Mental Health

• Wellness Together: A mental health and substance use support website created by the Canadian government, Homewood Health, Kids Help Phone and Stepped Care Solutions. Once an individual makes a profile and completes a self-assessment, they gain access to numerous resources including individual counselling, peer support, and comprehensive courses on topics such as resilience, stress and anxiety. 
• Bounce Back Ontario: A skill-building program managed by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) for people over age 15 experiencing mild to moderate anxiety or depression.  Includes telephone coaching, skill-building workshops and online videos. 
• Connex Ontario: A connection service funded by the Province of Ontario with a focus on mental health, addiction, and problem gambling.  This site does not provide counselling but maintains up to date information about availability of services across the province.
• Addiction Treatment Helplines: A list of provincial helplines for people struggling with addictions, maintained by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.  
• National Eating Disorder Information Centre: Website has information and resources and provides referrals and support for people struggling with eating disorders. 
• Postpartum Support International: hosts various free perinatal mood support groups online, some of which are directed towards specific populations: NICU parents, South Asian Moms, Queer & Trans, Latinx, infant loss parents and more.
• Trans Lifeline: Run by and for trans people, provides peer support including emotional and financial support to individuals in Canada and the USA.  
• Racial Equity Toolkit: Mental Health & Wellness includes a list of low cost and free supports for clients who identify as Indigenous, Black and People of Colour.

There are specific services available for Indigenous people. Culturally safe and wholistic approaches to care are important components of services being offered to the Indigenous population. 

It is important that Indigenous communities have easy and fast access to trustworthy, factual, and effective resources to support their mental wellness during pregnancy and postpartum. There are numerous platforms with information on what's available.

Some of them,  such as Hope for Wellness, offer services in Ojibwe, Cree and Inuktitut.

• Hope for Wellness: Offers mental health counselling and immediate crisis intervention for all Indigenous people across Canada by phone or online chat.  Services offered in English, French, Ojibwe, Cree and Inuktitut.    
• Talk4Healing: Provides helpline support and resources for Indigenous women, by Indigenous women, across Ontario, in 14 languages. 
• NIHB Mental Health Services (see eligibility criteria): 22 hours of counselling per year offered by Psychologists, Social Workers, Psychiatric nurses or other regulated mental health providers covered under the Non-Insured Health Benefits for First Nations and Inuit (NIHB). Contact your regional office for more information.

If you are interested in more information, sites like the Chiefs of Ontario have a comprehensive mental health resource page and can assist in navigating where to access resources based on geographic location.

• Communication Strategies for Mental Health Discussions, Dec 2021
• Teenage Moms & Babies: Promoting Infant Mental Health & Mother-Infant Interaction Using ASQ & Baby Love, Nov 2019
• Understanding Perinatal Mental Health, Feb 2018 

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