Brochures, Fact Sheets, Guides and Toolkits
Mental Health Matters: RAP therapy; Beats, rhymes and life
Mental Health Matters is a public access television show that highlights various mental health issues. This episode, "RAP Therapy: Beats, Rhymes and Life," explores a community organization that uses rap, hip-hop, and pop culture to promote wellness and mental health among youth. The episode also explores the use of rap therapy as an intervention around the world.
Managing student-athletes' mental health issues
This handbook emphasizes the mind and body connection, highlighting the importance of student-athletes' mental health and the potential of mental health to impact one's physical health. The goal of this handbook is to help coaches and other school staff working with student-athletes identify students who are at risk for mental disorders. This handbook serves as a guide that explores various mental disorders including substance use disorders and mood, anxiety, and eating disorders. It also provides guidance on helping student-athletes manage responsibilities during their recovery.
Higher education support toolkit
This toolkit serves as a guide for university staff to assist them in working effectively to support college students who have mental health problems. It includes free downloadable worksheets on how to connect with resources on campus, a self-assessment for students, and information on accommodations in college classes.
Mental health matters: BestNow! and consumer employment
In this episode of Mental Health Matters, the program coordinator and a program graduate describe the BestNow! program. This program trains peer specialists to become more active and productive in their communities, to expand on their current skills, and to encourage participants in their own vocational development.
A provider's guide to promoting economic self-sufficiency: A recovery-oriented approach
This blog post describes a guide that supports providers as they implement a recovery-oriented approach that encourages economic independence among individuals with mental and substance use disorders. The guide provides tools and techniques for guiding conversations on life goals, dreams, and financial hopes; evaluating one's ability to become self-sufficient financially; helping people develop plans for reaching their goals; and increasing individuals' understanding of economic independence and connecting with local resources.
WE can save campaign participant workbook: A workbook for people in recovery seeking economic self-sufficiency
This blog post provides information about a workbook that serves as a resource for people in recovery and providers looking to support individuals recovering from mental and substance use disorders. The workbook shares stories of recovery and consumers' own accounts of financial self-sufficiency, and it describes tools to help people with mental and substance use disorders to develop independence and financial skills and create an action plan for their lives.
Thirty of the most frequently asked questions about recovery and recovery-oriented practice (along with some beginning answers)
This comprehensive fact sheet lists 30 of the most commonly asked questions on the topic of recovery from mental disorders and recovery-oriented practice. Written as part of the Recovery to Practice initiative which works to educate service providers about recovery, this is a helpful resource for anyone interested in learning about recovery. It provides brief responses to each question and cited references.
The depression tool kit of the MacArthur Foundation Initiative on Depression and Primary Care
Primary care physicians can use this resource to learn about recognizing depression in their patients and assisting their patients experiencing depression more effectively. The resource focuses on recognizing depression, educating individuals on symptoms and treatment options, using evidence-based methods, and monitoring treatment responses. It also includes a medication guide and diagnostic aids.
Combating Stigma Within the Michigan Mental Health System: A Toolkit for Change
This toolkit strives to educate people with mental disorders and providers on ways to recognize and counter negative attitudes and harmful beliefs within the mental and substance use disorder services system. In the Tools for Action section of this toolkit, there are recommendations on how to develop a campaign to counter these negative and harmful perceptions. This kit also describes the role of providers in addressing these prejudices and ways in which individuals can work to confront these issues.
The Community Tool Box
The Community Tool Box is a resource that provides practical tools and information for building a healthy community. Through the Community Tool Box website, individuals can access toolkits to help with becoming more engaged in community work, a troubleshooting guide to help with problem solving, and a section dedicated to connecting people to evidence-based practices.
Building Communites from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets
This guide outlines strategies for communities to start asset-based development, an approach to community development in which local citizens' associations, community members and leaders, and institutions work together to build and repair their communities using an approach that focuses on identifying community strengths rather than deficiencies as the starting point in addressing community needs. This guide provides success stories of various communities across the United States and provides an introduction to strategies learned from neighborhood leaders.
Essential tools: Improving secondary education and transition for youth with disabilities
This guide provides information for educators, community agencies, families, and workforce development specialists working to develop an environment that improves and enhances school and post-school outcomes for youth with disabilities. The guide explains an approach called community resource mapping and discusses how this approach can be used to foster interagency collaboration with the goal of ensuring that all youth have access to a broad, comprehensive, and integrated system of services.
Child trauma toolkit for educators
This toolkit serves as a resource for educators, parents, and caregivers to help them better understand and learn how to address trauma in children. It provides facts and recommendations for individuals working with children, details on the psychological and behavioral impact of trauma in children at different ages, information on childhood traumatic grief, and guidance on self-care when working with children who have experienced trauma.
Accommodation Information by Disability: A to Z
This information page from the Job Accomodation Network (JAN) website is made up of links which provide general information on various conditions and some possible accomodations employers could provide for individuals with these conditions. Resource organizations to assist in providing proper accomodations are also available through this page.
Certified peer specialist training program descriptions
Behavioral health consumers who are interested in becoming certified peer specialists will find this reference helpful. The document, compiled in 2006, describes certification programs in Arizona, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Directory of peer-run crisis services
This directory provides descriptions of and links to peer-run programs for people experiencing mental health crises. In many States, peer-run centers are viable alternatives to hospitalization.
SAFE program: Mental health facts for families
This online manual was developed by Dr. Michelle D. Sherman, Director of the Family Mental Health Program at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center. Facilities use this manual to conduct an 18-session education program for the family members of those with posttraumatic stress disorder or behavioral health problems. Mental health professionals facilitate the sessions. A representative of the National Alliance on Mental Illness also attends. The manual includes information, discussion questions, and handouts for each session.
Developing a stigma reduction initiative
This guide offers practical advice on implementing an initiative, sample materials and templates to use in developing communication materials, tactics to enhance outreach efforts, and directories of resources for creating public education materials.
Eliminating barriers for learning: Social and emotional factors that enhance secondary education
This training package developed by SAMHSA consists of four modules, each with a trainer's outline and trainer's notes, slides, and handouts. The module's aim to increase knowledge of adolescent mental health, including risks and protective factors, show teachers and staff how to develop action plans, suggest ways to promote a mentally healthy learning environment, and help staff identify school and community resources to promote youth mental health.
Eliminating barriers for learning: An administrator's guide
This brief booklet invites school administrators to use the teacher training package developed by the EBI. It explains how the training package can help teachers and schools achieve their academic objectives and provides the practical information administrators need to implement the training.
An exploration of the social identity of mental health inpatient service users
In this study the authors use a qualitative approach to explore the salient social identity of individuals with mental health problems in an inpatient environment using semi-structured interviews. Analysis showed that the salient in-groups and out-groups mainly centred around the inpatient context but were somewhat influenced by non-mental health service group membership.
Substance Use Disorders: A Guide to the Use of Language
This language guide was created by the SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). It provides individuals with information on the terminology that should be used when addressing substance use disorders. It promotes the use of words that will advance the understanding of substance use disorders as a health issue.
Stigma: Understanding the impact of prejudice and discrimination on people with mental health and substance abuse problems
This brochure provides a overview of stigma, its effects and how an individual can make a difference in changing negative attitudes and views.
Filing an ADA employment discrimination charge: 'Making it work for you'
This guidebook provides information about how the ADA employment discrimination administrative charge process works and what has happened when individuals with psychiatric disabilities have filed administrative claims of employment discrimination. It explains, through discussion and examples, when, where, and how to file a charge.
Timothy's Law talking points
This fact sheet summarizes the basics of Timothy's Law and makes the argument for parity. This sheet can be used to educate others about the importance of parity for individuals, families, and businesses.
Services in school for children with special needs: What parents need to know
This brochure describes services in schools for Children with special needs and what parents should know. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the denial of educational services, programs or activities to students with disabilities is prohibited, and constitutes discrimination
Talking to kids about mental illnesses
This brochure helps parents address mental illness when speaking with children, it provides pointers on helping children understand mental illness and the stigma associated with it.
Guidelines for non-handicapping language in APA journals: Committee on disabilities issues in psychology
This fact sheet provides guidelines for the use of appropriate language regarding people with disabilities.
Talking about mental illness: A community guide for developing an awareness program for youth
The Community Guide contains all of the information, support and tools that community members need to implement "Talking About Mental Illness" in their community -- an awareness program proven to be effective in bringing about positive change in young people's knowledge about mental illness, and in reducing stigma that surrounds mental illness.
Talking about mental illness: Teacher's resource
This Teacher's Resource Guide (PDF of complete version ) contains all of the information, support and tools teachers will need to implement Talking about Mental Illness in their classroom -- an awareness program that has been proven to bring about positive change in students' knowledge and attitudes about mental illness.
Stigma: Language matters
A fact sheet created by On Our Own of Maryland outlining appropriate and respectful language to use when speaking about people who have mental illnesses. To order the fact sheet, download the form by clicking here.
A guide to disability rights laws
This guide provides an overview of Federal civil rights laws that ensure equal opportunity for people with disabilities. It also provides the contact information for agencies and organizations that can be of assistance.