'Coping in Crisis'

The local Brain Health initiative that started last fall is resuming this week in the form of online community messages.
“It’s the next step in the process of making sure we’re taking care of ourselves and our mental health,” said Sanford’s Angela Nolz, who organizes the Brain Health community sessions.
She posted the first online video Sunday introducing “Brain Health: Coping in Crisis,” a series of sessions relating to brain health.
“We recently came into a new experience for all of us, the COVID 19 pandemic,” said Nolz, an integrated health therapist at the Sanford Luverne Clinic. 
“This experience has increased some difficult emotions for many of us.”
The four- to five-minute video clips posted twice weekly on Luv1LuvAll’s Facebook page, will explore:
•basics of wellness.
•sleep.
•nutrition.
•movement. 
•mindfulness and nature.
•spirituality.
•relationships.
•substance abuse.
“We hope to provide ideas worth putting into practice,” Nolz said.
Partners in the online “Coping in Crisis” project are:
•Luv1LuvAll — Nicole Henrichs.
•Southwest Mental Health — Lexi Wieneke and Casey Elbers.
•Healing Path Counseling — Jill Boltjes and Skie Peltier-Anderson.
•Luverne Counseling — Erica Hough, Jessica Koch, Jason Mork and Hanna Sfeldt.
•Sanford Health —Stephanie Pierce, Angela Nolz Sherri Smith and Sara Schmuck.
•Luverne Public Schools — Marie Atkinson-Smeins, Amy Cook, Stacy Top-Schepel and Cindy Arends.
 
‘Wellbeing Baggies’
To reinforce the message, the group is distributing “Wellbeing Baggies” to dozens of businesses and organizations in Rock County.
They’re filled with healthy snacks, gadgets including stress reliever squeeze balls, wrist bands (printed with the suicide hotline number) and notecards with brain health tips (eat healthy, be active, sleep, volunteer, etc.) and contact information for local resources.
It quotes Dr. Jeffery Borenstein of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, “Seeking help is a sign of strength — not a weakness.” 
Items for the Wellbeing Baggies were donated by Southwest Mental Health, Sanford Health, and Luverne Counseling, and the rest was purchased by grant funds from the Luverne Area Community Foundation.
 
Background
The original series of seven Brain Health sessions at Luverne Community Education stopped in March due to social distancing required by the pandemic.
Topics previously covered were living with depression, brain health basics, healthy relationships, medication and “eco therapy and mindfulness.”
The remaining topics planned this spring were substance abuse and sedentary lifestyle (screen time), which are covered in the online sessions.
Nolz said she hopes the virtual Brain Health conversations have as much impact as the in-person meetings have had so far.
“This is by no means a replacement for engaging in therapy,” she said.
“Rather, it’s an introduction to a means of wellness and an introduction to those who provide mental health care in our community.”  
The Brain Health initiative is an offshoot of Luv1LuvAll community partners that formed through the Blandin Foundation’s focus on local poverty.
Among those subsets (senior nutrition, dental care access, safe and affordable housing and access to resources), brain health emerged as a community priority.
Nolz and her group have been working over the past year to end stigma about mental health in order to encourage people to seek treatment for brain health as they would for any physical health condition.
More details can be found through Luv1LuvAll on Facebook.