As the days grow shorter and that familiar crispness returns to the air, life in the Ithaca area begins to shift. College students flood back into town—some for the first time, some returning after summer break—and the rhythm of the community changes almost overnight.
For therapists in Ithaca and environs, this time of year always marks an uptick in calls and emails. Whether it’s a college student navigating the transition to campus life or a longtime resident facing new challenges, many people start thinking: Maybe it’s time to talk to someone.
IRTG is a network for therapists and mental health professionals in Ithaca and the Finger Lakes Region to connect and share resources. We have now launched a new website at www.irtg.org, designed to connect people in the Ithaca area with trusted local mental health professionals.
The website is a one-stop resource for finding support whether you’re in a moment of crisis or simply ready to prioritize your mental well-being.
What started back in 2005 as a small circle of local therapists gathering in each other’s living rooms has grown into a robust, collaborative network.
Over the years, our group steadily evolved to better meet the needs of the community. Our internal therapist listserv now boasts nearly 600 members, averaging around 150 posts per month and serving as a valuable resource for the therapy community.
With the creation of the new website, our group has expanded its vision and reach—reflected in a name change from the Ithaca Therapist Group to the Ithaca Region Therapist Group.
The website offers:
—A searchable therapist directory to find local private practice therapists by specialty, treatment approach, and availability. The search can be filtered to show therapists who are accepting new clients.
—A Spotlight series featuring local therapists discussing their personal backgrounds and approaches to supporting clients.
—Curated listings of national, state, and local crisis hotline and other support resources; including separate pages for Tompkins, Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Seneca, Schuyler, and Tioga counties.
—An Upcoming Events calendar featuring support groups, wellness workshops, and educational offerings.
—A portal for the network’s therapists to stay connected with each other and informed through shared resources and updates.
—By Tamie Pushlar
Tamie Pushlar is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Ithaca and a member of the Ithaca Region Therapist Group Leadership Team
At a luncheon at the Statler Hotel on March 21, Circle K Co-Presidents Leah Goddard and Hunter Leach delivered a check for the Ithaca Free Clinic.
“Circle K was proud to support the Ithaca Free Clinic through the Sophie Fund fundraiser. Our Halloween-themed sugar cookie and apple cider sale brought our club together for a meaningful cause,” said Goddard.
“We’re especially thankful for the opportunity to contribute to the Free Clinic’s mission of providing compassionate, accessible healthcare, and we look forward to supporting this important work for years to come,” added Leach.
“Many thanks to The Sophie Fund and the Cornell students for raising such a sizable contribution! We are so grateful for your support!” said Ithaca Free Clinic Executive Director Norbert McCloskey.
The Ithaca Free Clinic provides medical and other health services to clients regardless of their ability to pay. It primarily serves individuals who are without health insurance, or whose health insurance does not cover the services they need.
According to McCloskey, the Free Clinic provides healthcare services to people who earn too much to be eligible for Medicaid, are too young to be eligible for Medicare, and do not earn nearly enough to afford usable, low copay and low deductible health insurance plans available through the Affordable Care Act’s Market Place.
In the first eight months of 2024, the Free Clinic provided free health care services to 671 individuals (438 female patients and 233 male patients) in 1,269 scheduled appointments.
Representatives from PATCH, Cornell Circle K, Alpha Phi Omega, and Cornell Minds Matter
“PATCH is deeply committed to supporting equitable healthcare, so raising money for the Ithaca Free Clinic was incredibly meaningful to us,” said Lily Ehsan, PATCH’s community service co-chair.
“As future healthcare professionals, we’re proud to contribute to an organization that provides essential care to our local community regardless of income or insurance status. It was inspiring to see so many Cornell students come together in support of such an important cause.”
The Ithaca Free Clinic receives no federal or state financial funding, completely relying on community support in the form of monetary donations, in-kind donations, and the generous donation of the time and talent of its volunteers.
It opened in 2006 as one of the first to offer both primary medical and holistic care through an integrated model. The Ithaca Health Alliance is a 501(c)3 organization that sponsors and operates the Ithaca Free Clinic. The Alliance has been dedicated to seeking solutions to local healthcare challenges since 1997.
The Sophie Fund organizes the Cupcake Button campaign and the related Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest each fall to promote mental health awareness and raise monies for local nonprofits supporting community mental health. Donors receive a Cupcake Button featuring the image of a cupcake created by Sophie Hack MacLeod, a Cornell art student who died by suicide in 2016 for whom The Sophie Fund is named.
Scott MacLeod, co-founder of The Sophie Fund, expressed his appreciation to the Cornell student organizations for supporting the Ithaca Free Clinic.
“It is gratifying to see Cornell students stepping up to partner with community organizations. The Sophie Fund is proud to work alongside Cornell organizations to advance mental health not only on their campus but in the greater Ithaca community as well.
“In these challenging times, all of us were especially passionate to support the Ithaca Free Clinic, and Norb McCloskey and his team, true champions of healthcare.”
Our kids are telling us: “We are struggling with mental health.” From the Covid-19 disruptions, academic pressures, and addictive social media to navigating adolescence in a time of political and economic uncertainty, it is a tough time for many to be young in America.
DOWNLOAD: Mental Health Support & Suicide Prevention for Schools in Tompkins County
National and local surveys of school students reflect the seriousness of the crisis. In a survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40 percent of high schoolers said they experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Twenty-nine percent reported poor mental health, and 20 percent said they had considered taking their own lives.
A survey of high school and middle school students in Tompkins County came up with similar patterns. Forty-seven percent said they felt anxious or worried on most days, 35 percent felt sad or depressed on most days, and 34 percent said that “sometimes I think life is not worth it.”
Such data prompt a call to action, to intensify our efforts to safeguard the mental well-being of children growing up in our precarious digital age.
In that spirit, the new resources guide was created by the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service of Tompkins County, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Greater Central New York, National Alliance on Mental Illness Finger Lakes, Mental Health Association in Tompkins County, and The Sophie Fund.
“Mental health and well-being start with our youth. At a young age, understanding warning signs and developing coping skills can provide a foundation for supportive strategies to be carried into adulthood. Talking about suicide is how we start supporting our young people,” said Tiffany Bloss, executive director of the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service.
“Gaining an educated understanding of how to have conversations around crisis and suicide can save lives. Dedicating a matter of hours could save a youth’s life. We need to invest the time. We offer a variety of suicide prevention trainings and workshops at no cost to those who want to learn more.”
After providing a brief “Mental Health and Suicide 101” introduction, the resources guide details the education and training that the local organizations are ready to present to Tompkins school administrators, teachers, students, and parents.
If you have a comment, concern, or suggestion about mental health in Tompkins schools, please feel free to email it to The Sophie Fund: thesophiefund2016@gmail.com.
The resources guide compiles handbooks and toolkits to assist Tompkins schools in developing mental health promotion and bullying prevention programming as well as suicide prevention strategies in their school communities. The guide points to recommendations for youth use of social media issued by the U.S. Surgeon General and the American Psychological Association.
The organizations launched the resources guide in last September during Suicide Prevention Month and immediately distributed copies to the superintendents of the seven school districts in Tompkins County.
At the same time, the organizations requested an opportunity to meet directly with the superintendents and their leadership teams to provide a presentation on the support services available and respond to any concerns or questions they may have.
Tompkins school districts include Ithaca City School District; Lansing Central School District; Trumansburg Center School District; Newfield Central School District; Groton Central School District; Dryden Central School District; and TST BOCES. (As of late January 2025, three school districts had responded positively to the request.)
If you or someone you know feels the need to speak with a mental health professional, you can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.
America is experiencing a youth mental health and suicide crisis, as kids grow up in a world that is increasingly stressful and scary for them, according to Tiffany Bloss, executive director of the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service of Tompkins County.
Tiffany Bloss speaks at youth mental health town hall
Bloss said that a quarter of the young people who die in the United States today take their own lives. She said the causes of suicide are complex, but pointed to stress factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic, academic pressures, addictive social media, poor family relationships, and financial anxiety.
“They are trying to navigate so many things in their world, and it is a scary place to be right now. And, with social media, there is no escape,” she said.
Bloss was a featured speaker at “Youth Mental Health & Wellness,” a community town hall hosted by the Tompkins County Suicide Prevention Coalition at the Tompkins County Public Library on October 5.
Bloss said that suicide is preventable, and emphasized the importance of normalizing discussions about mental health and being aware of warning signs that could be indicators of suicidal thoughts.
“We talk about our physical health all the time. We don’t ask about mental health. If your gut tells you that something is kind of going on for your youth, you’ve really got to ask them questions about suicide and see what we can do and open up that conversation,” she said.
Some of the warning signs Bloss described were not going out with friends anymore, failed relationships, slipping grades, changes in sleep patterns, excessive agitation or anger, and talking about dying by suicide.
She said that her agency and others in Tompkins County offer support services to address mental health challenges and emotional crises. She said that when people have serious concerns about themselves or someone else, it is wise to call 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Melanie Little, director of Education and Youth Services at the Mental Health Association of Tompkins County, spoke about the importance of recognizing risk factors can make youth more vulnerable to developing a mental health disorder.
Melanie Little provides “Mental Health 101”
Among the risk factors are trauma, substance abuse, social marginalization, lack of supportive relationships, a physical illness or disability, and bullying, she said. She said mental disorders are increasingly common in youth, with 1 in 3 teens experiencing anxiety, 1 in 5 major depression, and 1 in 5 eating disorders.
Little emphasized the need to avoid perpetuating stigma around mental health. She listed some common examples of stigmatizing language that can be harmful to young people struggling with a disorder.
“Everyone has anxiety. Some people are just stronger than you are.”
“Therapy and medications are just scams. You don’t need them.”
“What do you mean you can’t get out of bed? It’s not like your legs aren’t working.”
“Kids can’t have mental illness. What have they got to worry about in life?”
“All women are a bit bipolar.”
Pat Breux, former director of School and Youth Initiatives at the Suicide Prevention Center of New York, discussed the vital role that schools play in preventing youth suicide.
“We take an approach that we call ‘confident, connected, caring school communities.’ What that means is everyone has a role to play. Everyone is challenged to have the competencies to notice, and know where, when, and how to access help for somebody when somebody’s in need,” she said.
Breux said schools can help educate parents about mental health starting when the children enter kindergarten. “We need to start having those conversations and preparing parents for the idea that mental health crises are pretty common by the time kids get into middle school or high school. And you need to be able to recognize that early and know how to get help for your kid,” she said.
In New York State last year, Breux said, more 5,000 children went to the emergency department for self-injurious behavior.
“About 2,000 of those kids ended up hospitalized. Where did the other 3,000 end up the next morning? Back in school. Were they fixed? No. There are kids who are going to struggle with suicidality who need access to education. They need to be able to move through life with that. How do we create the environment that those kids can be okay and make sure that we’re having some kind of eyes on them and they have access to the supports that they need at the level that they need?”
Breux distributed copies of “A Guide for Suicide Prevention for New York Schools,” a booklet prepared by the Suicide Prevention Center of New York that provides information for training school staff and educating parents as well as targeted and individualized interventions against suicide risk.
Town Hall organized by the Tompkins County Suicide Prevention Coalition
Other speakers at the town hall included Shawn Goodman, a psychologist in the Ithaca Central School District; Nicole Roulstin, Contact Center Manager for 211 Tompkins/Cortland; a student at Tompkins Cortland Community College; and Randy Brown, a member of the Tompkins County Legislature.
Goodman said several things inspired him to write the self-help manual. He said that he noticed that some people his age were still struggling with their childhood issues. And while he found books to help adults heal their issues, he couldn’t find any books for kids to help them before they became adults themselves.
“And I had kids coming in essentially asking for that, saying ‘This is going on with my dad. This is going on with my mom. I want my relationship to be better. How do I do that?’”
Goodman said his favorite strategy for living in a difficult family is to learn how to manage the situation, not the relationship.
“Many kids are holding the entire relationship and feeling responsibility for it. I tell kids it’s not your job to change your parents’ behavior. And even if it were your job, it’s mission impossible. So instead, just try and manage each situation. Throughout the book, if kids stick with it, I’m really hoping that they’re going to be building confidence in navigating difficult situations and improve their outcomes, one moment at a time,” he said.
The Tompkins Cortland Community College student shared a personal story of a suicidal crisis that began before she turned 11. She said that while she grew up in a supportive family, an attentive youth pastor and later a therapist played crucial roles in guiding her on a path to healing. “Sometimes talking to parents can be really challenging especially for a middle schooler,” she said.
The student noted that that while she is feeling fantastic and is enjoying college today, speaking about her ordeal is still difficult. She said she agreed to speak about it publicly for the first time at the town hall because “I thought it was a good idea to bring awareness.”
In her presentation, Roulstin provided an overview of how the 2-1-1 hotline can help Tompkins residents access a multitude of community services for support, including food, housing, transportation, health and mental health, utilities, legal aid, veteran needs, job listings, and tax assistance. She said the hotline uses a database with over 1,600 local, state, and federal resources.
Tompkins County Legislator Randy Brown: “The issue of our time”
Brown provided the town hall’s welcome remarks, saying “I think mental health and wellness is the issue of our time, more important than any other issue that I can think of. When I ran for the legislature a few years ago, it was the number one issue for me and still is. I think that there’s more that we can do as a county.”
The Tompkins County Suicide Prevention Coalition is comprised of health agencies, community organizations, and individual members who share a determination to prevent suicide deaths in our community. It is a collective of volunteers that strives for diverse and inclusive representation and encourages collaboration for achieving goals.
If you or someone you know feels the need to speak with a mental health professional, you can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.
The Sophie Fund’s 2024 Cupcake Button fundraiser is live! Each October, we coordinate with college student organizations to raise monies for a local nonprofit focused on community well-being.
This year’s campaign is collecting donations for the Ithaca Free Clinic, helmed by Executive Director Norbert McCloskey. As its name indicates, the Free Clinic provides medical and other health services to clients regardless of their ability to pay. It primarily serves individuals who are without health insurance, or whose health insurance does not cover the services they need.
“Health care as a human right”
According to McCloskey, the Free Clinic provides healthcare services to people who earn too much to be eligible for Medicaid, are too young to be eligible for Medicare, and do not earn nearly enough to afford usable, low copay and low deductible health insurance plans available through the Affordable Care Act’s Market Place.
“These are good people stuck in a bad place. The Ithaca Free Clinic provides no-cost healthcare services for these individuals that they can find nowhere else in our region,” he said.
In the first eight months of 2024, the Free Clinic provided free health care services to 671 individuals (438 female patients and 233 male patients) in 1,269 scheduled appointments.
The Free Clinic uses an Integrative Health Care model, which mixes conventional medical methods with complementary methods in a coordinated manner. It provides the following free services for uninsured and under-insured individuals by licensed, certified, and trained community volunteers:
Medical Clinics. Free primary health care, medical testing, women’s health services, and employment physicals for the uninsured.
Chronic Care Program. Targeting at-risk individuals who need help managing persistent pain, diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions.
Financial Advocacy. Helping find creative solutions to relieving financial debt for those struggling to keep up with medical bills.
Ithaca Health Fund. Offering grants to those needing help affording diagnostic tests, treatments and prescriptions.
Insurance Navigation. Help in qualifying and enrolling uninsured individuals in various Medicaid plans.
Holistic Health Care Services. That include chiropractic, therapeutic massage, herbal therapy, and acupuncture.
Occupational Therapy. Creating healthy self-care routines, building connections with others, using technology for managing health, learning about supports in the community.
Food Pharmacy. Registered dietician services and free healthy food items.
Prescription Medication Support. Assistance in obtaining free or low-cost prescription medications like insulin.
Optometry Clinic and Optician Services. Free dilated eye exams and glaucoma screenings and free prescription eye glasses.
Health Education. Conducting free community chronic disease health screenings, educational seminars, lectures and open houses to deliver crucial health information to our community.
The by-appointment-only clinic does not provide primary care for individuals with health insurance (Medicaid, Medicare, employer-based, etc.). It does not provide emergency care or narcotics prescriptions.
McCloskey said that the Free Clinic receives no federal or state financial funding, completely relying on community support in the form of monetary donations, in-kind donations, and the generous donation of the time and talent of its volunteers.
The Ithaca Free Clinic opened in 2006 as one of the first to offer both primary medical and holistic care through an integrated model. The Ithaca Health Alliance is a 501(c)3 organization that sponsors and operates the Ithaca Free Clinic. The Alliance has been dedicated to seeking solutions to local healthcare challenges since 1997.
Students raise money through various in-person activities (and provide donors with Cupcake Buttons) on campus and in the community.
Community members may also contribute to the campaign directly through The Sophie Fund’s DONATE button.
Since 2017 the Cupcake Button campaigns have raised more than $7,000 for organizations including: Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service; Mental Health Association in Tompkins County; Advocacy Center of Tompkins County; Village at Ithaca; The Learning Web; National Alliance on Mental Illness–Finger Lakes; and Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca.
The symbol of the campaign is a Cupcake Button, because the fundraising takes place in the runup to the Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest hosted by The Sophie Fund. To enter this year’s cupcake contest held on October 19, click here.
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