MENTAL HEALTH
CARDINAL COUNSELING TO THE RESCUE : FOR FREE !
Monalisa Tailor , MD & Patrick Pössel , PhD
From the teenagers to the eighty-yearolds , everyone has been affected differently by the misery of the pandemic . The teens suffer from isolation , the loss of routine , regular school and hanging out . They grieve the loss of milestones , competitions , dances and romances - all thanks to COVID-19 . The 30-year-olds feel overwhelmed handling the many COVID-19 changes for work plus the time stress of kids home-schooled and always underfoot . The 50-year-old who may be dealing with divorce is alone , not with his besties , yet navigating the loss of love , and having to re-invent his daily life . The 75-year-olds stare at the death statistics : highest risk , check ; highest mortality , check . Yet they long to see their grandchildren . They miss their bar and church buddies , their guys at the YMCA , their volunteer homies . They grieve as people they ’ ve known for years fall prey to the virus , and they miss keenly their freedom , while they still have their health .
These reflect just a few of the stories we have heard from our patients this year . Regardless of what medicine we practice , patients are dealing with loneliness , depression and anxiety from COVID-19 . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been maintaining an eye on the public ’ s mental health during this pandemic . Nationally , depression has increased from 23 % to 28 %, anxiety has increased from 30 % to 37 %, and a mix of depression and anxiety has grown from 35 to 42 %. As physicians , we can be increasingly at a loss of where we can refer patients : mental health providers may also be limited . At a time where we can use as many resources as we are aware of , the Cardinal Success Program offers our patients an opportunity for counseling , help and hope .
The Cardinal Success Program ( CSP ) is part of the University of Louisville ’ s ( UofL ) College of Education and Human Development . Its mission is to promote healthy individuals and families in underserved areas of Louisville through mental health services , clinical training and research . To accomplish this mission , under the supervision of UofL faculty , student clinicians from different mental health graduate programs provide free mental health and psychological assessment services to uninsured or underinsured children , adolescents , adults and couples and families . These in-person services are provided from two facilities in West Louisville and at the locations of multiple collaborative partners across Louisville . During the COVID-19 pandemic , telehealth counseling services were added , which allows CSP to reach persons of any age in need throughout Louisville and Kentucky . Thanks to a generous grant from the Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence ( JHFE ), youth that lack access to the technology to participate in CSP ’ s telehealth services can borrow Chromebooks . The treated mental health issues include but are not limited to anxiety , depression , grief and trauma . The number of sessions is not limited but depends on the individual client and the problems they want to work on .
Besides these general mental health and psychological assessment services , CSP offers specialized programs . One of these pro-
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