May is Mental Health Month, and we at DMA see that as a prime time to get resources and information in front of the community. DMA's Executive Director Autumn Labbe-Renault said, "our staff lost a good friend when our own Brian Holsten died by suicide some years ago. We believe in promoting resources and having discussions towards normalizing mental illness, and to that end, it will always crop up in our programming from time to time."
From March 2020 – April 2021, Autumn produced the weekly KDRT radio show “COVID-19 Community Report,” yielding 62 episodes and close to 100 interviews. All episodes with descriptions are archived at https://kdrt.org/program/covid-19-community-report In honor of Mental Health Month, we are highlighting three previous episodes where we spoke with local mental health professionals including Sara Gavin, Karen Larsen, and Kristin Sky.
Last September we spoke with Sara Gavin, LMFT/LPCC who serves as Chief Behavioral Health Officer at CommuniCare Health Centers, overseeing a 100-person team of Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder services in Yolo County, and also sits on the Board of Directors of National Alliance for NAMI-Yolo. We speak about current mental health challenges, and what kinds of resources are available. Stream episode at https://kdrt.org/audio/covid-19-community-report-episode-34-speaking-sar...
Next we talk with Karen Larsen, Director of Yolo County's Health and Human Services Agency. She speaks about the importance of maintaining contact with supportive relationships, exercising at least 60 minutes per day, keeping a regular sleep routine, focus on healthful eating/drinking and taking a "break from the constant stream of news". The Yolo County Mental Crisis Line phone is 888-965-6647. The episode begins with a visit from the Yolo Food Bank. Stream at https://kdrt.org/audio/covid-19-community-report-episode-9-local-efforts...
Lastly, we share an episode that addressed both physical and mental health. It begins with a visit from Davis Mayor Gloria Partida speaking about the innovative Healthy Davis Together program providing rapid and free COVID-19 testing in several locations in Davis. The second guest in this episode is Kristin Sky, a mental health therapist and life coach who runs Mental Health House Call in Davis. She works with a wide range of people but specializes in teens. She has some insightful things to share about how teens are faring during the pandemic, and how mental health care has evolved this past year. Stream at https://kdrt.org/audio/covid-19-community-report-feb-2nd-2021-mayor-part...
Photo from recent Yolo NAMI Hope Chalk Walk event, Davis CA.
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