A Deep Dive into the How of a Better Mental Health System with Sarah Seegal

Sarah Seegal is the CEO of Affect Mental Health. This organization incubates mental health startups, helping them accelerate mental health solutions and address the challenges of stigmas, access, and quality of the mental health system. With an extensive background in the mental health space, including healthcare economics, coaching, and counseling, Sarah has worked with healthcare companies and organizations such as Kip Health, Lyra Health, Breakthrough (later acquired by MDLive), and One Medical Group. Sarah is SafeTalk Certified and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Economics from Vassar College, where she also built a national model for peer counseling.

Sarah joins me today to discuss the current failures facing the mental health system in America and the opportunities presented to society to make things right. We discuss the role that the environment plays in your mental health and how considering a patient’s environment can positively transform the success of their treatment. We discuss the four key elements that make up our mental health and the importance of connecting each element to achieve optimal mental health. We also discuss the role that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on society’s mental health status and what Sarah believes we should do to respond and help others cope with the crisis in a healthy and sustainable way.

Mental health issues are a human epidemic, and our system fails to help the millions in need. This talk puts a spotlight on how each of us can help, starting with seeing the whole thing differently.

“We’ve been funding basic science and neuro-science with the intention of understanding what’s going on and how to fix things at a biochemical level, but in the last few decades, we’ve really neglected the environment of the person.” - Sarah Seegal

This week on Insert:Human

● How a person’s environment can impact their mental health

● The connection between our biological, psychological, social, and spiritual elements and the impact of an unbalance between these elements

● How Affect Mental Health helps mental health startups accelerate and improve the mental health system

● The startup ventures Affect supports and the two current startup companies Affect is currently incubating

● Common stigmas around addiction and prescription medication abuse

● The education and societal limitations impacting our human development system

● The impact that COVID-19 will have on people’s mental health and how Sarah believes we should respond to the current crisis while protecting our mental health

● The challenges associated with accepting a ‘new norm’

Resources Mentioned:

● Radical Acceptance - Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

● From Pull to Push: How to Manage Our Time In Disquieting Times

● 21 ACT Worksheets and Ways to Apply Acceptance & Commitment Therapy - Positive Psychology

Connect with Sarah Seegal:

● Affect Mental Health

● Affect Mental Health on LinkedIn

● Affect Mental Health on Instagram

● Affect Mental Health on Facebook

● Affect Mental Health on Twitter

● Sarah Seegal on LinkedIn

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