Be proactive

The 7 habits of highly effective people include being proactive. Being proactive is a skill that helps in proper prioritisation. When it is present, a person does not succumb to impulsive reactions. Proactive people accept responsibility for their own destiny, do not shift it to external circumstances and those around them. For them the main thing is the result, they do not expect everything to work out by itself. Such people are well aware of how they can influence the outcome of a situation by making maximum efforts to achieve their goals.

A person who wants to lose weight is an example of this. They will try to predict in advance the circumstances that could prevent this from happening. Will think about what to do in case it rains, if he runs outside every day. Will favour low-calorie snacks, replacing fast food with them.

Set a goal before you start

In order to successfully overcome the intended path, you must first set a goal, then the motivation will appear immediately. Setting clear goals will allow you to take control of your life. It’s hard to set out ways to achieve what you want when you don’t have specific goals. Aspirations help you to prioritise, focus your attention and energy on the essentials and not get bogged down by the minutiae.

By being aware of your goals, you will become more deliberate in your approach to tasks and work on them as efficiently as possible. There are people who constantly talk about their dreams, but do nothing to achieve them. Clearly setting goals will allow you to notice the anchors that are holding you in place and eliminate them by starting to move forward.

Goals give you self-confidence and enthusiasm. It’s a good idea to keep a record of what you’ve achieved, and to chart your progress. It is important to evaluate your own successes, keep yourself motivated and look for motivation to achieve what you want.

Make a Personal Mission Statement so that you don’t lose your way. Goals should be set everywhere: both at work and in your personal life.

Do everything step by step

All actions should be step-by-step, don’t try to cover everything at once. Organise and implement the most important priorities. Live and be guided by the principles you value most.

If you have too many urgent things to do, it’s an indication that you don’t know how to plan your life.

Implement this habit, and a more balanced life will be available to you.

Think win/win.

Think win-win, with less emphasis on competition, prioritising cooperation. Win-win thinking benefits both parties. This technique is recommended to be used in both work environments and personal relationships. By taking the time to do what is good for both parties, one demonstrates respect and maturity. Qualities such as honesty and confidence come to the fore. This kind of thinking has a positive effect on character and improves relationships. Both parties must remain beneficiaries.

Seek first to understand and then to be understood.

Communication is at the heart of this habit. Most people listen in order to respond, not to understand. It is important to change this way of thinking, then the response will change. A great method for understanding others on a deeper level, improving relationships.

Synergy

Synergy involves teamwork. Covey in his book “7 Habits of Successful People” says that it is “not the same as compromise. In a compromise, one plus one equals at best one and a half.” People who experience synergy take the time to truly understand the other person’s differences. This understanding is then applied to feed off each other, to gain a new understanding of the situation.

In synergy, problems are solved through open-mindedness. According to Covey, to experience synergy, one must:

– to change one’s own mind;

– to see things differently;

– experience a change in attitude.

The outcome will be an idea or a better result from the endeavour. Synergy is particularly helpful when you find yourself in a difficult situation.

“Sharpen the saw.”

This last habit emphasises the most important thing – you. “Sharpening the saw” means wasting the time you need for self-renewal.

It’s important to take care of yourself without invoking a strong preoccupation. Neglecting this advice is fraught with burnout. A person who arrives in a bad state of mind limits themselves from personal growth and goal attainment.

Empowering the body and mind erases boundaries. To “sharpen the saw” one must eat right, carve out time for rest and exercise. Establishing social and meaningful connections with others is important. It is important to study, read, and spend leisure time in nature. To expand the ‘spiritual’, use meditation, pray and listen to music.

Planning and organisation should always be present in daily life. The 7 good habits can serve as inspiration, to help you focus on positive personal changes.

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For this reason the concept is being actively promoted in large companies. In combination with a motivational system, it produces excellent results. The development and implementation of a personnel support programme is very important to top managers and pr-managers in many organisations.

Many believe that profit and staff satisfaction are inversely related. In a large number of companies, managers believe that managing people tightly will have a positive impact on performance and maximise profits. This is a misconception; if the boss has to be hard on his subordinates, it means that the wrong people are working with him, or those who are passionate about other activities.

How it affects business

Well being concept has a positive effect on business. Among the positive effects of its application are:

• increased productivity;
• an increase in team spirit and staff loyalty to management;
• an increase in employee client-orientation.

Businesses will do much better and business owners can expect to make good profits.

Key elements of the concept

The concept of well-being has several components, the main one being psychological health. The management should find out what the staff’s workload is and whether they have enough time for other areas of life. It is important to find out whether they enjoy their work environment, whether they are stressed and whether they suffer from burnout symptoms. Every employee should be allowed time off from work and holidays. Gambling is a good example of recreation for employees. To find honest and unbiased information about gambling sites in the Netherlands, check out online casino reviews https://onlinecasinozonder.nl/. If their physical and psychological condition is good, they should work with maximum dedication.

Equally important is the possibility of professional fulfillment. It wouldn’t hurt to find out if employees have professional goals and career plans, and to learn about their attitude toward their work, their desire to develop their skills and increase their productivity.

To maintain a good physical condition, you need opportunities to exercise, take up hobbies and eat a healthy diet. Medical check-ups are not to be forgotten either.

Another integral part of the concept of well-being is social relevance. You should find out how well employees get along with each other and with management, and whether they have informal conversations and meetings outside the workplace. Whether they are aware of the relevance of their work.

Another factor is material stability. People who don’t have big debts and loans feel more secure. Employees should have enough money to meet basic needs, pay bills, and take periodic vacations. The management of the organisation should make sure that people get paid their wages on time and that they have savings.

There are several aspects that are required in order to create a work environment that enables employees to fulfil their potential for the benefit of the organisation and for self-realisation. Employee satisfaction with the working conditions created by management is important.

Well-being programmes

More and more companies are implementing wellness programmes. In such an environment, staff are free to develop and remain physically and psychologically healthy. Employees’ wellbeing and productivity can be influenced.

Psychological wellness programmes are essential for effective work performance. When life becomes stressful, they inevitably develop health problems, and their work performance suffers.

Office workers should have the opportunity to work remotely from time to time. A change of work environment is always beneficial, providing a break from the usual office atmosphere.

Professionals who work remotely should be helped to set up a workplace, for example by providing a fast laptop or a place in a co-working centre.

The number of companies offering flexible working hours to employees is gradually increasing. People have the opportunity to arrange their working hours according to their individual needs, which makes them happier than those who are obliged to adhere to strict timetables.

In addition to this, various activities that help bring employees together are encouraged. Courses and training sessions that aid personal growth and teach emotional well-being management.

In many organisations a psychologist is available for consultation as needed. The role of a psychologist can be either an in-house or an in-house specialist. This can be in one-to-one or group sessions, or in a webinar format.

Taking care of the emotional health of staff prevents professional burnout.

A system of professional development is encouraged so that professionals can move confidently towards their goals and feel satisfied with the progress they have made.

Another useful piece of management advice is to set up a career plan with employees, taking into account the interests of the company and the individuals concerned. Career progression can be vertical, leading to management positions, or horizontal, within a particular specialty.

Staff competence should be assessed on a regular basis by creating an individual development plan, specifying the specific competences which need to be developed, training activities and timing.

It would not be superfluous to organize corporate training of people who work in the company, so that they could transfer their knowledge and skills. Particular attention is paid to the training of new employees, to facilitate their adaptation in the organisation. This will reduce the number of redundancies at the beginning of employment. In addition to this, training programmes should be developed to support the implementation of the IPR of existing employees.

Transferring knowledge to employees can be done through online platforms. Employees will be able to track their progress in training, and the training itself will become a fun game. People will demonstrate a desire to move to the next level, to the next stage in their career development.

Well-being is an innovative approach to corporate culture and staff well-being – it’s a godsend for businesses, but it’s all about getting it right.

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These are just some key facts about mental illness and its devastating impact on our global society. To raise awareness on this issue and promote advocacy against the social stigma surrounding it, World Mental Health Day is celebrated across the world on the 10th of October.

If you want to contribute to mental health awareness, education, and advocacy against social stigma, here are 5 charities you can donate to.

All of the organizations below, are deemed particularly effective or accountable by charity evaluators or information services like Charity Navigator, Giving Compass and GuideStar.

1) StrongMinds

Founded in early 2013 by Sean Mayberry, a former diplomat, StrongMinds is a charity that treats depression in African women, with a particular focus on Uganda and Zambia. The organization has devised a unique, low-cost intervention based on Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy which makes their methodology scalable. So far, StrongMinds has treated 55,000 African women for depression. 75% of them reported to be depression-free six months after treatment.

2) The Jed Foundation

Every four seconds, someone loses their life to suicide. Suicide prevention is also the theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day. If you want to help tackling this issue, you can donate to The Jed Foundation, a non-profit organization working to prevent suicide for American teens and young adults. Founded in 2000 by Phil and Donna Satow, a couple who lost their youngest son to suicide, the organization has been rated 4-stars (the highest rating) by Charity Navigator for its financial health, accountability and transparency. 

3) Brain & Behavior Research Foundation

The US-based Brain & Behavior Research Foundation funds scientific research to find cures for mental illnesses ranging from addiction to schizophrenia.

The foundation claims that 100% of every dollar donated for research is invested in research grants since the operating expenses are covered by two other family foundations. GuideStar awarded the organization with their Platinum Seal of Transparency, indicating that the foundation publicly shares their progresses and how they measure them.

4) NAMI – National Alliance on Mental Illness

Founded as a grassroots organization by families of people diagnosed with mental illness, NAMI has become a network of more than 500 local affiliates working in 50 US states to advance public policy for people with mental health problems.

Despite some criticism received in the past for being heavily funded by pharmaceutical companies, the organization retains a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator and a Platinum Seal of Transparency by GuideStar.

5) Rethink Mental Illness

In 1970, journalist John Pringle wrote a column in the British newspaper The Times about his son’s schizophrenia. In the following days, hundreds of family members of people living with mental illness contacted him sharing their experiences. It was the beginning of Rethink Mental Illness, a UK-based charity which provides services for people affected by mental illness and their carers.

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Many strides have been made to help initiate more equal opportunities within the mental health arena. These achievements cannot be attributed to just one organization alone, but several that consistently work towards filling the mental health gap for underprivileged communities.

It is important to be informed of these platforms, donate to them if you are able, and explore their resources. 

Feel free to explore the following eight organizations that currently focus on fighting for equity within the mental health space for marginalized groups.

BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective)

BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective) is a mental health organization that centers on Black communities and supports self-care and growth while providing access to resources that promote wellness and healing strategies for the mind and body. They also promote interventive practices that are tailored to Black culture. 

According to BEAM’s Director of Communications, Dayo Akinyemi, “BEAM is built on the premise that we cannot just rely on psychiatrists, therapists, and social workers for our communities to be able to heal; we need to provide tools and capacity-building opportunities to the entire community”. 

They offer programs, training, coaching, and other resources and education. BEAM’s programs include Black Healing Remixed, which utilizes Black culture and music to discuss topics pertaining to mental health, and Heart Space, a virtual space for Black people that uplifts conversations about wellness, community, and connection.

“Our programs and peer support spaces have been created with the intention of approaching conversations and education around mental health in a way that is accessible and interactive … We train stylists, coaches, educators, activists, and more on how to respond to mental health crises in ways that center healing and Black culture.

— DAYO AKINYEMI, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AT BEAM

Over the past year, BEAM has trained more than 1,538 professionals within the community on mental health and healing justice. They provide donation options on their website to support their mission for Black communities and other marginalized groups.  

The founder of this organization, Yolo Akili Robinson, was inspired by Joseph Beam, a Black, gay man who was a visionary, writer, and activist for gay rights as well as feminism. Yolo emphasizes that “the struggles he captured made it clear to me that mental and emotional wellness was of an immediate need for our communities to be able to thrive.”

Black Men Heal

Tasnim Sulaiman, the founder of Black Men Heal, is a licensed therapist and counselor who started Black Men Heal to help Black men feel more comfortable seeking mental health care. Black Men Heal’s mission is “to provide access to mental health treatment, psycho-education, and community resources to men of color.” Their goals are “remove the stigma, match providers and clients, and eliminate costs.” 

Black Men Heal supplies details about events and seminars. They also provide information about Black therapists. They recently sponsored a campaign on their website allowing people to donate money towards therapy sessions for Black men. 

According to their website, “research shows that men feel pressure to conform to traditional gender norms such as toughness, fearlessness, and invulnerability to pain. Unfortunately, many Black men often suffer in silence because of fears that being vulnerable goes against masculinity ideals. Each male selected for the free sessions is essentially encouraged to become a mental health change agent. By one male simply sharing/discussing his experience with other black men, he creates a safe space for another man to step into.”

Latinx Therapy

Latinx Therapy is an organization that helps individuals discover Latinx therapists and speakers (who will speak at events) who are licensed counselors and social workers. The premise of Latinx Therapy is to match individuals with therapists through strategic search options. They also are focused on providing a necessary mental health outlet for Latin Americans. 

The founder of this organization, Adriana Alejandra Alejandre, is a 30-year-old Guatemalan-Mexican who is known for her bilingual podcast educating audiences throughout 112 plus countries, about mental health myths and stigmas. Adriana created Latinx Therapy in 2018 after having gone through postpartum depression as a teen mom and then being a therapist and not having reliable resources for her Latinx clients.

Latinx Therapy now offers multiple podcasts, courses, workshops, as well as wellness information and therapy resources, all geared towards Latinx communities. They partnered with therapist Viola Fernandez, MSW, and began a national series called “Together in Estrangement.” This is a 6-week support group for BIPOC adults “to share experiences about transforming estrangement into collective healing,” and learn about the psychological and emotional impact of estrangement in community.

With over 100k followers on Instagram, they have gathered a large community benefiting from the podcasts and resources offered by the Latinx Therapy team and partnerships.

The Cosmos

The Cosmos is an organization based in New York that began in 2018 after a conversation in a coffee shop between two women who just met for the first time. The co-founders Karen Mok and Cassandra Lam connected over the lack of mental health resources for Asian women in America, and how heavily this has impacted their lives. They felt a need to help other Asian American women heal and discover wellness through self-care and mental health outlets. This is when they started a retreat that eventually became a community-centered business offering Asian women the care they have so desperately been yearning for.

The Cosmos now has a community of 11,000 women who are utilizing resources from an idea that started over coffee, transformed into a small retreat, and eventually became a platform acting as a saving grace for many.  The organization focuses on community care, creating virtual and in-person spaces for Asian women to connect with, support, and be supported by other Asian women, as they heal, grow, and thrive in relationship to each other.

Asian Americans are the least likely to seek help, help-seeking behaviors are a very new thing for our community. There are many reasons why—language barriers being a really big part of it and stigmas, absolutely.

— CASSANDRA LAM, CO-FOUNDER OF THE COSMOS

Asian women who want mental healthcare often experience issues like “where do I get this care, therapy is not the only modality, how do you get into other modalities such as holistic, preventative, interactive, and alternative medicines and who will I find that will understand me and not micro-aggress on me, do they take insurance, and are they local.”

The Cosmos offers ways in which they “go outside of the system to meet gaps that exist.” Through their newsletter, they help wellness practitioners share their life stories, allowing those seeking therapy to feel “safe” and “comfortable” working with them. These practitioners are not limited to therapists but are also coaches, yoga instructors, acupuncturists, etc.

Possessing a holistic view of mental health, The Cosmos understands the strong connection between the mind and body, and how stress is so heavily related to both mental and physical health. They created free donation-based healing circles and group programs that allow Asian women to come together and talk about different topics, such as activism, or connect in a stress-reducing environment. Their most recent initiative is Collective rest, which is a virtual “1-hour guided relaxation practice” acting as a healing space that promotes rest. 

Asians Do Therapy

Asians Do Therapy is a mental health platform that provides information and resources for the Asian American community to discover Asian mental health practitioners. Asian celebrities, such as Sandra Oh, who openly discuss their therapy experiences, are featured on the website as inspiration for the Asian community.  

The founder of Asians Do Therapy, Yin J Li, expressed the need she saw within the Asian community that she sought to fill. Yin explains,  “I started Asians Do Therapy because many people in our Asian community are struggling and suffering, oftentimes in isolation. My hope is that in highlighting Asian people’s experience in therapy and as therapists and sharing culturally relevant information, more Asians and Asian Americans will seek therapy as a resource, available and meant for us.”⁣⁣⁣ Asians Do Therapy’s goal is “reducing stigma and increasing accessibility.” 

They offer a variety of insights pertaining to the journey of therapy—what therapy is, how it works, does it work, and much more. They also offer guidance in beginning therapy as well as the option to search for an Asian therapist on their website.

Asian Americans are often taught “survival” and to “ignore” mental health issues, but the current climate of growth in accessibility and awareness is allowing this community to gain more exposure to therapists and wellness information. 

Therapy is primarily centered on the White, Western, middle-class experience, which is problematic on many levels. And, therapy can be so impactful. Let’s work together towards an understanding and a practice of what good, culturally-informed therapy can look like.

— YIN J LI, FOUNDER OF ASIANS DO THERAPY

Yin expresses, “I still go to therapy. It continues to be an integral part of my healing and growth.”

The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project is “the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning) young people.”

The Trevor Project offers the ability to reach a crisis counselor “24/7 365 days a year”, which they estimate over 200k teens have utilized. They also offer a research center granting teenagers access to information about sexual orientation, gender identity, talking about suicide, and the LGBTQ community. They allow the opportunity to donate money towards The Trevor Project’s initiatives. There are also ample opportunities to be involved as an advocate, fundraiser, volunteer, and worker. Trevors Space is a virtual space for LGTBQ teenagers throughout the world who are between the ages of 13-24, where they can connect with other teens, receive support, as well as discuss their experiences and concerns. 

The Trevor Project began after producers Peggy Rajski and Randy Stone became inspired by the character created by the writer/performer Celeste Lecesne named “Trevor”. According to their website, “Peggy Rajski discovered there was no real place for young people like Trevor to turn when facing challenges similar to his. She quickly recruited mental health experts and figured out how to build the infrastructure necessary for a nationwide 24-hour crisis line, and writer Celeste Lecesne secured the funds to start it.”

The organization was established in 1998, “since then hundreds of thousands of young people in crisis have reached out to The Trevor Project’s multiple in-person and online life-saving, life-affirming resources–Trevor Lifeline, TrevorChat, TrevorSpace, and Trevor Education Workshops.”

As many as 595k people follow The Trevor Project on Instagram, supporting and utilizing the various fruits of their labor.

Inclusive Therapists

Inclusive Therapists organization is dedicated to providing therapy resources to marginalized groups. They understand that “seeking therapy can be a vulnerable process.” According to their website they “aim to make it simpler and safer for people in marginalized communities. They state, “We celebrate all identities and abilities in all bodies. All people deserve equal access to quality mental healthcare.”

The founder, Melody Li, LMFT, understood the struggle of finding healthcare and being a queer person of color.

I became tired of educating my therapist on my multi-cultures, racialized trauma, and what it is like to navigate systemic injustices impacting my communities.

— MELODY LI, LMFT

Inclusive Therapists offers the ability to search for therapists located near those seeking care. There is also the opportunity on their website, to be matched with a therapist. They have orchestrated many mental health events that involve therapy groups, workshops, training, educational opportunities, community gatherings, etc. In addition to their events, they’ve created a health blog, event calendar, mental health job directory, and insightful literature pertaining to mental health. 

“People with marginalized identities have disproportionately less access to quality mental health care,” Inclusive Therapists’ Ginnifer Joe of the department of operations and communications explained. “This problem is amplified during COVID, in combination with racialized traumas, anti-LGBTQ+ rulings, migrant crises that compound on our collective wellbeing.”

Per their website, “Inclusive Therapists offers a safer, simpler way to find a culturally responsive, LGBTQ+ affirming, social justice-oriented therapist. We center the needs of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. We amplify the voices and expressions of Neurodivergent and Disabled communities.”

Vibrant Emotional Health

Vibrant Emotional Health is an organization that is focused on “promoting emotional well-being for all people.” Vibrant Emotional Health explains on their website their goal of fighting for mental health equality. They express that “over the past year, the ongoing pandemic and its mental health, social and economic effects have amplified existing societal inequities, laying bare that the barriers to accessing emotional health support are not the same for everyone.” 

Vibrant Emotional Health offers support services, community programs, and information regarding policies, advocacy, and education. In addition, they provide stories of hope, some of which are directed to inspired children and young adults, and a blog. They also provide helpline sources on their website, such as NYC Well, National Suicide Prevention, and Disaster Distress Helpline. They collaborated with Disaster Psychiatry Outreach (DPO) to develop The Crisis Emotional Care Team (CECT), a program that offers support for those in crisis. 

Vibrant Emotional Health has gained a community of over 3.6 million people in the past year that utilized their resources. 

They accept donations to help their non-profit organization continue to provide resources to these different communities.

The post 8 Organizations Advocating for Equity in Mental Health Care appeared first on Two Wish Stars.

Created in 2012 as a way to kick start the season of goodwill, #GivingTuesday is a yearly global initiative that calls attention to donations of time and money to specific charities. It takes place every year on the Tuesday following the Thanksgiving holiday. But you don’t have to wait for GivingTuesday to support nonprofit groups doing working you appreciate! Plus, legit research actually shows that acts of generosity can actually boost your physical and mental health.

Countless charities are deserving of attention from ongoing and one-time givers, but given the impact of the pandemic on our collective feelings of “stress, anxiety, grief, and worry,” the CDC says mental-health related organizations may deserve more attention right now.

“Mental and behavioral health services were already tough for many Americans to access before the pandemic hit the United States, with six in 10 people not receiving the care they need,” noted American Medical Association in April 2021. “COVID-19 has put even more stress and strain on people and made access to this care more important than ever.”

What is GivingTuesday?

Giving suggests GivingTuesday, can be personal, local, specific, random, mission-oriented, or a combination of these. For individuals interested in arbitrary giving opportunities, the site offers a weekly Tuesday “giving prompts” e-newsletter subscription. While the GivingTuesday campaign is a driver and encourager of charitable giving, it is up to individuals to determine where their time and money might be directed.

GivingTuesday is also dubbed #CryptoGivingTuesday because some nonprofits—including Mental Health America, Project Sanctuary, and others—allow financial donations to be made in the form of such digital currency like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Z-cash (ZEC), Filecoin (FIL), Dogecoin (DOGE) or any tokens currently accepted on the Gemini Exchange.

How to Find a Reputable Mental Health Charity

With an estimated 1.5 million registered nonprofits in the United States, according to 2020’s National Center for Charitable Statistics report, determining viable avenues for donatable funds and volunteerism can be tricky.

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In May, during Mental Health Awareness Month, Charity Navigator—a free online nonprofit assessment service—provided a star-rated list of 19 recommended mental health organizations that deliver education and awareness and/or services to people struggling to achieve mental wellness. Among the four-star mentions on the list—plus some other organizations with high confidence ratings:

1. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

The grassroots effort’s goals are to provide “advocacy, education, support, and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives.” A bonus to donating funds to NAMI through December 31st. is that the giving amount will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000. 

2. Mental Health America (MHA)

The 1909-founded organization addresses the needs of those living with mental illness as well as promotes “the overall mental health of all.” MHA has, according to current statistics, impacted 31 million people through public education programs. 

3. The Jed Foundation

The nonprofit exists to protect teens’ and young adults’ emotional health and to prevent suicide. Jed partners with high schools and colleges to strengthen mental health, substance abuse and suicide prevention programs and systems. 

4. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)

The organization hyper-focuses on understanding and preventing suicide through research, education and advocacy. Another facet is reaching out to people with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide through shared stories and resources. Local chapters promote volunteerism and advocacy. 

5. Project Sanctuary

The organization targets the needs of military families who might need mental health healing and empowerment due to loss, trauma, suicide or addiction. Giving financially and volunteering support mental healing-oriented retreats and whole-family support programs. 

6. American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APAF)

As a supporter of the American Psychiatric Association, the purpose of the Foundation is to establish public outreach programs and support aimed not only at advancing quality mental health but at eliminating the stigma of mental illness.

7. Active Minds

The 2003-incorporated suicide prevention organization is present in more than 1,000 schools, communities, and workplaces nationwide, including 600 student-led chapters. Offered are speakers, exhibits, and educational material.

8. To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA)

The nonprofit movement is dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. Multiple ways to get involved exist, including online, professionally, within communities, or via various internship programs.

9. American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP)

Charity Navigator rates AAAP with a 94 out of 100 for its aim “to promote high-quality evidence-based screening, assessment and treatment for substance use disorders and co-occurring mental disorders and to strengthen addiction psychiatry specialty training and education.” The organization’s site provides educational resources on specific addiction issues as well as a list of recovery centers by state. For more information, visit 

10. Battlefield Addiction

Rated a 90 by Charity Navigators, this nonprofit works to reconnect addicts with their families and their communities. Anyone involved in the Battlefield Addiction program learns “transformative teachings” to learn how to re-connect with the parts of life that are neglected when addiction overwhelms someone’s life.

11. The Trevor Project

This nonprofit is “the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning) young people,” according to its website. Donations help fund its free-to-use, 24/7 crisis services including a hotline and text line, as well as training for volunteers and work to create laws to protect young LGBTQ people. 

12. Trans Lifeline

The 501(c)(3) offers a host of resources for trans people and their families and friends, including hotlines (available in English and Spanish), emotional support tools and a network of welcoming communities on the gaming platform Twitch. 

And then there are always local mental health-related efforts for which your funds and/or your time are appreciated. Do some homework. Ask around and look up local newspaper articles to determine what is available and how the organization’s services and programs have benefitted individuals in your community.

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