Limited resources for preventative mental health care may be caused by the lack of data to back up its impact. Nonetheless, Lindsey Lupow, the program director at HeadQuarters in Basalt, said that rather than focusing solely on reacting during moments of crisis, the organization advocates a proactive approach within the Roaring Fork Valley community.
HeadQuarters, formerly Aspen Strong, provides free programming focused on strengthening the four aspects of mental fitness: social, emotional, physical and financial. According to Lupow, what spurred the rebrand was an effort to be more inclusive of all the communities that make up the Roaring Fork Valley.
“The beauty of mental fitness is you don’t always have to be strong,” Lupow told The Sopris Sun.
One of the organization’s new groups, Uplift, is focused on fitness of the mind and body and is led by Dr. Scott and Laurel Tesoro, owners of Roaring Fork CrossFit. Scott acknowledged a common hesitation people may feel about CrossFit, thinking that it might be too challenging. But when they do make the leap, he said watching individuals overcome that doubt and getting through their initial workout is very rewarding.
“The word that comes to mind is empowerment. The feeling that people get when they’re doing something hard that they didn’t think they could do is such a great thing to witness,” he stated. “People come in and realize they can totally do it. It’s done in that community setting where people are just cheering you on and supporting you.”
Another program provided by HeadQuarters, which began last August, is the Common Roots men’s group. Davis Cowles, the group facilitator and founder of Moon & Back Coaching, said it serves as a place for men to connect and participate in fruitful and, more often than not, vulnerable discussions.
“We as men tend to be culturally embedded in a story that holds manhood and struggle in mutual exclusivity,” Cowles explained. But that doesn’t have to be the case, and men can discover that together.
Thus far, about 120 men have participated in the group.
Brenden attends Common Roots consistently and mentioned how apprehensive he felt when he first joined. Contrary to his initial reservations and anxiety, today he feels accepted, seen and respected while participating.
He said that it’s reassuring to know that he’s not the only one navigating what, as he’s discovered, are pretty common issues. “It helps us to see that other men are vulnerable as well,” he shared.
Brenden encourages others to take the next step and show up.
Lupow said that the success of Common Roots is so significant that HeadQuarters is looking into adding another meeting location in the future. A Common Roots women’s group will meet for the first time later this month.
While HeadQuarters does not currently offer resources in Spanish, Lupow said the organization is eager to expand and include members from the Spanish speaking community.
“[We] are actively looking for more members of the Latinx [community] to join our board of directors to drive that mission forward,” Lupow added. “We need more Latinx facilitators to bring this work to life for the Hispanic community,” as well.
In addition to its free programming, HeadQuarters has a Mental Health Fund in which individuals seeking therapy, but are unable to afford it, can apply for 10 free sessions.
“A lot of people aren’t feeling like they’re a part of this community and there’s a lot of loneliness and isolation,” Lupow concluded. “Really the fund is there to get to the baseline and integrate people into the programming.”
Visit www.headq.org to learn more about HeadQuarters and opportunities to tap into preventative mental health care.