Five Fresh Ideas to Make Mental Health More Effective

In 2021, the US Surgeon General issued a "call to action" to address the youth mental health crisis in America. There was a detailed description of the severity of the problem (depression, anxiety, isolation, and suicide all rose to record levels in the last 10 years). Yet, most of the 'solutions' he recommended were, in my opinion, outdated and stale. They will do little to inspire innovation and bring real healing to today's youth.

As Einstein said, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."

Here are five fresh ideas that I believe could actually make a difference.

Idea #1: Freshen Up the Language

As a mental health clinician for 30 years, when I tell people what I do, it is common for them to say, "Wow, that must be hard work." Essentially, people equate the phrase 'mental health' with depression, anxiety, and illness instead of fulfillment, happiness, and health.

If we hope to improve how people think about, speak about, and engage with the concept of mental health, we should update the language. For example, in 2022, the Mental Health Center of Denver changed its name to WellPower. While it may take some time for this phrase to resonate, I believe it is a first step in the right direction.

Online behavioral health companies such as Better Up use terms like coaching instead of counseling and Whole Person development to describe what they do. This change in language may seem small, but it has a dramatic effect in terms of how people think about the process and what it could mean for them to engage.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) has been used for two decades in K-12 schools to describe mental health education. While SEL might resonate with adults, based on my years of experience working with youth I have found that it does not land well. Very few teens get excited about the idea of engaging in social-emotional learning. If we hope to reach teens more effectively, we should consider a new way to describe this important work.

When our team began creating a gamified personal development curriculum in 2018, we adopted the term Relational Fitness (or RellaFit for short). It retains the meaning of what we are about (i.e., improving the quality of our relationship with ourselves, others, and our life) but added the idea of physical strength and training.

As we think about well-being for ourselves, our families, and the mental health system, we should continue to freshen up how we speak about it to others and market it to our customers.

Idea #2: Embrace Technology

There was a time not so long ago when teachers saw technology as the enemy in the classroom. Many educators preferred paper, pencils, and chalkboards to iPads, projectors, and computers. This has largely changed as educators realized that they must embrace technology rather than fight it if they hope to stay relevant and effective.

However, when it comes to social workers, psychologists, and counselors, the phone is still often seen as "the problem" - and for good reason. Social media, online gaming, and the 24/7 news cycle have created depression, anxiety, and social isolation in teens and adults. And since this is all flowing through the phone, many see the phone as the problem.

Pro Tip 🏆: the phone is not the problem. The content flowing through the phone is the problem. Social media and online gaming companies captured the hearts and minds of our kids with brain candy - sugar for the mind. They leverage the phone for harm, valuing clicks and addictive attention over health, education, and healing. It's time we reclaim the territory we lost over the last 20 years with more effective use of this powerful technology.

In the last 5-10 years, there has been an explosion of engaging and effective online apps, responsive websites, and other "screen-based" activities that leverage the phone for good. Headspace was the first to prove that meditation could be taught through an app. Others such as SuperBetter, Kooth, and Finch are finding new ways to use screen time to create positive habits and healthy relational skill development.

At RellaFit, we created the first true 'platform technology' for personal development called SPARCs for Good (S4G). What's unique about S4G is that any personal development content company can transform its book, curriculum, or videos into an interactive social media game.

What we know about personal development is that one size does not fit all. Youth and adults should have one place where they can easily find and engage with a wide variety of content, just as they would for music (Spotify) or movies (Netflix). We believe S4G can be that platform.

The bottom line here is that parents, teachers, and counselors should:

(1) learn about innovative personal development platforms,

(2) try them out to see what fits, and

(3) play WITH their kids and students.

Yes, limiting screen time should be part of the solution, but leveraging screen time so it is used for good must be equally as important.

Idea #3: Make It Fun

Mental health can be a 'heavy' subject, no doubt. However, as we shift our thinking ways to bring personal development into the mainstream, we should lighten up, use humor, and have more fun. Consider how physical fitness went mainstream in the 1970s. In 1960, if you ran for more than a mile, you were likely either an athlete or in the military. Regular exercise was just not something most people did.

So, how did physical fitness go mainstream? This happened.

Richard Simmons' happened. Sweating to the Oldies made exercise fun and something anyone could do. Then came Jane Fonda's workout, the Thigh Master, and so on. These innovations not only made physical fitness fun by leveraging supporting technologies (e.g., music, VCR, etc.) and integrated community connections. Could we do the same thing for personal development? At RellaFit, our games are full of GIFs, music, and clips from movies, YouTubes, and TikToks. In The RellaFit Challenge, we created 36 videos that teach our 12 basic skills. Here's an example from our "Face a Fear" exercise. Facing fears could be a heavy topic. Here's how we make it mood-elevating.

https://youtu.be/yozxDSrTweU

Idea #4: Less Talk. More Practice.

My initial training as a therapist was in the medical model. The three pillars are: assess, diagnose, and treat. The process is to essentially talk about a problem with the client, assess its severity, attach a label (diagnosis), and suggest a treatment to alleviate the symptoms.

While the amount of talking a therapist might do can vary based on the model they adopt, the majority of the time is typically spent talking. Even 'treatment' is mostly talking about what the client 'could do' or 'might do' to change their thought or behavioral patterns. The next session is often then spent talking about what the client did or didn't do throughout the week. Basically, more talking.

I went on to get my Ph.D. in the Strengths Model. This model flipped the medical model upside down by focusing primarily on what was well with the person (aka: strengths) vs. the problem. It utilized a tool called a Personal Plan which was a calendared list of the actions the client agreed to take with clear dates and columns for accountability. There was less talking and a lot more action.

The positive results my clients achieved using the Strengths Model vs. the medical model was astounding. I spent 10 years training clinicians on the Strengths Model and saw similar results.

At RellaFit, we integrate the concept of practice by using SPARCs - Small Positive Acts that Renew Connection - into every exercise. To develop a new skill such as playing guitar or juggling, the student must practice. Talking about playing guitar or juggling does not lead to progress. Could we apply this same principle to personal development skills such as emotional regulation, mindfulness, and grit? If so, how could we do it effectively?

The 108 SPARCs in The RellaFit Challenge range from easy to challenging. Here's an example. Challenge #3 is called Seek Feedback. The video lesson is by Adam Grant where he describes how difficult, but important, it is to receive critical feedback from others. Once the player completes the lesson, they have three SPARCs to choose from to practice the skill in real life. Notice how difficult SPARC #3 is. This is true practice.

There is a syndrome that I call "self-help entertainment" - maybe you've experienced this. When you watch a TED Talk or read a book on personal development, you get a hit of dopamine that "feels like" you are making progress. However, in order to make real progress, we must practice the activities we are reading about. Leveraging technology to help us with the motivation and method we need to move is a critical piece of the puzzle.

Idea #5: Community

One of the loneliest things you will ever do is try to improve yourself by yourself. Yet, traditional therapy can feel pretty lonely. No matter what skill you we trying to develop, it almost always helps to have a community to do it with. One of the values we have in RellaFit is "nobody plays alone."

Most of the learning and motivation for change happens is on our "feed" where players read the actions of other players. We are social creatures at the core. Learning, practicing, and mastering skills is most effective we when do it together with others.

The key to having an effective personal development community is that you feel seen, supported, and safe. Personal development can be emotionally challenging and vulnerable. The last thing you want is to make some effort and then nobody acknowledges you or worse yet, criticizes you for "doing it wrong."

Conclusion

Any industry that has made significant advancement in the last 100 years, whether in computing, business, aerospace, etc., has done so through innovation - seeing old problems in a new way. Simply "hiring more mental health professionals" or "reducing screen time" (as the Surgeon General proposes) might sound like common sense, but it is not going to lead to significant changes in how teens or adults engage with the important work of personal development. As Matt Vogl, the CEO of the National Mental Health Innovation Center said in his TED Talk, "We are not going to clinic our way out of this crisis." We need to "test new ways to make mental health services of all kinds available to people when they need it and before they need it."

We should test new technologies including the phone, update the language to make the process less stigmatizing, integrate practice activities into every intervention, make the experience more fun, and empower all of us - parents, aunts, uncles, employers, etc. - not merely professionals - with more effective ways to address the youth mental health crisis.

If we do these five things, we may have a fighting chance to change the game for the better. Steve Huff, PhD

Founder, Relational Fitness & SPARCs for Good