birchtree.org Chenal Family Therapy 501-781-2230 800 Exchange Ave., Suite 103 Conway chenaltherapy.com Community Service 501-327-9788 818 N. Creek Drive Conway csiyouth.com Community Service — Conway Day Services 501-327-9788 816 N. Creek Drive Conway csiyouth.com Conway Behavioral Health 833-670-0729 2255 Sturgis Road Conway conwaybh.com Conway Regional Counseling Center 501-358-6695 495 Hogan Lane, Suite 2 Conway conwayregional.org Counseling Associates 501-336-8300 350 Salem Road Conway caiinc.org

Methodist Family Health 501-318-6066 100 Ridgeway St., Suite 5 Hot Springs methodistfamily.org Natural State Behavioral Health 501-601-5107 1401 Malvern Ave., No. 100 Hot Springs Ouachita Behavioral Health & Wellness 501-624-7111 125 Wellness Way Hot Springs obhaw.org Ouachita Children’s Center 501-623-5591 339 Charteroak St. Hot Springs occnet.org River Valley Wellness 833-479-4325 1820 Central Ave., Suite M Hot Springs rvmwellness.com TLC 501-492-9456 1401 Malvern Ave., Suite 20 Hot Springs tlcincstableconnections.com GRANT COUNTY Southeast Arkansas Behavioral Healthcare System 870-942-5101 301 N. Oak St. Sheridan sabhs.org

RESOURCE GUIDE GREENE COUNTY Families 870-335-9483 1101 Morgan St., Suite 8 Paragould familiesinc.net HOT SPRING COUNTY Ouachita Behavioral Health & Wellness 501-332-5236 1615 MLK Blvd.

Malvern obhaw.org INDEPENDENCE COUNTY Community Service 870-569-5112 2503 Harrison St. Batesville csiyouth.com Crowley’s Ridge Development Council Regional Prevention Program 2485 Harrison St., Suite 5 Batesville crdcnea.org IZARD COUNTY Birch Tree Communities 501-3030-3126 105 Arkansas 9 Oxford birchtree.org Community Service 870-368-0026 24 E. Main St. Melbourne csiyouth.com JACKSON COUNTY Birch Tree Communities 501-315-3344 210 Third St. Newport birchtree.org JEFFERSON COUNTY Southeast Arkansas Behavioral Healthcare System 870-534-1834 2500 Rike Drive Pine Bluff sabhs.org JOHNSON COUNTY Birch Tree Communities 501-315-3344 706 Brown St. Clarksville birchtree.org Community Service 479-754-7296 106 Cherokee Lane Clarksville Csiyouth.com

LEE COUNTY Crowley’s Ridge Development Council Regional Prevention Program 870-819-7756 593 Arkansas 243 Marianna crdcnea.org LINCOLN COUNTY Southeast Arkansas Behavioral Healthcare System 870-628-4181 612 E. Arkansas St. Star City 71667 sabhs.org LOGAN COUNTY The Guidance Center 479-675-3909 174 N. Welsh Ave. Booneville wacgc.org The Guidance Center 479-963-2140 415 S. Sixth St. Paris wacgc.org LONOKE COUNTY Chenal Family Therapy 501-781-2230 12406 Arkansas 5, Suite C Cabot chenaltherapy.com MADISON COUNTY Community Service 479-326-8123 400 W. Main St., Suite A Huntsville csiyouth.com MILLER COUNTY Chenal Family Therapy 870-340-2636 1305 Arkansas Blvd., Suite 101 Texarkana chenaltherapy.com Riverview Behavioral Health 877-469-0840 701 Arkansas Blvd.

Texarkana riverviewbehavioralhealth.com Southwest Arkansas Counseling and Mental Health Center 870-773-4655 2904 Arkansas Blvd.

Texarkana swacmhc.net MISSISSIPPI COUNTY Families 870-622-0592 3201 W. Keiser Ave. Osceola familiesinc.net

Counseling Associates 479-754-8610 1021 Poplar St. Clarksville caiinc.org

MONTGOMERY COUNTY Ouachita Behavioural Health & Wellness 870-867-2147 128 S. George St. Mount Ida obhaw.org

LAWRENCE COUNTY Families 870-886-5303 1425 W. Main St. Walnut Ridge familiesinc.net

OUACHITA COUNTY Ouachita County Medical Center 870-836-1000 638 California Ave. SW Camden ouachitamedcenter.com

PERRY COUNTY Counseling Associates 501-889-1590 206 W. Main St. Perryville caiinc.org PIKE COUNTY Ouachita Behavioral Health & Wellness 870-782-0179 371 U.S. 70 E., Suite A Glenwood obhaw.org POLK COUNTY The Guidance Center 479-394-5277 307 S. Cherry St. Mena wacgc.org POPE COUNTY Birch Tree Communities 501-315-3344 210 N. Shamrock Blvd.

Russellville birchtree.org Chenal Family Therapy 479-595-0333 2621 W. Main St., Suite 2B Russellville chenaltherapy.com Community Service 479-967-3370 1505 S. Oswego Ave. Russellville csiyouth.com Community Service — Russellville Day Services 479-967-3370 1415 S. Oswego Ave. Russellville csiyouth.com Counseling Associates 479-968-1298 110 Skyline Road Russellville 479-968-1298 River Valley Medical Wellness 833-479-4325 2600 W. Main St. Russellville rvmwellness.com PULASKI COUNTY Argenta Counseling + Wellness 501-777-5969 513 Main St. North Little Rock argentacounseling.com Argenta Counseling + Wellness 501-777-5969 601 Main St. North Little Rock argentacounseling.com Argenta Counseling + Wellness 501-777-5969 3321 S. Bowman Road, Suite I Little Rock argentacounseling.com Arkansas Department of Health 800-462-0599 4815 W. Markham St. Little Rock healthy.arkansas.gov

Arkansas Families First 501-812-4268 4004 McCain Blvd., Suite 203 North Little Rock arfamiliesfirst.com

H.E.R. Counseling & Wellness 501-503-7675 250 Smokey Lane North Little Rock hercounseling.org

Arkansas State Hospital 501-686-9000 305 S. Palm St. Little Rock uamshealth.com humanservices.arkansas.gov

Immerse Arkansas 501-404-9890 5300 Asher Ave. Little Rock immersearkansas.org

Behavioral Health Services of Arkansas 501-954-7470 10 Corporate Hill Drive, Suite 330 Little Rock bhsarkansas.org The BridgeWay 501-667-1500 21 Bridgeway Road North Little Rock thebridgeway.com BOHEMIA Cares 501-777-8068 P.O. Box 5875 Jacksonville bohemiacares.org

Kaleidoscope Grief Center 501-537-3991 1600 Aldersgate Road, Suite 100B Little Rock methodistfamily.org The Magnolia Recovery Community Center 501-454-6811 3601 W. Roosevelt Road Little Rock Methodist Behavioral Hospital 501-803-3388 1601 Murphy Drive Maumelle methodistfamily.org

The Centers 501-664-4308 6425-6601 W. 12th St. Little Rock thecentersar.com

Methodist Family Health 501-661-0720 2002 S. Fillmore St. Little Rock methodistfamily.org

The Centers 501-664-4308 1521 Merrill Drive D220 Little Rock thecentersar.com

Methodist Family Health 501-537-3991 1600 Aldersgate Road, Suite 100B Little Rock methodistfamily.org

The Centers 501-664-4308 5800 W. 10th St., Suite 101 Little Rock thecentersar.com

Methodist Family Health 501-906-4250 2000 Aldersgate Road Little Rock methodistfamily.org

Chenal Family Therapy 501-781-2230 2504 McCain Blvd., Suite 200 North Little Rock chenaltherapy.com Chenal Family Therapy 501-781-2230 10311 W. Markham St. Little Rock chenaltherapy.com Children’s Protection Center 501-364-5490 1210 Wolfe St. Little Rock childrensprotectioncenter.org

Mindy Moore Psychotherapy 501-214-0000 415 N. McKinley St., Suite 635 Little Rock mindymoorepsychotherapy.com National Alliance on Mental Illness Arkansas 800-844-0381 1012 Autumn Road, Suite 1 Little Rock namiarkansas.org

Dark Horse Medicinals darkhorsemedicinals.com

Natural State Recovery Centers 501-319-7074 924 Main St. Little Rock naturalstaterecovery.com

Empower Healthcare Solutions 866-261-1286 17500 Chenal Parkway, No. 300 Little Rock getempowerhealth.com

Natural State Recovery Centers 501-319-7074 10025 Oakland Drive North Little Rock naturalstaterecovery.com

Families 501-982-5000 2126 N. First St., Suite. F Jacksonville familiesinc.net

Pinnacle Pointe Behavioral Healthcare 501-223-3322 11501 Financial Centre Parkway Little Rock pinnaclepointehospital.com

Freshly Renewed Transitional Treatment 501-663-0708 8404 Baseline Road Little Rock freshlyrenewedtransitional.org

Recovery Centers of Arkansas 501-372-4611 2919 Sibley Hole Road Little Rock rcofa.org armentalhealthguide.com . 45

RESOURCE GUIDE Recovery Centers of Arkansas — The Oasis Renewal Center 14913 Cooper Orbit Road Little Rock 501-376-2747 Rise Counseling & Diagnostics 501-891-5492 12921 Cantrell Road, Suite 105 Little Rock riseforfamilies.com Rise Counseling & Diagnostics 501-891-5492 1900 Aldersgate Road Little Rock riseforfamilies.com Rise Counseling & Diagnostics 501-891-5492 4901 Northshore Drive North Little Rock riseforfamilies.com Rise Counseling & Diagnostics 501-891-5492 1540 Country Club Road Sherwood riseforfamilies.com RiverStone Wellness Center 501-777-3200 5905 Forest Place, Suite 230 Little Rock riverstonewellnesscenter.com

RANDOLPH COUNTY Families 870-892-1005 2305 Old County Road Pocahontas familiesinc.net SALINE COUNTY Argenta Counseling + Wellness 501-777-5969 3401 Arkansas 5, Suite 2 Bryant argentacounseling.com Birch Tree Communities 501-315-3344 1718 Old Hot Springs Highway Benton birchtree.org

Chenal Family Therapy 501-781-2230 3405 Market Place Ave., Suite 200 Bryant chenaltherapy.com

TMS Arkansas 501-313-2678 700 S. Schiller St. Little Rock tmsarkansas.com

Rise Counseling & Diagnostics 501-891-5492 205 River St. Benton riseforfamilies.com

Unity Health — Clarity Health & Wellness Jacksonville 501-453-6000 1300 Braden St., Pod A Jacksonville unity-health.org

Rivendell Behavioral Health Services 501-302-8155 100 Rivendell Drive Benton rivendellofarkansas.com

46 . Mental Health Guide 2023

Methodist Family Health 479-582-5565 74 W. Sunbridge Drive Fayetteville methodistfamily.org

Arkansas Regional Services Committee of Narcotics Anonymous 800-501-1607

SEVIER COUNTY Chenal Family Therapy 870-340-2636 304 W. Collin Raye Drive, Suite 103-A De Queen chenaltherapy.com

Springwoods Behavioral Health 479-973-6000 1955 Truckers Drive Fayetteville springwoodsbehavioral.com

National Alliance for Eating Disorders Helpline 866-662-1235

Community Service 870-269-6635 200 S. Peabody Ave. Mountain View csiyouth.com

Chenal Family Therapy 501-781-2230 3230 Market Place Ave., Suite 4 Bryant chenaltherapy.com

Youth Home 501-821-5500 20400 Colonel Glenn Road Little Rock youthhome.org

Valley Behavioral Health System 855-485-2916 10301 Mayo Drive Barling valleybehavioral.com

Birch Tree Communities — Benton Hope House 501-303-1665 1560 Mary Kay Blvd.

Benton birchtree.org

Strategic Counseling 501-400-0353 4 Shackleford Plaza Little Rock 501-400-0353

Wolfe Street Foundation 501-372-5662 1015 Louisiana St. Little Rock wolfestreet.org

DIRECT LINE Arkansas Crisis Center Hotline 988

STONE COUNTY Birch Tree Communities 501-303-3230 218 Dogwood Hollow Road Mountain View birchtree.org

Serenity Park Recovery Center 501-313-0066 2711 W.Roosevelt Road Little Rock serenityparkrecovery.com

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Psychiatric Research Institute 4224 Shuffield Drive Little Rock 501-526-8100 uams.edu

Community Service 479-365-7250 3291 S. Thompson St., Suite D 103 Springdale csiyouth.com

Birch Tree Communities — Arkansas Health Center 501-315-3344 6701 U.S. S, Building 4 Benton birchtree.org

Birch Tree Communities — Benton Town Center 501-315-3165 1502 Mary Kay Blvd.

Benton birchtree.org

Susan L. Bryant, Ph.D., Behavioral Health Services 501-808-1230 415 N. McKinley St., Suite 635 Little Rock sbbhs.com

The Guidance Center 479-452-6650 3111 S. 70th St. Fort Smith wacgc.org

SCOTT COUNTY The Guidance Center 479-637-2468 1857 Rice Road Waldron wacgc.org SEARCY COUNTY Counseling Associates 870-448-2176 316 U.S. 65 N. Marshall caiinc.org SEBASTIAN COUNTY Chenal Family Therapy 479-595-0333 5111 Rogers Ave., Suite 561 Fort Smith chenaltherapy.com

Counseling Associates 870-269-4193 106 Mountain Place Drive Mountain View caiinc.org Crowley’s Ridge Development Council Regional Prevention Program 870-269-6105 1708 E. Main St. Mountain View crdcnea.org UNION COUNTY Chenal Family Therapy 870-340-2636 600 S. Timberlane Drive El Dorado chenaltherapy.com VAN BUREN COUNTY Birch Tree Communities 501-315-3344 242 Shake Rag Road Clinton birchtree.org Chenal Family Therapy 501-781-2230 261 Court St. Clinton chenaltherapy.com Community Service 501-745-2956 119 Shake Rag Road Clinton csiyouth.com Counseling Associates 501-745-8007 244 U.S. 65 S., Suite 6 Clinton caiinc.org WASHINGTON COUNTY Chenal Family Therapy 479-595-0333 34 W. Colt Square, Suite 1 Fayetteville chenaltherapy.com

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Psychiatry Clinic 479-713-8350 3425 N. Futrall Drive, Suite 103 Fayetteville uamshealth.com Vantage Point Behavioral Health Hospital 866-433-2964 4253 N. Crossover Road Fayetteville vantagepointnwa.com Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks 479-443-4301 1100 N. College Ave. Fayetteville fayettevillear.va.gov WHITE COUNTY Capstone Treatment Center 866-729-4479 120 Meghan Lane Judsonia capstonetreatmentcenter.com Chenal Family Therapy 501-781-2230 1554 W. Beebe Capps Expressway Searcy chenaltherapy.com YELL COUNTY Community Service 479-495-5177 1408 E. Eighth St. Danville csiyouth.com Counseling Associates 479-495-5557 750 Boston St. Danville caiinc.org STATEWIDE Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield 501-378-2000 601 S. Gaines St. Little Rock arkansasbluecross.com National Alliance on Mental Illness Arkansas 800-844-0381 1012 Autumn Road, Suite 1 Little Rock namiarkansas.org

Arkansas Alcoholics Anonymous 501-664-7303

Emergency Services 911

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 800-273-8255 Red Nacional de Prevención del Suicidio 888-628-9454 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 800-662-4357 Veteran Call Center 877-927-8387 WEBSITES American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Arkansas Chapter afsp.org/arkansas Arkansas Central Office of Alcoholics Anonymous arkansascentraloffice.org Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration samhsa.gov National Resource Directory nrd.gov State Departments of Veterans Affairs veterans.arkansas.gov

Let Our Family Care for Yours Clinton

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Your primary care physician extends beyond just tending to your physical health—they are also key in supporting your overall well-being.

Developing a relationship with your primary care provider is essential, given that a segment of your annual wellness exam helps evaluate your mental health.

With 9 primary care locations serving 7 counties, we believe in building lasting relationships, centered on trust and personalized care. Take control of your healthcare journey with us as your dedicated partner.

Schedule your in-person or virtual appointment today by visiting ConwayRegional.org or calling our Patient Navigation Center at 501-506-CRHS.