Welcome Blog
Written by Tim Culbert, MD CEO of Mental Wellness Innovations
“There are things that are known and things that are unknown, and in between there are doors.”
Our new nonprofit, Mental Wellness Innovations is set to open doors of understanding to new ways of thinking about mental health assessment and treatment. I am very excited to welcome you to the Mental Wellness Innovations website and online resource center which hopefully provide information and resources about mental health for kids, teens and parents. This dream, to launch resources for children to empower them to actively utilize self-care skills in the service of health/wellness, has been a long-time coming! I have worked in this niche of “integrative pediatric mental health” for the past 35 years while participating in training, research, educational and leadership activities … all while enjoying clinical practice.
My passion goes beyond being the best board-certified developmental/behavioral pediatrician I can be. I have been driven to opening doors of understanding for kids, teens and families about the variety of natural, non-drug, lifestyle, and self-care therapies they can consider as they recover and heal from mental health challenges. I still recommend evidence-based, safe and conventional therapies, such as psychiatric medications and various forms of psychotherapy as needed. However, I have learned from listening to kids and families—they are seeking more options! Children also do a great job of harnessing the power of imagination. Imagination is intricately linked with cognitive and emotional development in children. It fosters critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and social/emotional skills, all of which are crucial for overall development.
After 30+ years of clinical practice, have I come to understand that children, teens, and parents want something beyond medications as options. They also want to get at core causes and contributors to their mental illness symptoms. Sleep, exercise, micronutrients, stress, environmental toxins, inflammation, diet, unrecognized trauma, misuse of social media and trouble with social connections can all play a role in anxiety, depression, ADHD, and other mental health diagnoses.
Also, there is too much of a tendency to over-pathologize, over-label, and over-treat symptoms and behaviors that may represent normal stages of development in children or normal adjustment to challenges and changes kids encounter in life. Sometimes family systems get perturbed and kids act out in response to this. We have to examine a number of factors before we jump too quickly to diagnosis and treatment.
At Mental Wellness Innovations our goal is to elevate children’s mental health literacy as we Educate, Equip and Empower children—anywhere, anytime, and in any situation.
EDUCATE
We aim to educate children teens, families about basic mental health concepts, symptoms and in assessment and therapy options so that can make informed choices. This contributes to their level of mental health literacy. The term ‘mental health literacy’ refers to knowledge and beliefs about mental health problems that aid in their recognition, management or prevention.
We want all children, teens and parents to develop:
the ability to recognize mental health problems in ourselves and others
understand symptoms of mental health problems (anxiety, depression, inattention, anger)
knowledge about risk factors and causes
knowledge about self-help interventions
knowledge about professional help available
attitudes that assist with recognition and appropriate help-seeking
knowledge about how to seek appropriate mental health information
EQUIP
We aim to provide effective, evidence-based self-care skills to children experiencing trauma or adverse childhood experiences (ACES) anywhere in the world. The skills are designed to be easy to use, culturally agnostic and engaging so that children will want to learn and utilize the skills daily as needed. We enhance the skill experience by including toys and art activities that can be seamlessly integrated into the mind-boy skill techniques to make the practice fun and effective. The goal is to stop the toxic stress response, rebalance the autonomic nervous system, and shift to positive emotions. We also incorporate mindfulness, a key component in treating trauma.
Mind-Body skills:
Relaxation Breathing (use bubbles, party blower)
Muscle relaxation (use stress ball, fidget popper)
Imagery/Visualization (biofeedback card, finger puppet)
Happy Self Talk (finger puppet, pocket heartstone)
Journaling and Drawing (crayons and notebook)
EMPOWER
Perhaps the most important thing we can do, through Mental Wellness Innovations, is to empower children to:
Actively participate in their own mental health and wellness
Shift from a belief that other people (doctors, nurses, parents) control their health and wellness…called an Eternal Health Locus of Control…To a belief that children play a key role in collaborating with parents, doctors, nurses and others in making well informed decisions about mental health. This called a sense of Internal Health Locus Of Control
Our goal is to awaken the innate healing capacities we all have and bring those to bear on recovery from mental health challenges, maintenance of mental health, and eventually cultivating optimal mental health so that all flourish.
“When mental health is ultimately recognized as essential to physical health, not an extraneous element of it, then we will have access to true, complete, modern medicine.”
In closing, I want to thank my wife, Angela, who keeps me going everyday and keeps MWI projects moving ahead, my life-long friend, Rolly Renstrom, who has been essential in business and leadership support. I also appreciate my family (kids, grandkids, siblings, parents), and my dear friends Kevin Harrington, Gerard Banez and Henry Emmons who provide joy, love, wisdom and support. I also am indebted to my professional colleagues, most of whom have become dear friends, and who have provided their expertise and hard work to make this vision a reality.
In the coming weeks and months you will hear about several projects:
Our Feel Better Packs – A resource toolbox for children in crisis and how you can be involved in this effort
Our first annual fundraising gala on October 25th, 2024
Expanded website content regarding mental health for kids, teens, parents
News about 2 new book projects that are nearing completion:
GLOW-loving kindness meditation for kids
Be The Boss Of Your Life-holistic self-care skills for children navigating trauma and stress
More details on how you can be involved
Wishing you all peace and good mental health,