What could support look like for me?
We want our deaf and hearing audiences to be aware that “talk therapy” is not the only option for getting mental health treatment and support. Additional types of therapy include art therapy, exercise therapy, yoga therapy and journaling. These are called expressive therapies, where the creative arts are used as the main modes of expression.
Types of Support
Check out the following video by Noel to learn more about expressive therapies!
Expressive Therapies!ID: The opening title card has a light blue background with yellow, orange, green and red graphics. The title text is written in dark blue. Noel King is a deaf queer Korean-American adoptee cisgender womxn with long black hair. She wears a black, long-sleeved cardigan. She sits and faces the camera. There is a light purple wall in the background.
Link to Transcript
Click HERE to be taken to our Resources page!
Deaf Mental Health: The Current State of Things
Deaf mental health care has come a long way over the past century, and still has a long way to go. In an ideal world, fluent-signing mental health professionals would be available in every state throughout the US. Culturally affirmative, linguistically equitable and accessible mental health services and support would be available in-person and virtually. The reality is that there is an extensive amount of education, training, and resources that go into making this a reality. Achieving a specialized mental health care system for deaf people is not impossible nor implausible.
For now, we have some services and support available. But how do we work towards developing optimal care for all deaf and hard of hearing people of all abilities, backgrounds, and identities?
What is Needed
The Signed By Stories team firmly stands behind the sentiment that action does a lot more than talk. However, effective action cannot be taken without appropriate education. Once a person has been educated about the essence and urgent need for specialized deaf mental health care, they will be better prepared and empowered with the tools to educate and persuade those in executive roles to make changes that will allow this field to be developed and sustained. Signed By Stories hopes to fill these educational gaps!
