Mental health in the criminal legal system and in our everyday lives
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, Megan Townson sat down with us to talk about mental health, its role in the criminal legal system and in our everyday lives. Megan works for Alethia Counseling Center, a Restoring Justice partner and resource for our clients, and is currently working towards her certification to be licensed professional counselor. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Why did you decide to become a mental health professional?
For me, it wasn't something that was automatic. I loved sitting with friends, talking with friends when they were going through things and just loved listening to people's stories. I always thought that counselors or mental health professionals were there to give advice, give directions and give you the answers. When I'm listening to my friends, I never have answers for them; I would never know how to fix their specific situations or make it all better.
I'm a Christian, and through my own experiences healing through rough relationships and things like that, and with a lot of prayer and supportive friends, I realized, "Oh, I'm not the one who fixes it. And nobody else fixes it. God is the one who fixes it and through other people, other tools He provides." So I realized: "Oh, I can do that! I can be someone who just sits with someone, and I am a tool that the Lord can use in someone's life. I can help them – I'm not the one who fixes it for them – but I can be there with them and help them walk with them through something that's really dark or painful and then they don't have to go through that alone." And through that they can experience a lot of healing.
After having that realization, I started taking the steps towards schooling and getting resources for myself to know how to better help people in that way.
When you're discussing mental health with a stranger where it just comes up in conversation, how do you talk about it? And what are you mindful of?
One of the main things I reiterate to them is it's not something scary or mystical. A lot of people have questions about what you do in counseling, like do they use these weird techniques? But it's as simple as going in and talking to someone, just being willing to open up about whatever it is you're going through. It doesn't have to be something that's big and scary. It's for you. If you don't like what's happening, you can just walk out. You don't have to be uncomfortable about any of this, and if you are, then that experience wasn't for you and you can find a different counselor or something like that. But that's not the norm; I really encourage people to not be afraid.
I also like to talk about how physical and mental health are connected. Our thoughts, our emotions, and our body are very much connected to each other and what happens with one of them impacts the others. Mental health is just one part of being healthy and it's an important part! It's not something to ignore and say, "I eat healthy, and so I am healthy." Your thinking may not be healthy and that can be bad for your physical body as well. It can cause reactions in your body that release toxins when you're stressed and have high anxiety levels. It's really important for overall health to include mental health.
You mentioned before that you don't want people to be afraid. Why do you think people have these preconceived notions about counseling?
I think our culture is coming around to thinking counseling and addressing mental health are good things. For the longest time, there was a lot of fear about that, that it's some sort of torture. Even now, in our current culture, the thinking is I'm gonna walk in and this person is analyzing me. They are taking these notes, they're gonna diagnose me with a disorder or that they're gonna find something that's wrong with me and that's gonna say something about me. I think that can be very scary for people as well. I just wanna assuage any fears so that that's not holding them back.
What is the role of mental health, how does it influence the criminal justice system?
Many individuals may have disorders of one kind or another, and that plays into how they come into contact with the criminal justice system. People may have disorders that change the way they think, changes their behaviors, and causes them to do things that aren't healthy. Or they are self-medicating anxiety or depression with drugs or alcohol, which then can lead to crimes – drug-related or crimes done under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Mental health, in particular, tied together with drugs or alcohol as self-medication, are a huge part of what I believe brings people to the place where they find themselves in the criminal justice system.
I think, thankfully, there's starting to be more opportunities for counseling and therapy, whether it's group or individual therapy in prisons. I've learned from my husband, who spent five years in prison, that he had access to some great programs, counselors, and mentors. I've read about group counseling programs within prison. By partnering with Restoring Justice, Alethia is also trying to go into jails and meet people while in the criminal justice system, meeting them where they're at and not waiting for whatever their next steps are. But there's a lot more that can be done there, there's so much that's unaddressed.
Why do you think mental health is unaddressed?
I think a big part of the reason is a lot of this is coming out of areas that are more impoverished, families that don't have the support. Financial support is part of it, but just the familial, parental support. It's a combination of trauma or neglect that may lead to a child coming up in an environment where they have no idea how to fix this. This can be cyclical, and when kids don't know what to do they can self-medicate with drugs or alcohol - or any number of behaviors that aren't positive or healthy coping mechanisms that perpetually keep them in a place of anxiety or trauma.
I wanted to follow up on something you said about physical and mental health being connected. Generally speaking, how do jail settings affect a person's ability to maintain their mental health and thus the physical and vice versa?
Without having been to jail or prison myself, I can't speak fully to the impact that the physical environment would have on mental health. Generally speaking, jail and prison are not environments that feel safe, and in any environment where a sense of safety is taken away, there is trauma. When we sense danger or threat, our minds activate the fight-flight-freeze response, which triggers hormones like adrenaline and cortisol to enable us to survive. To live in an environment where this stress response is consistently activated can cause not only physical health problems, but can also lead to chronic anxiety and depression. Those who are incarcerated are definitely impacted mentally by their physical environment, and for the most part negatively so, unfortunately.
Why aren't there more resources to address mental health, if it's so important to everyone?
The other part of that is, for people who don't have resources, a lot of mental health counselors have crazy-high rates, and that's not to bash on others in my profession. Easily, it costs $100-200 an hour for a session. It's hard for an everyday, lower to middle class person, and we're not even talking about someone who's truly impoverished, to afford.
And that's one thing I love about Alethia, we have different rates for different sessions to provide people with an opportunity. With practicum students as counselors, we have sliding scale rates and are willing to down for clients. I think that's really important, to find access for people who can't afford a $100-$200 session.
What would a world where everyone has their mental health needs met look like?
It would look like a utopia. So much of our conflict comes out of mental health problems, even if it's not severe mental health issues. Many of our conflicts come from misunderstanding one another, where what I hear from you triggers something in me that's a wound I have from the past. Whether it's something as significant as trauma or just a message I've received over and over again through my childhood that I'm worthless or a failure that leads to people lashing out in reaction to each other.
An ideal world would mean we had access to mental health. To work on our mental health, we would get to a place where we can relate to each other in an understanding way because we're secure in our own identity and knowing who we are so we can really listen to each other and respond in healthy ways.
What would it take, what kind of structures would it take to make sure people have their mental health needs met?
One of the things Alethia has been talking about is how to get resources to people who can then provide those to others. Rather than relying on one-on-one time with counselors, for example, if we can provide some kind of training for teachers via videos or training sessions. This would help when their kids are showing these behaviors and provide ways that can help meet their needs. This isn't to make teachers mental health experts, but to help with the smaller things like lowering anxiety, so they are better able to communicate with kids and understand when they see their kids acting out.
We've also considered reaching out to hospitals to provide them with some training that would be shared with the rest of hospital staff. Their profession is difficult being on the front lines, but hopefully we can provide them with ways to help or maintain their own mental health to process trauma that they may experience on the job. Instead of hospital staff waiting until they are in crisis, or finding a mental health professional to speak to one-on-one, it can be something that as a community, we can try to help each other.
It's interesting, you identified two overworked professions who happen to interface with large numbers of people in need. And it shows we have a long way to go in getting mental health resources to people who need it. Are there any resources for those unable to get one-on-one time with a mental health professional?
Yes, mindfulness is one of those things that's hugely helpful to practice for everybody. It can be helpful in bringing down anxiety, and that's a pervasive disorder in our culture, whether you've had trauma or not. Physical and mental health are connected, so it's important to check-in within yourself and understand what you're feeling physically. If you're anxious, in some ways your body does have a reaction to that. Recognize that "my stomach's hurting or I'm having a hard time breathing," and then practicing bringing it to the present. A lot of anxiety comes from a fear of the future or uncertainty, "What's going to happen to me?" Or the same applies to the past: "This happened to me and I feel it again."
If you can recognize that you're safe right now in the present, identify the five senses: What do I see, what do I smell right now? What am I touching? Bringing yourself to cognitive thought so you're not overwhelmed with your emotions and doing breathing exercises. You can also ask yourself, "What do I need right now?" and then actually provide yourself with what you've identified. It could be as simple as being mad and realizing you're ‘hangry.’ Check in and ask yourself, "What do I need?" Maybe you need to do some deep breathing or to call a friend. These are things that are becoming more common knowledge and you can find many accessible resources online, on Youtube.
Another thing is to not isolate, and to reach out to positive community, people who are supportive of you. In isolation, mental illness can really thrive, so where you do have connection with others, they can draw you out of that and speak truth to you that helps you recognize, "I am safe, I am okay, this person does care." Even if it seems like it might not be enough, it does a lot more help than you can imagine.