Even in good years, mental health services are extremely difficult for the families we serve to obtain, even as they deal with high levels of stress, anxiety and depression brought on by poverty. In 2020 the pandemic raised these levels to the breaking point and we knew we had to act. We decided to become a part of a global mental health pilot project designed to bring mental health services to low income communities.
Low-intensity Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – abbreviated LICBT – is a global movement designed to increase access to mental health care by means of training laypeople to deliver quality care in their communities for pennies on the dollar that such care normally costs. The movement began in Britain twenty years ago and has since spread to India, Gaza and Mexico. Studies find LICBT treatment outcomes to be on par with those achieved by traditional forms of care.
In January 2021, the first-ever LICBT training program in the United States will be launched by Uncommon Good together with an international team of LICBT experts. The program will provide 40 hours of online training to 20 low-income immigrant Latinx mothers and will be divided into two parts. The first 20 hours teaches the students evidence-based cognitive and behavioral tools to address anxiety, stress and depression. The last 20 hours focus on training students to become community mental health workers, known as promotoras, sharing the skills they’ve learned with others. Pre- and post data is collected and analyzed to measure the efficacy of both the training program and the LICBT that the promotoras will provide to their families and peers.
If funding can be secured, additional classes will be held to train more promotoras in LICBT and put them to work in their communities.
Click here to hear an interview with one of Uncommon Good’s mental health promotoras: https://danielmintie.com/low-intensity-cbt-trainees-launch/
Click here to watch an interview with Uncommon Good promotora Maria Elena and others about one of the techniques of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the shame attack: https://danielmintie.com/and-the-2021-world-shame-attacking-champions-are/
Click here to watch Daniel Mintie, LCSW give an update on our mental health program: https://danielmintie.com/su-doctora-esta-dentro-your-doctor-is-in/
