mental health

The crisis surrounding opioid use has extended into Louisiana communities, and Odyssey House is a local nonprofit working to reduce harm and substance use disorder. The center's outreach director, Emily Loska, speaks with NolaVie's Brian Friedman about their latest educational efforts.

The Therapeutic Day Program provides space and services for kids with severe mental and behavioral health needs in New Orleans. Former WWNO reporter Mallory Falk checked in with the school back in 2015, and today NolaVie's Kelley Crawford welcomes back Elizabeth Marcell and Monica Stevens to discuss what changes and developments have come to the school since then.

Bring Your Own is a nomadic storytelling series that takes place in unconventional spaces within the community. Each month, eight storytellers have eight minutes to respond to a theme. BYO airs on All Things New Orleans and is a biweekly podcast on WWNO.org.

Holly Wherry is an artist, counselor, and community advocate who has created a way to blend her skills and enthusiasm into one non-profit. It is called Whole Village Art Therapy, and it is an organization that lives up to that hefty name. NolaVie's Kelley Crawford spoke with Holly to learn about art therapy and how it is becoming part of the New Orleans community.

Visit NolaVie's website for a related article written by Kelley Crawford. 

This week we have the latest episode of WWNO’s community engagement project The Listening Post. To kick of 2017, the team asked folks around New Orleans about the stigma of mental health in their communities and what self-care tips they recommend for keeping it together.

The Listening Post's questions for January are:

What is the BIGGEST cause of stress in your life?

What self care methods do you rely on to combat stress? 

School is back in session. And there's a new option for students with severe mental and behavioral health needs: the New Orleans Therapeutic Day Program. The program recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony.

For a couple of years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans’ narrative belonged to the people who endured the storm and those who helped rebuild after it. But as time went on and the city recovered, things changed. New demographics emerged and people started talking about “the new New Orleans.”

These changes left many people, including psychiatrist Denese Shervington and urban anthropologist Lisa Richardson, wondering about the city’s new identity and their place in it.