New film on rural mental health is a teaching tool for counselors

Is there a mental health crisis in agriculture in Colorado? That’s the focus of Legacy, a new 45-minute film from the Colorado Department of Agriculture and Colorado Farm Bureau.

• Watch the film.

The goal of the film is to help destigmatize mental health in rural areas and to highlight the work of the Colorado Agricultural Addiction & Mental Health Program (CAAMHP) and other programs.

In Legacy, several farmers and ranchers share a glimpse into their lives, including losing a loved one to suicide or facing their own struggles with mental health. They speak candidly about the struggles faced by those working in agriculture and the difficulties with finding help.

Like in other rural parts of the country, Colorado farmers and ranchers may be an hour or more from the nearest mental health professional. Services can be expensive. And there is still a real fear about being talked about in the community.

In the film, rancher Tony Hass describe why farmers are reluctant to seek counseling: “It’s not like you’re going to go for mental health to go see a shrink and they see your green Dodge pickup with the caved in front quarter panel that everybody knows, and your dog’s sitting in the back.”

A film with a purpose

Chad Reznicek, MA, LPC, and and Kirsten Wulfsberg, LPC, both behavioral health specialists with Colorado AgrAbility, are featured the film. They and the film’s writer, Becca Edlund, discussed it in an AgrAbility webinar today.

Edlund said the film is being used as a tool to help train counselors for a voucher program in Colorado through CAAMHP, where those involved in agriculture and their families can receive six free counseling sessions. The sessions are anonymous and conducted almost entirely via telehealth appointment.

“I meet a lot of people from their barn, tractor, or car all the time,” Wulfsberg said. “It helps from a time point of view, but definitely with confidentiality.”

Because agriculture is such a misunderstood industry, the film is required viewing for counselors as part of their three-hour cultural competency training. Edlund said, “During COVID when we asked about need, we found folks said if they’d pursued counseling, they’d hear, ‘If you lose the farm or ranch you can just get a job in town,’ and that’s not a real option.”

Having counselors with some basic ag knowledge saves time during sessions too. “When I talk to clients, they have all said they appreciated talking to someone that they didn’t have to spend half the session explaining what they’re talking about,” Wulfsberg said. The program will provide more than 400 hours of service this year.

“If you have the right tools on hand, you’re going to do a better job of repairing,” Reznicek said. “What we want to do is be able to offer tools to be able to better take care of their stress, better manage their relationships, and better take care of those things that they need to.”

The film’s personal stories help bring the mental health crisis in rural America to life. Edlund said, “It’s terrifying to share your most humbling moments in such a public space, but because we were asking honest questions, we found folks who were willing to share their stories in order to help others.”

Learn more about counseling voucher program in Colorado at campforhealth.org. To see if your state offers a similar program, search “free counseling voucher” and your state’s name.