Language lives on for tribes in Oklahoma despite determined erasure attempts

Martie Woothtakewahbitty teaches her students how to speak the Comanche language in a classroom at the Life Ready Center in Lawton on September 26, 2024.
Abigail Siatkowski
/KOSU

Mental health advocates fight stigma to curb conditions that can kill new moms in Georgia

The Dekalb-Gwinnett OB/GYN practice was the first in Georgia to sign up to participate with PEACE for Moms, a perinatal psychiatry and education program that consults with doctors, nurses, midwives and other clinicians across the state whose patients need help for a pregnancy related mental health condition. (WABE/Jess Mador)

So-called insurance ‘clawbacks’ are driving Georgia mental health therapists into private practice

Tracy Hooper holds a redacted letter from her insurance company. Hooper said the company blindsided her by demanding reimbursement for what amounted to six months’ worth of sessions with a client. Credit: Ellen Eldridge/GPB News

In a pandemic, people might know they need food or housing. But how do you help them realize they also need therapy?

Kayode Martin, center, participates in a spiritual reflection group session at an Inner-City Muslim Action Network facility in Chicago Lawn on March 2, 2022. ©Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune
Kayode Martin, center, participates in a spiritual reflection group session at an Inner-City Muslim Action Network facility in Chicago Lawn on March 2, 2022. ©Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune, March 30, 2022, By Alison Bowen: As the pandemic wore on, Kayode Martin felt stuck.

He’d graduated virtually, a high school senior when COVID-19 arrived in Chicago. A year later, in 2021, he was working at a store but struggling to find a routine that felt on good footing.

When his grandfather told him about a construction training program at the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, he applied. During the intake process, a social worker there also suggested counseling, and the 19-year-old was connected with therapy. A year later, he looks forward to the weekly Monday morning appointments.

“I actually never really thought about going to a therapist,” he said. “I kept a lot of my emotions bottled up inside.” Now, he said, “I feel more relaxed. I feel more in touch with myself.”

Martin is one of the Illinois residents who reached out for help during the pandemic with an immediate need — housing help, groceries — and were also connected with a therapist. During the pandemic, many Chicago organizations began rethinking how to provide mental health help as the virus swept into the city and many were left for the first time feeling in need amid the psychological rubble of upended lives.

Read more here at the Chicago Tribune.