Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca

Group Support in Tompkins County

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To me, the philosophy behind mental health support groups aligns with Platonic wisdom: inquiry, dialogue, and collective reasoning leads to knowledge, truth, and justice. Struggling alone can be much more difficult than sharing lived experience with peers in a mutually beneficial atmosphere, according to Melanie Little, director of Training and Peer Education at the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County.

Team members at the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County

“We have a lot to learn from each other,” said Little. “Your lived experience is expertise, and that is mutually beneficial. It’s really empowering because we can help other people.”

Peer support groups are commonly facilitated by people who themselves have lived experience with mental health conditions and are trained to assist others. They are known as certified peer specialists. Group therapy, on the other hand, is more often provided by licensed therapists with specific therapeutic interventions.

As a peer specialist, bi-weekly facilitator, and group therapy veteran, I strongly believe that group support particularly and significantly builds confidence in attendees. Knowing that others go through similar experiences confirms our struggles as real, validates that we matter, and promotes greater peace with a society that may rarely seem to understand. Peer interaction cultivates a mutual emotional safety net, enabling participants to see past the stigma, to reclaim their lives.

Group programs vary tremendously in material, style, and message. Most fit into one of several categories. Psychoeducational groups educate people about their condition, offering effective coping skills. Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy helps people to recognize patterns of thought that negatively influence emotions and behaviors. Skills development is meant to increase overall function in the world. Support groups entail people converging on similar problems, assisting each other through feedback. Interpersonal groups focus on social skills.

According to the American Psychological Association, group therapy is at least as effective as individual therapy. Cited research suggests that expanding group therapy initiatives in the US would save more than $5.6 billion, and free the schedules of about 34,500 therapists for individual therapy. The research found group therapy effective for a myriad of mental illnesses, including those marked by anxiety, depression, mood cycling, psychosis, substance abuse, and eating disorders. Robust effects on alliance and cohesion were highlighted.

Overall, group therapy is an excellent option for those who want to surpass the limits of individual therapy, or those who would stand to benefit from a peer experience. Little said that it’s particularly valuable because “we can feel so much shame, so much isolation.”

Many support group options are available in Tompkins County.

The Mental Health Association in Tompkins County offers several free group programs. Psychosocial Support, for adults with mental health challenges, promotes rehabilitation within the community, helping people forge strong bonds with peers. Peer Support/Advocacy also serves adults, consisting of casual and structured activities, both in individual and group form work. The focus is on mental health recovery, goal planning, learning skills, progress monitoring, self-help and self-advocacy, hope, and community participation. Family Peer Support Services assists the guardians of children and adolescents who have mental health challenges. Goals include empowering caregivers to make informed decisions, reducing familial stress, educating about mental health, and helping navigate child-serving systems. Emotional support, advocacy, service coordination, and recreation events are furthermore offered. The Mental Health Association also maintains a social drop-in program at its offices in Center Ithaca. Staffed by peer specialists, the program is a welcoming environment for peers to come together, converse about shared experiences, learn about resources, enjoy snacks and a hot beverage, and do collective activities like games and crafts. For more information, go to www.mhaedu.org.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Finger Lakes chapter offers a program called the NAMI Family Support Group, free peer groups for those adults who seek to help loved ones with mental illness, facilitated by people who have gone through this experience themselves. Other free peer support services offered by NAMI Finger Lakes include the Partner and Spouse Group and Psychosis Support Group. For more information, go to www.namifingerlakes.org.

Tompkins County Whole Health operates Personalized Recovery Oriented Services (PROS), a group option serving adults with “severe and persistent mental illness” including those with substance use disorders. Groups are led by peers or professional clinicians. The program seeks to provide greater quality of life, reduced hospitalization, and personal goal attainment. Some groups are discussion-based, others self-focused. PROS services include Community Rehabilitation, Intensive Rehabilitation, and Ongoing Rehabilitation and Support. Services are covered by Medicaid or otherwise are a maximum of $60 per month. For more information, go to www.tompkinscountyny.gov/health/pros.

Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca provides mental health and related social services. Groups include Caregiver Support Group, Kinship Caregivers Support Group, Grandparents Support Group, and more, depending on the time of year. Family & Children’s accepts Medicaid, Medicare, and private health insurance. It offers additional discounts based on family and income, and its services are free to those unable to pay. For more information, go to www.fcsith.org.

The Advocacy Center of Tompkins County provides support, advocacy and education for survivors, friends, and families of domestic violence, and sexual assault. Peer support services include Knowledge is Power, Survivor Empowerment Group, and Survivor Support for College Students. For more information, go to www.actompkins.org.

—By Ben Komor

Ben Komor has been a certified peer specialist for over eight years and, among other functions in the mental health realm, served as an advisor to the Tompkins County Crisis Negotiation Team. He is a graduate of Ithaca High School, and holds a BA in Human Development and an MS in Health.

Fundraising to Support Our Mental Health Workers

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The Sophie Fund’s 2023 “Cupcake Button” fundraising campaign collected $1,043.78 for the Greg Eells Memorial Fund at Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca.

Kayla Torres, Alecia Sundsmo, Max Fante, Lovisa Johanson, Alicia Kenaley, and Michelle Eells

The campaign was spearheaded by several Cornell University student organizations: Cornell Circle K; Pre-Professional Association Towards Careers in Health (PATCH); and Alpha Phi Omega Gamma Chapter (APO). The monies raised in the campaign included donations made directly to Family & Children’s.

At a luncheon at the Statler Hotel on February 2, Max Fante and Kayla Torres of Cornell Circle K delivered a check to leaders from Family & Children’s. The campaign collected donations targeted for the Greg Eells Memorial Fund, which provides wellness support and continuing education opportunities for the organization’s own staff members.

To make a donation to the Greg Eells Memorial Fund, click here and use the drop-down menu to designate your gift.

The Memorial Fund was created to honor Eells, the longtime executive director of Counseling & Psychological Services at Cornell University, board member at Family & Children’s, and national leader in the student mental health field, who died by suicide in 2019.

“It was wonderful to see the outpouring of support for the Greg Eells Memorial Fund, highlighting the importance of mental health care and caring for our caregivers,” said Lovisa Johanson, donor engagement manager at Family & Children’s.

“This fund to support mental health workers is crucial, and Cornell students played a vital role in driving these efforts forward with their passion and dedication. Grateful for the chance to work together to spotlight our exceptional staff and provide them with wellness support funding,” Johanson said.

Fante said that supporting the annual Cupcake Button campaign is one of Cornell Circle K’s service priorities during the school year.

“Cornell students have an unwavering commitment to foster mental health awareness in the greater Ithaca community. Supporting the Greg Eells Memorial Fund along with championing mental health care workers is the perfect way to empower students to prioritize mental health in our community,” he said.

Orell Rayhan of PATCH said that working with The Sophie Fund and the Greg Eells Memorial Fund provided an opportunity for her members to destigmatize mental health, which may impact them or their patients in the future.

“By sharing the impactful stories and missions of these incredible organizations, we empowered our members to forge deeper connections with the causes they support,” she said.

Family & Children’s is a private, nonprofit community agency dedicated to supporting, promoting, and strengthening the well-being of individuals and families by providing high-quality, accessible mental health care and related social services, with a particular sensitivity toward the needs of children.

In 2022, the agency provided 1,289 clients with counseling services in nearly 30,000 appointments. More than 1,000 other clients were served in other programs such as psychiatry, geriatric mental health, and community outreach.

The Greg Eells Memorial Fund was inspired by Eells’s widow, Michelle Eells, who seeks to provide greater support for clinicians and others who spend long hours treating clients with mental health issues including many who are struggling.

Eells’s family and friends also founded Health & Unity for Greg (HUG) “to continue Greg’s work in the world, inspired by Greg’s passion for people and overall wellness in mind, body, and spirit.” HUG focuses on uniting community through advocacy events that exercise physical and mental health to end the stigma for all.

The Sophie Fund organizes the Cupcake Button campaign and the related 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 their support of mental health.

“We are very grateful to partner with student organizations at Cornell, who year after year demonstrate strong support to advance better mental health on their campus as well as in the larger Ithaca community,” said MacLeod.

“In 2023, we greatly appreciated the opportunity to raise funds for Family & Children’s, which plays a leading role in supporting mental health in Tompkins County. It was equally important to us to honor Greg Eells, who dedicated his life to the mental well-being of young people, and to show solidarity with the mental health and social work clinicians whose service is so vital to our community.”

MacLeod said that since 2017 the Cupcake Button campaigns have raised a total of $6,612.66 for seven local nonprofits supporting mental health: Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service; Mental Health Association in Tompkins County; Advocacy Center of Tompkins County; the Village at Ithaca; The Learning Web; NAMI-Finger Lakes; and Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca.

Thank You, Cornell Mental Health Advocates!

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Cornell University students from five campus organizations supported the 8th Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest and the related Cupcake Button fundraising campaign for mental health.

Participating groups included Cornell Circle K, Pre-Professional Association Toward Careers in Health (PATCH), Alpha Phi Omega–Gamma Chapter, Phi Sigma Pi, and Cornell Minds Matter.

In brief remarks at the contest award’s ceremony on October 14, Cornell Circle K Vice President Max Fante spoke about his organization’s commitment to community service and the importance of campus mental health.

“A lot of us are dealing with high stress, uncertainty about the future, and it is important to recognize that youth have mental health needs,” Fante said. “I’m very grateful for all of you to be [mental health] advocates.”

Leaders of Cornell Circle K volunteering at the Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest

Fante along with leaders from other student groups spearheaded the Cupcake Button campaign, which is coordinated by The Sophie Fund and collects donations for a local nonprofit organization supporting mental health.

This year, the campaign raised monies for the Greg Eells Memorial Fund at Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca. The fund, established in honor of the late Greg Eells, provides wellness support and continuing education opportunities for the organization’s own staff members.

At the cupcake contest, the student volunteers set up the venue, conducted contest registration, served as preliminary round judges, created special award certificates, and cleaned the event space afterwards.

Volunteers from Cornell’s Phi Sigma Pi chapter

“We are forever grateful to work together with Max Fante and all the other student volunteers in creating the cupcake contest and the fundraiser every year,” said Scott MacLeod, co-founder of The Sophie Fund. “Both activities are designed to help raise awareness, fight stigma, start conversations, and provide support around mental health. The Cornell student organizations are wonderful advocates for mental health on their campus.”

Saluting Mental Health Heroes

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Mental health leaders in Tompkins County highlighted available community services and underlined the importance of supporting the well-being of mental health workers during the 8th Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest.

The organizations participating included: Be Kind Ithaca; Free Hugs Ithaca; Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service; Mental Health Association in Tompkins County; National Alliance on Mental Illness Finger Lakes; Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca; Health and Unity for Greg; and Advocacy Center of Tompkins County, and Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Task Force.

Kayla and Michelle Eells of Health and Unity for Greg

Alecia Sundsmo, director of Clinical Services at Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca, said that her agency provides mental health care across the age spectrum regardless of ability to pay.

“One of the amazing things about Family and Children’s is that we can really provide mental health care from our zero-to-five program all the way up to our geriatric mental health program,” she said. “Somebody is never turned away. We know that equity across access to healthcare is so critical to making sure that people have the care that they need in the community where they live and work.”

Sundsmo also noted the agency’s outreach programs “to make sure that we reach folks who might have some additional stigma or barriers to seeking access to care. We go out and help them and find them and make sure that we can provide social supports in the community.” She said that the outreach includes community education programs and extends to supporting mental health in local businesses through their Employee Assistance Programs.

Michelle Eells of Health & United for Greg thanked Family & Children’s for establishing the Greg Eells Memorial Fund in honor of her husband, who died by suicide in 2019. Greg Eells was a veteran psychologist and active member of the Family & Children’s board.

“The fund helps provide wellness support and education to the Family and Children’s Service clinicians and staff,” Eells explained. “As mental health providers and caregivers who care vehemently for others and take it all in, they also need to be supported and make a priority to care for themselves.”

The Greg Eells Memorial Fund is the recipient of the 2023 Cupcake Button fundraising campaign organized by The Sophie Fund, which collects donations every year to support a local mental health nonprofit.

Lovisa Johanson of Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca

Samantha Shoemaker of Free Hugs Ithaca and Darrell Harrington of Be Kind Ithaca

Olivia Duell of the Advocacy Center of Tompkins County

Brandi Remington of the Tompkins County Bullying Prevention Task Force

Skip Knoll and Virginia Cook of The Sophie Fund

Stacy Ayres and Crystal Howser of AFSP Greater Central New York

Kathy Taylor and Sandra Sorensen of NAMI Finger Lakes

Support Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca!

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It’s time for The Sophie Fund’s 2023 Cupcake Button fundraiser! Each October, we work alongside student organizations to raise monies for a local nonprofit focused on community well-being.

This year’s campaign is collecting donations for the Greg Eells Memorial Fund at Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca. The fund provides wellness support and continuing education opportunities for the organization’s own staff members.

Greg Eells

Family & Children’s is a private, nonprofit community agency dedicated to supporting, promoting, and strengthening the well-being of individuals and families by providing high-quality, accessible mental health care and related social services, with a particular sensitivity toward the needs of children.

In 2022, the agency provided 1,289 clients with counseling services in nearly 30,000 appointments. More than 1,000 other clients were served in other programs such as psychiatry, geriatric mental health, and community outreach.

The Memorial Fund was created to honor Eells, the longtime executive director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Cornell University, board member at Family & Children’s, and national leader in the student mental health field, who died by suicide in 2019.

The fund was inspired by Eells’s widow, Michelle Eells, who seeks to provide greater support for clinicians and others who spend long hours treating clients with mental health issues including many who are struggling.

Donor Engagement Manager Lovisa Johanson said that the fund has provided wellness opportunities such as meditation workshops, on site massages, and movement sessions as well as social activities for employee appreciation, community building, and resiliency enhancement.

“I am so happy there is opportunity for the community to learn a little more about what the Greg Eells Memorial Fund does for us,” she said.

To donate directly to the Greg Eells Memorial Fund, click here and use the drop-down menu to designate your gift.

Michelle along with their daughter Kayla and several friends also founded Health & Unity for Greg (HUG) “to continue Greg’s work in the world, inspired by Greg’s passion for people and overall wellness in mind, body, and spirit.”

HUG focuses on uniting community through advocacy events that exercise physical and mental health to end the stigma for all. “HUG especially recognizes the work of those serving in the mental health profession and aims to increase wellness support,” she said.

Michelle said that to honor her husband, there are two important aspects of his life and career HUG wants to remember and advance.

“HUG recognizes mental health providers and caregivers who, like my husband, care abundantly for others and need to be supported in caring for themselves,” she explained.

“And we want to continue the work that Greg was doing with Nature Rx, encouraging people to get outside and explore the natural world as one method to improve their mental health,” she added.

With Donald A. Rakow, Eells co-authored Nature Rx: Improving College-Student Mental Health, which described the value of nature prescription programs and cited studies showing that people who spend time in nature have reduced stress, anxiety, and improved mood. 

“Greg had a gift for making everyone feel special, like they were the most important person in the world,” said Michelle. “He was known for giving big bear hugs, so in naming the organization HUG, it perfectly captures Greg’s spirit and passions while incorporating his name.”

This year’s Cupcake Button campaign is supported by many student organizations, including Cornell University’s Cornell Circle K, Pre-Professional Association Toward Careers in Health (PATCH), Alpha Phi Omega–Gamma Chapter, Phi Sigma Pi, and Cornell Minds Matter.

Students raise money through various in-person activities (and provide donors with Cupcake Buttons) on campus and in the community.

Since 2017 the campaigns have raised more than $6,000 for organizations including: the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service; the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County; the Advocacy Center of Tompkins County; the Village at Ithaca; The Learning Web; and the National Alliance on Mental Illness–Finger Lakes.

The symbol of the campaign is a Cupcake Button, because the fundraising takes place in the run-up to the Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest hosted by The Sophie Fund. To enter this year’s cupcake contest, click here.

For more information about The Sophie Fund, go to: www.thesophiefund.org