The Makarios Project Origin Story
The Makarios Project was born as a result of my own cumulative experiences. I worked in the behavioral health field for nearly a decade before I saw just how important the need for preventative services was and is. My roles throughout my career ranged from working in the inpatient setting, facilitating intensive outpatient programs, and providing home-based therapy.
It wasn’t until I transitioned to working in the field of organ and tissue donation that I saw consistently just how urgent the need for access to mental health services and support truly was. In this role I received referrals for potential organ/tissue candidates that had died by suicide. Many of these individuals were quite young between the ages of 10-32.
In the same year that I’d transitioned to working in this role not one, not two, but three of my friends confided in me that their child had made statements like “I want to die”, “I wish I wasn’t alive” and “I should just kill myself”. At this point I knew that I NEEDED to do something, but I didn’t know what my first step should be, let alone how to help.
As I thought about how to make an impact and support youth and communities in optimizing mental wellbeing, cultivating resilience, and normalizing and educating individuals surrounding mental health I had an “aha” moment. I realized that often, it’s not until after a crisis, trauma, mental health challenge or diagnosis that mental health services and support are offered, sought out, and accessed.
There was a gap! We often hear about preventative steps we can take to ensure our physical health and longevity, but we don’t hear that same dialogue when it comes to our mental wellbeing. Unless, that is, you find yourself in an AA meeting, an inpatient psychiatric hospital, an intensive outpatient group, or across from a skilled therapist/counselor. My first step would be bringing the psychoeducational information, skills, and resources that are typically only accessed in these spaces to the general public.
That is exactly what I’m doing through The Makarios Project. It’s important to me to offer these valuable tools and resources to the community at large so that youth specifically but also adults, seniors and everyone in between feels equipped to optimize their overall wellbeing and experience the best possible quality of life.
