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October 10, 2025By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press
Today is World Mental Health Day.
It is also the beginning of an annual novena that the Church in the United States is encouraged to pray Oct. 10-18.
And this weekend, Catholic parishes are encouraged to celebrate Mental Health Sunday.
The Novena for Mental Health, and Mental Health Sunday, are part of the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website usccb.org/mental-health calls the campaign “a year-round initiative of the USCCB to encourage all people of good will to respond to the ongoing mental health crisis across the United States.”
The campaign is encouraging people to become more aware of issues, eliminate stigmas around mental illness, and seek ways “to journey with those who struggle,” the website says. “This can be done now through personal and community accompaniment and by advocating for effective and compassionate public policy.”
Locally, Anna Maria College in Paxton is expanding its efforts to educate people about mental health issues.
Last year it established the Mental Health Training Institute, in response to successful programs, said John Pratico, Institute director. He is a licensed psychologist and teaches psychology at Anna Maria.
As dean of the college’s School of Professional Studies – which includes criminal justice, fire science and other fields – he was responsible for getting federal grants for mental health education, he said.
With the $1.92 million grant from the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), to be used for the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Professionals, Anna Maria has given students money for internships and purchased textbooks, laptops, and NARCAN Nasal Spray – used for opiate overdoses – for student interns to give to clients, he said.
With another grant – $1 million from the U.S. Department of Justice – the college trained 100 first responders to be instructors in Mental Health First Aid for other first responders, Professor Pratico said. Those 100 people trained 3,000 more people.
“For a college like Anna Maria to have that big of an impact made us think,” he said. That led to the desire to continue to seek funding – to teach Mental Health First Aid to other people.
“Mental Health First Aid is a nationally recognized skills-focused training curriculum from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing,” says the website annamaria.edu/mental-health-first-aid. “Participants learn to identify and react to signs of mental health challenges and substance use disorders and explore ways to handle mental health crises.”
Professor Pratico told of an email from a police officer who received the training. When responding to a call that would previously have involved arresting a person, he instead helped enable the person to stay in the community.
“It makes it feel like you’re making a difference,” Professor Pratico said.
The Mental Health Training Institute is seeking funding to make such training as cost-effective as possible for anyone who needs the training, not just Anna Maria students and faculty, he said. Programs and instructors can be tailored to the audience.
Professor Pratico said the Institute is currently preparing to support a team that will provide mental health training in the education arena, using another $1 million U.S. Department of Justice grant.
“We’re really excited” to partner with school districts in Massachusetts, he said.
“The Supportive School Safety Intervention Project is designed to enhance school safety by promoting mental wellness, preventing violence, and fostering safe and supportive learning environments,” says the website train.annamaria.edu. The project is to train school personnel, parents, students, first responders and others “to recognize and respond to mental health challenges in youth, ultimately helping to prevent self-harm or harm to others.”
The Mental Health Training Institute is also preparing to help offer training to the general public. Coming up is the Youth Mental Health First Aid program, free and open to the public as space allows, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 7 at the college. Registrations must be made on the website train.annamaria.edu.
By offering such programs, the Mental Health Training Institute is going beyond what directly benefits Anna Maria, helping the community, as did the college’s founders, the Sisters of St. Anne, explained Professor Pratico.