Entertainment and the arts can be a very demanding, overwhelming, stressful & unsafe industry at times. A Mental Health Coordinator supports everyone involved in the process by restoring emotional health/well-being when someone becomes distressed and serves as a resource during pre-production so instances are minimized, saving time and money. When we’re thoughtful in how we schedule, plan for and execute highly emotional material, everything is better. Cast and crew are more productive and efficient, communication between departments is more effective, delays are minimized and performances are better!

All productions can benefit from having a Mental Health Coordinator onboard, however it’s highly recommended that productions with challenging content, portrayals of mental illness and/or conflict between members hire a MHC as soon as possible during pre-production.

As a Mental Health Coordinator and Certified Trauma Support Specialist (CTSS), I’m familiar with all stages of production and the incredible work involved. I know how long the hours are, how stressed and irritable we feel over the course of a project and how alarming some of the material can feel in our nervous system.

My job begins with a consult with production to understand what they believe they need from me for a project. Perhaps there’s a character with a mental illness and they want to be sure they’re portraying symptoms accurately and appropriately. Other times, there’s a highly emotional scene that will require mental health support on-set the day it shoots. There are also times when they’ve hired someone with a known mental illness and want safeguards in place.

From there, I read the full script and complete a script breakdown of scenes I can support, along with a risk assessment. I provide production with insight for scheduling highly emotional content to best support cast and crew in managing their emotional states and offer resources they may want to have readily available on those days.

Next, I meet with performers to understand how I can best support them. In a confidential meeting, we discuss as much as they’d like: trauma history, potential triggers, de-roling practices and how they foresee the project going for them and their mental health. This allows me to not only advocate for the most appropriate working conditions for them, but also to mitigate risk, reducing interruptions in shooting schedules and supporting performers in stepping into the bravest performance possible.

During production, I’m present with mental health tools in my kit (fidget toys, coloring books, sour candies, resources), a well-regulated highly-attuned nervous system and a watchful eye, ready to tap in with anyone present who needs immediate mental health first aid.

Following production, mental health coordination serves cast and crew with de-escalation, de-roling, debriefing and processing events and emotions, as needed.