Making mental health a priority

We recognize that negative experiences like abuse can adversely impact a child’s mental health. Neglecting mental health concerns has the potential to cause further safeguarding and child protection risks.

The Independent Child Safeguarding Review (ICSR) has created greater awareness of the necessity of holistic mental health services in our programs. As part of our response, SOS Children’s Villages has earmarked part of its safeguarding support budget to develop an action plan to provide more integrated mental health support.

Teresa Ngigi, SOS Children’s Villages Mental Health and Psychosocial Advisor, talks about the importance of good mental health and what is being done to address the gaps in our policies and services.

Why is mental health as important to a child’s safety and well-being as their physical health? 

There is no health without mental health. Mental health is not an option but a core component of overall well-being, which includes mental and physical health. 

Abuse, on the other hand, often creates conflict within the child because those meant to protect them are the ones inflicting harm. This can cause serious consequences in the overall development of the child. Trust can be broken to the core and the child’s alarm system is likely to be constantly on the alert. This can compromise the development of other essential faculties, whether it be physically, cognitively, emotionally, socially or morally.

You like to say mental health is not mental illness, but about addressing the holistic well-being of a person. What does this mean? 

Mental illness is a small component of mental health. Often when you hear people talking about mental health, they associate it with mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, ADHD and depression. This is an uninformed conception of mental health. 

Mental health is the holistic well-being of an individual that allows them to develop to their full potential and be able to deal with the challenges of life in a healthy way, contributing to the well-being of society.

There is a lot of stigma attached to mental health. Do you experience it within SOS Children's Villages? 

In my experience, people still don’t have a clear understanding of what mental health is. Mental health is often perceived as mental illness. The stigma regarding mental health cuts across many cultures. This needs to shift.  

Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with you?” we must ask, “What happened to you?” Most of us, if not all, have experienced some form of trauma.  

Our role is to support children, young people, families and others to have the right understanding of themselves and their experiences, to know how these contribute to their well-being, as well as what they can do to enhance the quality of their lives. Attachment styles influence the way people view themselves, others and the cosmos. Being able to repair insecure attachments goes a long way towards preventing child abuse cases.

At SOS Children’s Villages, mental health is part of the individual development plan of each child, but has it always been addressed? 

Unfortunately, the stigma and a lack of understanding have led to caregivers not always following up on children’s mental health. That needs to change. Promoting and nurturing mental health needs to become an integral part of our SOS Care Promise.

What shortcomings do you still see in mental health support at SOS Children’s Village programs? 

The well-being of child and youth care practitioners deserves more attention. Many have their own struggles; you cannot give what you do not have. People often parent the way they were parented. Often, mistakes come from lack of knowledge of better approaches, and therefore it is our responsibility to ensure that we equip caregivers with the skills they need to be able to offer secure attachment to children and protect them.

There is a lot of focus on the mental health of children who have experienced abuse, but how important is mental health support to prevent abuse? 

Prevention is central to breaking the cycle of abuse. That’s why I strongly believe we can minimize incidents of abuse if child and youth care practitioners, meaning the SOS parents for instance, are trained and supported to help children deal with distress and trauma. 

SOS Children's Villages as an organization needs to be trauma-informed. When everyone has a good understanding of trauma and its impact on people, we can shift our focus to prevention as opposed to damage control. Every staff member needs to have a good understanding of these dynamics and engage in their own healing so that they can in turn be of service to others. 

Let us invest in our child and youth care practitioners. If they are well, the children are likely to be well. We focus on everyone.

What progress has been made to improve the mental health of children and caregivers in SOS Children's Villages programs? 

Thankfully, a lot is being done right now. Many SOS Children’s Villages Member Associations are making sure there are mental health practitioners in programs. They are also training child and youth care practitioners to understand their own mental health needs. 

We are setting up platforms to encourage young people to be vocal about mental health. In Nigeria, for example, we are assisting a non-profit organization started by young people to promote mental health among their peers. They have enlisted the support of local mental health counselors who we can help with further training.

How does SOS Children’s Villages foresee the integrating mental health holistically into its programs? 

Child protection and mental health go hand in hand. This applies to everyone: children, young people, families and other coworkers. Collective empowerment ensures common understanding that will lead to the shift from information to transformation. Mental health systems need to be implemented in all programming, ensuring the availability of professional mental health workers, both within SOS Children's Villages as well as service providers.

What should be our vision for the future? 

Children look up to us and in order for them to feel safe, we need to be stable ourselves and ensure that we constantly create environments where they can be free to thrive. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood and they must know this.