Mental Health Unmasked

"It's crystal clear

that we need a

radical

paradigm shift

in mental health."

In a Nutshell...

With one billion people diagnosed with a mental health disorder, the world faces an unprecedented crisis.

As an award-winning professor, author, and psychotherapist, I believe the field of mental health has unintentionally contributed to this crisis through fragmentation.

Over 500 recognized psychotherapy theories exist, yet an individual psychotherapist can be skilled in only a handful.

Furthermore, the field's standard treatment guidelines and ability to address physiological correlates of mental health symptoms are decades behind the research.

My proposed solution is twofold:

(1) a unifying framework synthesizing theories, knowledge, and research to empower clinicians in efficiently and effectively helping all clients, and

(2) empowering individuals to improve their mental health by mastering the five pillars of wellness: healthy diet, regular exercise, quality sleep, supportive relationships, and effective coping.

The key lies in harnessing micro-habits, the smallest healthy habits, to bypass the stress response and challenge our inner critic. By implementing these strategies, we can address the crisis at hand and pave the way for a healthier future.

About the Speaker

Best-selling author and award-winning educator, Dr. Diane Gehart has trained hundreds of thousands of licensed mental health professionals over the past 30 years, translating complex clinical theories into easily understood principles and practices. She is the Founder of the Therapy that Works Institute, pioneering the Therapy that Works Unifying Framework for Psychotherapy, and Professor Emerita in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at California State University, Northridge. She speaks internationally to professional and general audiences in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Mexico, and millions of mental health professionals around the globe rely on her YouTube channel to master their craft. Her research on effective therapy and happiness has been featured in newspapers, radio shows, and television worldwide. 

Dr. Gehart has authored over 14 books, including Mindfulness for Chocolate Lovers: A Lighthearted Way to Stress Less and Savor More Each Day, Mastering Competencies in Family Therapy, Theory and Treatment Planning in Counseling and Psychotherapy, Mindfulness and Acceptance in Couple and Family Therapy, and has edited groundbreaking collections that challenge the status quo in psychotherapy, such as Collaborative Therapy: Relationships and Conversations that Make a Difference and Collaborative-Dialogic Practices: Relationships and Conversations that Make a Difference Across Cultures and Contexts. 

The aim of her collected works is to transform contemporary psychotherapy practices to become more humanizing processes for all involved.

You can learn more about her work at www.dianegehart.com and www.therapythatworksinstitute.com.

No, I'm not making it up.

Here are the STATS from my talk and more...

• 13% of the world population—nearly a billion people--have a formal mental health or substance use disorder at any given time, with some countries, such as the US, having rates over 20% (World Health Organization, 2023; National Alliance of the Mentally Ill, 2023).
• 13% surge in mental health issues worldwide (World Health Organization, 2023)
• 20% of the world’s children have a mental health condition at any one time with 14% of children in the U.S. on psychiatric medication (World Health Organization, 2023; Center for Disease Control, 2019)
• 50% of children in America have a major mental health disorder before the age of 14. Just 15 years ago, that number was 25%. Additionally, 75% have a diagnosable disorder before age 24 (National Alliance of the Mentally Ill, 2023)
• Mental health issues account for 20% of disability worldwide. (World Health Organization, 2023)
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death between 15-29 worldwide. (World Health Organization, 2023)
• 500 psychotherapy theories (Norcross, 2009)
• At least 20 known physiological correlates between physical and mental health (Huefner et al., 2019; Lockett et al., 2018; Mayer et al., 2017; Marx et al. 2021, Varn, 2021) 
• 25% of mental health issues can be attributed to physiological causes, such as thyroid, adrenal, sex hormone, and other endocrine imbalances, gut microbiome, autoimmune disorder, dietary issues, vitamin deficiencies, undiagnosed sleep disorders, undiagnosed past brain injury, certain tumors, chronic pain and disorders, blood sugar issues, chronic fatigue, etc. (Amen, 2015; Huefner et al., 2019; Kelley et al., 2019; Lockett et al, 2018)
• The majority of mental health professionals do not use any research to inform treatment (Stirman et al., 2016)

Inspiring the Next Generation...

My kids joined me on my TEDx journey.

In addition to learning how hard it is to memorize a 13.5-minute speech, my boys commented on how the household rules and rituals related to sleep, healthy eating, exercise, meal time, and kindness made more sense than ever before.

They are learning secrets to lifelong wellness decades earlier in their lives than I did. 

I'm confident that learning about the 5 pillars of wellness and micro-habits will make their lives easier in the years ahead.

I look forward to seeing how they choose to use these tools to create a life they love.

I hope YOU put these into action in your life...and share these secrets with the next generation as well.