Although the focus of this website (and my career broadly speaking, as well as many others) is a re-integration of spiritual ideals, rituals and principles to account for a more holistic narrative of the human experience, even that may ‘miss the boat’ (for more information, you can visit the ‘Dark Side of Spirituality‘ tab). 

A recent APA survey found that financial inequality is the most common source of stress for Americans. How much cognitive reframing can someone do if they fear crippling financial debt and homelessness? Should we tell these people to just ‘take a few deep breaths’ and let the calm wash over them? Or is there a certain responsibility we each have to care for and create equitable systems built on reciprocity and accountability?

I am not discounting the role of individual change; even through the most decrepit suffering, a person with a solid character has more robust opportunity, know-how, resources and sources of support to help them (whereas a faulty person has nowhere to turn, who will trust them when they have burnt all their bridges?).

What more can be done?

1. Interdisciplinary approach to treatment; I have been struck time and time again by the needless red-tape and administrative nightmare in ‘reaching across’ for coordinated help with a youth. For example, when I worked at a school district and needed help with a child, it took months on end to hear back from the primary physician or psychiatrist. I believe this can be traced to graduate school and how education is broadly taught. Each discipline of health is subsumed under the weight of their own theories and practice, with little consideration for the importance of working together. 
2. Lobbying for local and national-level policy; I can give my own small example here. School districts have a zero-tolerance policy for drugs, hence there are countless youth who are needlessly suspended or expelled and forced to undergo psychological testing for such a minor issue like a vape pen being found in their backpack. In the worst of cases, they are even sentenced to jail which drastically increases their chances of dropping-out early and subsequent issues as adults. Whatever political ideology one supports, mental health professionals must strive towards common sense law reform. 
3. Communal integration; ‘the child who is not integrated into the village will burn it down just to feel its warmth.‘ We cannot be alone, even the most solitary person risks drastic health impairments without ones to provide solace and support. Individual treatment should always be supplemented with group or communal integration. For example, NAMI (National Association of Mental Illness) offers free support groups across the U.S. for family members and individuals.