Psych Hub Generating Awareness, Education around Mental Health
Understanding mental health is an ongoing challenge for providers and patients, alike. That's where Nashville-based Psych Hub comes in.
The world's most comprehensive platform of digital education on mental health issues provides online education with certification courses that take the audience from 'knowledge learned' to 'behavior change.' Their free micro video library hosts over 150 consumer-facing, animated videos focused on improving mental health literacy and reducing stigma about seeking care, while a subscription service provides in-depth continuing education courses for clinicians.
Starting out
Marjorie Morrison, LMFT, LPC, president and CEO of Psych Hub, co-founded the company with mental health advocate and former U.S. Representative Patrick J. Kennedy in 2018. Prior to launching Psych Hub, Morrison was founder and CEO of PsychArmor Institute, a 501(c)3 non-profit that designs free online courses for military service members and their families. Morrison left California-based PsychArmor in 2019 to grow Psych Hub in Nashville but remains on her former company's board of directors.
"I learned a lot about the power of online education with PsychArmor, including how you can make lasting changes," Morrison said. "If students take what you're teaching and relearn it or teach the core content to someone else, it doesn't matter how many times it's watched."
Morrison said the animated video model is more effective than outdated PowerPoints or webinars with few visuals. "Most people aren't engaged by watching those," she said. "We went after healthcare providers to educate them on using evidence-based practices and specific intervention. When you go to grad school, you learn more theory ... but we wanted to provide tools to treat symptoms for everything from insomnia or addiction to depression and anxiety."
A New Model
After successfully launching and growing PsychArmor, Morrison knew the types of people and expertise she needed to start Psych Hub. The development process pulls together the latest research, clinical oversight, creative artists and instructional designers to create engaging content that is trauma-informed , clinically sound and non-triggering.
She spent 2018 in the planning process and publicly launched Psych Hub's free 150-video micro library in 2019. The animated videos, each under four minutes, are sponsored by industry partners and disseminated to PsychHub's full network of 500-plus - a growing list of corporations, non-profits, associations and educational institutions committed to sharing mental health information. Videos are formatted for the general public, as well as informal community supporters (teachers, healthcare workers), support professionals (school or addiction counselors), and mental health providers.
Training Providers
In 2020, the company launched subscription-based learning hubs for healthcare providers. The platform of evidence-based practices has proven to be a welcome alternative for continuing education credit and includes companion videos to share with patients to reinforce skills at home.
"There's no shortage of online education for healthcare providers - but not in the way we deliver it," Morrison said. "We have a very engaging delivery model that uses all mediums, from providers talking to each other to fireside chats and animation. We change it up to include different types of mediums, so the learner goes through their own journey and chooses how they want to learn. We focus on the shift between knowledge learned and behavior changed and give them the tools they need."
Subscribers include large payers and healthcare systems, and subscription rates vary by client size. Psych Hub's Nashville office includes 16 employees with more than 30 creative and clinical experts working remotely worldwide.
Addressing COVID-19
In April, the company added an additional free hub to address challenges associated with COVID-19, with more tools rolling out each week. Topics range from social isolation and working from home to alcohol addiction, PTSD and insomnia.
"We've been working with major health insurance companies, larger nonprofits and the Department of Veterans Affairs to create a resource hub with lots of content around COVID-19 for mental health," said Morrison. "Insurance companies don't often work together, but I'm excited to see them come together for this."
Morrison credited collaboration efforts to Psych Hub's reputable partner list, which recently grew to include Metro Nashville, HCA, Centerstone and TennCare. "Everyone's asking for resources, and we, as an industry, only had so many," she explained. "By partnering as a group, we can share resources and find answers without looking in a million places."
Moving Ahead
Looking forward, Morrison said a long-term hope is to see all mental health providers using evidence-based practice for more precision therapy, along with informed consumers who will better know what to ask for.
She also wants providers who aren't licensed mental health practitioners to be better equipped to provide individualized support by having access to better training. "We want providers to know this service is available to them and how to access it themselves or talk to employers about subscribing so that they can better serve their patients," she concluded.
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