Mental Health

Hesperian’s online resources

Hesperian's HealthWiki
has free information in many languages. After opening each page, click “In this chapter” to see related pages.

Where Woman Have No Doctor
The “Mental health” chapter in this comprehensive book on women’s health issues addresses self-esteem, stress, trauma, and community.

Workers’ Guide to Health and Safety
The “Stress and mental health” chapter in a book focused on factory workers’ health and safety, shares broadly applicable ideas to promote workplace mental health and advocate for safe and fair workplaces.

Helping Children Live with HIV
In this book written for caregivers and others in communities where living with HIV is common, this chapter “Helping children with death and grief” offers sensitive and specific ways to provide support for children when a caregiver dies, if a child is dying, and for a grieving family.

General mental health

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMSHA)
Training tools to prepare for talking about difficult topics with someone needing help.

U.S. Health and Human Services directory of treatment programs
A resource for persons seeking treatment for mental health concerns and substance use in the US.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
A starting point for learning about mental illness, includes descriptions of common mental health conditions and many related resources.

Mental Health America
Mental Health 101 offers information on different conditions, living with mental health concerns, and how to provide support.

Mental Health America BIPOC mental health toolkit
Recognizes the challenges faced by Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities, this toolkit has conversation guides and myth-busting and workshop ideas.

The Human Rights Campaign
Resource list for LGBTQ+ people of color with emergency resources, treatment options, and specific organizations that can help.

Peer support

Peer support groups by and for people with lived experience
A booklet distributed by the World Health Organization for planning and starting peer support groups.

A Handbook for Individuals Working in Peer Roles
This downloadable handbook from the Wildflower Alliance gives in-depth advice for peer counseling programs and on how to train and support peer counselors.

National Practice Guidelines for Peer Specialists and Supervisors
By the National Association of Peer Supporters, explains core values of peer helpers and how supervisors can support them.

Copeland Center
This grassroots movement hub supports community efforts for wellness and recovery by those who have had mental health challenges. It also shares resources for peer support and those becoming certified peer counselors.

Mental health self-help tools

CAPACITAR Emergency Response
Techniques and simple movement and meditation strategies to address trauma and healing.

How Right Now campaign
Resources to promote and strengthen the emotional well-being and resilience of people facing mental health challenges, including tools for exploring emotions.

Helpguide.org
Insightful articles about mental health and guided meditations to reduce stress, increase calm and focus, and promote physical and emotional well-being.

Skill-building for community work

Community Health Workers (CHWs) Textbook & Training Guide
San Francisco City College’s resources to train and support CHWs on mental health and their broader role of supporting community mental health. The textbook is for sale while training guide chapters may be downloaded free.

Witness to Witness (Migrant Clinicians Network)
Resources for people in high-stress jobs working with clients also experiencing high levels of stress, such as asylum seekers, detainees, migrants, and climate refugees.

Healing Justice Trainers’ Guide
For healers and organizers to facilitate their own healing justice training as they work to transform systems of state violence.

Children and youth

Say and Play: A tool for young children and those who care about them
From Project Concern International, these activities help children express themselves naturally and help adults understand children.

The Kaboom! Playbook
Ideas, design guides, and case studies to inspire leaders and change agents creating kid-friendly, playful cities, with equitable access for children of color. Hesperian’s Promoting Community Mental Health discusses smart spaces and other ways to pay attention to the environments of babies and young children.

People’s Movement Center Warriors of Light Kids Yoga in Color
This playlist is a set of videos, 1 to 4 minutes in length, showing age-appropriate yoga techniques for self-calming and empowerment through fun exercise, meditation, and relaxation. Many focus on a specific emotion.

Activities for middle school students
Adapt these art project and other ideas to help young people reflect on their sources of anger and emotions they may find challenging.

Early Adolescent Skills for Emotions (EASE)
A World Health Organization guide for adolescents and their caregivers, suggests group work to gain skills to reduce distress.

Parenting

Mental Health Resources for Parents
Mental Health America’s short articles and tips for caregivers including how to talk to kids about many issues, bullying and school settings, parenting with a mental health condition or when also caring for aging parents and others.

Support for parents of a child with mental illness
This article from Exceptional Lives shows how to be a great friend to parents whose kids are struggling.

American Society for the Positive Care of Children (SPCC)
Offers educational resources, practical tools, and parent coaching to create communities where every child can thrive.

Aging

AARP Healthy Aging
AARP guidance on mental health issues that affect older people, including insomnia, loneliness, depression, and how to build community and connections.

Eldercare Locator
The Administration for Community Living connects people to services for older adults. The “Caregiver Corner” offers information and resources for caregivers.

Addiction

Harm Reduction Resource Center
Offers up-to-date information about evidence-based harm reduction strategies and practices, information on safer drug use.

SMART Recovery
This evidence-based recovery method supports people with substance dependencies or problem behaviors to overcome.

Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.)
A.A. meetings are free and open to everyone who may struggle with alcohol. The website shows where to find support meetings.

Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA)
A safe, nonjudgmental environment to share experiences of growing up with abuse, neglect, and trauma, to support healing.

Al-Anon
A mutual support program for people affected by someone else’s drinking. Families and friends of alcoholics can make positive changes, whether or not that person admits to a drinking problem or wants help.

Rural Prevention and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders Toolkit and the Rural Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) Toolkit
Examples and guidance for setting up substance use disorder prevention and treatment programs.

Trauma and crisis

A Suicide Prevention Toolkit
Explains what a safety plan is, how they work, how to support a person who wants one, and why they help prevent suicidal behaviors.

Navigating a Mental Health Crisis
This booklet from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) outlines what can contribute to a crisis, warning signs a crisis is emerging, strategies for de-escalation, and suggests resources. Also includes information about advocating for a person in crisis and a sample crisis plan.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)
Describes childhood trauma and information on treatment, practices, and other resources useful for families, health care providers, and advocates.

Violence

Coaching Boys Into Men
Curriculum for schools and sports teams, this violence prevention program has activities built around brief weekly team discussions led by the coach. Hesperian’s Promoting Community Mental Health mentions their work while discussing how healthy relationships help prevent violence.

Interrupting Intimate Partner Violence: A Guide for Community Responses Without Police
Walks organizers through visualizing and planning the formation of a first response team—community members trained to respond to intimate partner violence.

Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs’ “wheel” discussion tool
Developed by battered women discussing the abusive tactics they faced, the Wheel encourages discussion of dangerous forms of power and control in relationships. This Wheel Gallery shares a variety of wheels that reflect different experiences. Also see the activity in Hesperian’s Promoting Community Mental Health discussing how to look at power and control in relationships.

Pieces of a Bigger Picture: Training Model to Support Victims of Sexual and Domestic Violence
Includes 10 interactive training exercises to help faith leaders (or any reader) better understand trauma, power and control, victim-centered responses, and how to improve support to victims and provide referrals.

Guidelines Responding to People Who Abuse Intimate Partners
Written for faith leaders, this is useful to anyone encountering people who are the abusers in their relationships. Explores common myths about abusers and suggests what to do when talking with them and other actions to take.

Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN)
RAINN provides resources for the person facing sexual violence and for those helping them: what to say and do as well as how to work toward prevention. Hesperian’s Promoting Community Mental Health also discusses support for sexual violence survivors.

Setting up community programs

Tamarack Institute’s Deepening Community network
Upholds community power as a driver of social change. Explains the community assessment process and offers inspiring stories and paths to deepening community.

Mental Health Information Community Partnerships Toolkit
This National Institutes of Health resource offers support for communities to address mental health information needs, including practical ways to establish partnerships, develop programs, and promote mental health awareness.

Rural Mental Health
Developing, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining rural mental health programs.

Advocate for Improved Adolescent Health and Well-being
From Women Deliver, a youth-led and youth-serving resource for advocacy, with road maps for policy change.

Other topics

Rooted in Rights
Stories about disability by disabled people in videos, blogs, and social media campaigns to share perspectives often missing from the conversation.

Movement Generation’s Propagate, Pollinate, Practice Curriculum
Toolkit with activities to promote environmental activism and strengthen groups. Hesperian’s Promoting Community Mental Health mentions the work of Movement Generation when describing community support for young people.

The Farm State of Mind campaign
Addresses anxiety, depression, suicide, and opioid use in the farming community. Combats stigma and provides resources for farmer and rancher mental health.

Death Cafe Guide
How-to instructions to organize, advertise, and lead an honest and welcoming group conversation about death. Also see the discussion about death and dying in Hesperian’s Promoting Community Mental Health.

A Grassroots Strategy to Transform Long-term Care using Eldercare Dialogues
A report on a series of conversations and a toolkit to walk communities through ways to improve long-term care for their elders Also see Hesperian’s Promoting Community Mental Health’s discussion of aging and living as an older person.