New Mental Health Services Bring Hope to Swan Hills

Mental health is a critical issue affecting many people in our society, but it is rarely discussed due to the stigma attached to this topic. Even in 2024, there is an overwhelming sense that if someone is dealing with or suffering from a mental health issue or illness, there must be something wrong with them.

The truth of the matter is that a lot more people struggle with their mental health than you might think. According to Statistics Canada, over 5,000,000 Canadians aged 15 years or older met the diagnostic criteria for mood, anxiety, or substance use disorders in 2022. That’s roughly 18% of that large demographic, or almost 1 in five people. This data is just one slice in time; a person’s mental health situation can (and does) change over time. One in three Canadians will experience mental illness within their lifetime. Even if an individual doesn’t ever experience an issue with their own mental health, the chances are pretty high that someone around them is experiencing or has experienced mental health issues.

With mental health illnesses and shorter-term issues affecting such a large portion of the population, the importance of having mental health services available to offer assistance in times of need can not be overstated. A therapist from Barrhead Addiction and Mental Health (BAMH) with Alberta Health Services used to come to the Swan Hills Healthcare Centre regularly to offer counselling services, but BAMH has not been able to provide face-to-face counselling services in the Swan Hills community for close to two years.

Fortunately for Swan Hills, some new options for mental health services have become available in 2024. Beginning in January, Myles Hancock, a counsellor from Together Talk, a community program governed and administered by the Barrhead Association for Community Living (BACL), has been coming to Swan Hills School two days a month to offer counselling services.

Together Talk is primarily funded by the Government of Alberta, with additional funding from the Government of Canada and the United Way Investment fund over the past year. With the knowledge that Swan Hills did not currently have a therapist offering services in the community, Together Talk made a presentation to the Barrhead Chapter of the Elks of Canada, successfully securing funding to provide an accessible mental health counsellor for the Swan Hills community.

The Swan Hills community’s need for counselling proved to be much greater than Together Talk had anticipated, and it was soon apparent that one counsellor could not keep up with the demand. On April 15, Together Talk’s lead counsellor, Don McGillivray, joined Myles in providing services for Swan Hills, operating out of the Swan Hills FCSS office. The Swan Hills community has been keeping the counsellors busy, with Don and Myles reporting that their schedules have been full on each trip out to Swan Hills.

Swan Hills FCSS has been an essential partner to Together Talk in supporting the program’s efforts to provide counselling to the Swan Hills community. FCSS funds the counsellors’ overnight accommodation and dinner while also providing a meeting space for appointments and intake assistance.

The generous funding from the Barrhead Elks funds Together Talk’s efforts to provide services in Swan Hills for ten months of the current year but does not include the summer months. With a mission to secure funding to continue offering counselling services over the summer, BACL Executive Director Dale Clark approached the Swan Hills Chamber of Commerce on May 15 with a presentation outlining the situation. After learning about the services Together Talk has been providing to the community, the Chamber of Commerce agreed to provide $3402 to fund the program for both counsellors over July and August.

When asked which mental health situations Together Talk can help with, Don says, “There’s nothing that we turn away.” While the counsellors do not provide crisis counselling, they would refer a person in this type of situation to a professional who would be able to assist them.

The sustainability of Together Talk’s initiative in Swan Hills is partly contingent on community buy-in. While the Chamber of Commerce’s support goes a long way toward showing buy-in from the Swan Hills community, support from local businesses would also be very helpful in meeting these criteria. Any local business that would like to donate to this initiative is encouraged to contact BACL by email (barrheadcommunityliving@outlook.com).

Together Talk offers counselling services by appointment only; they are not able to take walk-in clients. If you would like to speak with a counsellor, call (780) 674-9366 or email togethertalkcouncelling@gmail.com to book an appointment. Visit Together Talk’s website (togethertalk.ca) for more information about the program.

Dean LaBerge, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Grizzly Gazette