Mental health tech company Mind You Mental Health Systems Inc. was awarded last year with a Covid-19 Recovery grant by the Australian Embassy via the Australian Government’s Business Partnerships Platform, which aims to increase availability of psychological services in the Philippines. This year, Mind You has received an additional grant worth P1 million from the Australian Embassy’s Direct Aid Program to support Mind You’s ongoing impact to improve mental health systems in the Philippines.
This grant will help Mind You to create an effective and sustainable National Mental Health Hotline, which will provide much-needed psychological first aid to callers to alleviate the lack of mental health support in the country. “When I was once suicidal, it was a mental health hotline that saved my life,” Mind You CEO Yuri Marshall said. “In one phone call, I was guided from a place of considering self-harm to taking the first step towards speaking to a psychologist. This mental health hotline will add a safety net for those who are in a dark place. You only have to find one spark of light, to lead your life in a new direction. Mind You’s National Mental Health Hotline will be that spark.
The mental health first aid will be conducted by Mind You’s psychology interns that will undergo a rigorous training program, and an examination that will test their psychological resilience and ability to cope with the pressures of being hotline operators. The module-based training program will ensure the interns are knowledgeable in all areas of possible reported concerns of the caller, from mental health first aid to de-escalation and psychoeducation.
Currently, there are only 1,400 psychologists in the country, which gives an approximate ratio of 1 psychologist to 80,000 Filipinos. It is therefore vital that future mental health professionals know that there are career opportunities for them in the space, and that Mind You provides the opportunity for them to learn and grow through world-class training and guided clinical exposure.