With January coming to a close, and ‘Blue Monday’ come and gone, mental wellness is a critical issue, and being unable to find the right support can be detrimental to overcoming those challenges.
Knowing what resources are available to you can be the difference between suffering in silence and finding a path through the troubles that you’re facing.
Brad Unger, CEO of Eden Mental Health Centre, and Program Director Karma Shepherd discuss the different programs and services provided by Eden Mental Health, and how they strive to provide support to the community.
A hub for specialized care
Eden Mental Health Centre, located in Winkler, serves as a central point for mental health care in the region. Although best known for its inpatient services, the Centre also provides a range of outpatient programs that make mental health support accessible to people living outside of the facility.
Unger explains that while Eden’s inpatient care is specialized, it’s the outpatient services that tend to be more widely accessed, such as the Recovery of Hope counselling program that provides post-crisis services.
“That'll be one of the most accessible of our mental health services, that a lot of people can access, and you can self-refer.”
In addition to counselling, Eden provides outpatient psychiatric consultations. These services are available at the main clinic in Winkler, along with satellite clinics in Portage la Prairie, Steinbach, and Winnipeg. To access the more specialized services, a family doctor or walk-in clinic can refer patients for psychiatric consultations. As Unger further described,
“Our outpatient service is actually used by many, many people all across the region... our outpatient clinic in Winkler is our main outpatient clinic and that's where individuals can access counselling or psychiatry consultation.”
Urgent care and support
When a mental health crisis arises, Karma Shepherd explains how people can best access the service.
“The route to get there is to go to your closest emergency department and in three of our regional hospitals, Bethesda, Boundary Trails and Portage, there are mental health liaison nurses there... they then connect with Eden and talk with our psychiatry team and be able to get an assessment to determine if that person meets the criteria for coming to the Mental Health Centre.”
Unger also shared that if looking for immediate help, the Canada-wide 988 crisis helpline is also a resource available for those experiencing a mental health crisis, though unaffiliated with Eden.
“When you call 988, you will get routed to some kind of regional crisis support... they will often be able to then work with you over the phone and support you to find resources in your local area to support you further”
Shepherd added, “For people that don’t feel comfortable calling someone you can text 988 and a clinician will respond to you.”
Boiled down
If you or someone you know is seeking mental health assistance, the following resources are available to you locally by phone, or through the Eden Mental Health Centre website:
-
Recovery of Hope Counseling: Offering counselling services for a variety of mental health challenges, with the ability to self-refer.
-
Outpatient Clinics: Located in Winkler, Portage la Prairie, Steinbach, and Winnipeg, these clinics offer psychiatric consultations and other specialized mental health services, with referrals from family doctors.
-
Emergency Support: For those in crisis, individuals can go to the emergency department at regional hospitals, where mental health liaison nurses will help connect them with Eden’s psychiatry team.
-
988 Crisis Helpline: Available by phone or text, 988 connects individuals to crisis support and local mental health resources.