All-in-One Mental Wellness Hub

Momentum Counselling now includes the Mental Health Co-Pilots (MHC) as an additional new program to support clients. MHC is a wayfinding service that uses an intersectional lens to help Albertans navigate the mental healthcare system, connecting clients to mental health supports tailored to their unique needs, values, and budget. MHC supports clients who require mental healthcare beyond the scope of Momentum’s solution-focused modality, ensuring that no one gets left behind. Some examples include supports for substance use, domestic violence, 2SLGBTQIA+, complex trauma, and culturally-informed and representative service providers.

Through MHC, we have a dedicated team of volunteers who provide a regularly updated database of over 1300 care providers for clients and professionals to utilize. Through this comprehensive resource, we can enhance accessibility to tailored mental health resources and can better address long wait times, financial constraints, and mental health stigma – promoting family-centered care, and improving access to culturally responsive services. MHC wayfinding services are strengths-based, client-centered, and egalitarian. We honor client values, allow clients to define their needs, and collaborate to find mental health supports in the community. 

Momentum strives to reduce barriers to accessing mental health care. Our mission is to strengthen the mental and emotional wellness of our community with education, connection, and support through professional, compassionate, and accessible counselling and group programs. However, when Momentum’s counselling services and group programs are not a good fit for individuals, MHC helps to connect them with mental health supports they need, when they need them, thus also helping to expand clients’ networks of support.  

This new program also provides opportunities for counselling and social work interns and clinical team members at Momentum to build skills in resource wayfinding and provides MHC volunteers with clinical support when needed. MHC also provides additional opportunities for prospective counsellors to explore a career in mental health.

To ensure this project is successful, we recognize there is a need for funds to manage the MHC program: Expenses such as materials, website costs, licensing for digital marketing, promotional materials such as the MHC cards, banners, materials for networking, and costs associated with publishing the provider database on the websites.

This service will benefit anyone looking for mental health supports and resources in the community.  Wayfinding helps people find local services, understand and choose between treatment options, navigate cost and payment options, contact therapy providers to request an intake appointment, develop social connections, and more.  Navigating options available for mental health care in the community can be time-consuming, overwhelming, and disheartening, especially at a time when individuals are vulnerable, struggling, or feeling hopeless.  Wayfinding aims to share the load that individuals experience in their unique mental health journeys, and employs a strengths-based approach for personalized support that is aligned with diverse individual needs and values. 

As the Alberta Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Council (2022) suggests, “Individuals are more likely to engage and participate in other components of the recovery ecosystem when they are ‘assertively linked’ or personally supported as they make the connection than through simple referral” (p. 19). There are limitations to using technology to find resources; nothing compares to the power of human interaction that validates, listens, and cares. Having a support person assist with navigating community resources and the mental healthcare system, and finding personalized supports during difficult times can significantly reduce the stress of seeking help.

This project is expected to benefit over 1,000 current Momentum and MHC service users and extend into the broader community. This service will be especially useful for clients who require mental health support beyond the scope of Momentum’s solution-focused modality. Some examples include supports for substance use, domestic and family violence, 2SLGBTQIA+, complex trauma, language, and culturally-informed and representative service providers.

In addition, with the reality of continuously changing programs and services, public databases face challenges in keeping up to date with the diverse mental health resources available to the community. This increases efforts required by community members, alongside professionals, to find services that best fit their needs. Through MHC, we have a dedicated team of volunteers who provide a regularly updated database of over 1300 care providers for clients and professionals to utilize, thus increasing efficiency in service delivery throughout the mental health sector.