Episode 86: Psychedelics, Mental Health and Life with Dr. Nathan Long, President of Saybrook University.

Dr. Nathan Long has been in higher education for over 25 years and is currently President of Saybrook University. Saybrook University is an online, private, non-profit graduate university and the premier institution for humanistic scholarship and practice. Founded by luminary psychologists, for 50 years, Saybrook has offered advanced degrees, currently offering programs in psychology, integrative medicine, health sciences, business administration, counseling, and transformative social change. Dr. Nathan Long is responsible for providing executive leadership for all strategic and operational aspects of the university. Prior, he served as president of The Christ College of Nursing and Health Services for four years. He holds a Doctor of Education and Master of Education in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Cincinnati.

The Need for Mental Health Practitioners

People seeking mental health counseling and support in the double-digit percentages. There are even mental health deserts where about 115 to 150 million people are not receiving the mental health care that they need and deserve. The supply is not there yet the demand is high. At Saybrook University thou small. they are focusing on this and trying to do better by training more individuals, creating greater access, and creating greater opportunity. More institutions of higher learning must rise to the occasion around the mental health crisis. We need a true call to arms of all colleges and universities saying we need to create greater access to hybrid and online programs that cater to different subsets of the population interested in going into mental health practice. There needs to be a bolster on counseling accredited programs across the country so that we can create more access, more rigor, more quality, and a greater number of graduates going out there to serve the need.

Why is the Mental Health Need Rates Higher?

Mental health is so vital to the thriving of all people and the stigma around mental health services around receiving those services is so very high. Just because we have more stuff and more access to stuff and material stuff, does not necessarily equate to happiness. Some of the happiest countries in the world are also some of the countries that have the least material connections to the world. In the United States, our happiness index rank is not very high. We have a lot of people who are working a lot and doing a lot but the happiness index in a lot of Americans is not great in terms of that statistic. Moreover, because we are connected to the mental health infrastructure that is out there, we are more cognizant of it. There are in some areas of our country real embracing of mental health that says because it’s there we can make use and do make use of it, especially from an upper-middle-class point of view. However, the biggest gaps are across rural America and urban America, where folks with the least amount of money and the least amount of resources also do not have access to those folks who do have access. Most therapists are fully booked so there is no vacancy at the end and thus for those who need those that access to the services who are going through problems like drug addiction and suicidal ideation. The very folks who need that are also those who can’t access it and can’t afford it in the ways they need to. Another part of this problem in our collective global society is that there is not great reporting out there among many countries of suicidal ideation and general mental health needs.

What Does Transformative Social Change Mean?

One of America’s greatest strengths and what has been our foundation and rock for 240 years has been that individual expression and liberty that has also in some people’s minds around the globe made us great but there is also another piece to that. The founder of our country and those who are the biggest proponents of liberty would also content that being in a country as free as the United States will that individualism, is that there are responsibilities that we have to one another to maintain that freedom and to maintain everyone’s rights to a very robust life. If this was not the case then we would not have laws on the books, we would not have things like guardrails and parameters in our society. We have occasionally gone astray nationally, forgetting that sacred compact of the other. The individual is important and we recognize that too but so is our community. We do not have one another and we do not have bondedness with our cities and states within our nation. We have to protect that and hold it dear that caring for one another and each other as citizens. As fellow citizens, it is as important as caring for yourself. The individual is a check on the group and the community is just acting. The community is also a check to the individual to say that we are a part of something better and bigger. Transformative social change is much bigger and much broader and also much more impactful and holistic and systemic than we might think.

Contact Dr. Nathan Long: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saybrookpresident/

Dr. Nathan Long's Twitter: https://twitter.com/saybrookuprez

Learn more about Saybrook University: https://www.saybrook.edu/

Saybrook University Twitter: https://twitter.com/saybrooku

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