These are times of extreme and constant change.
Without question, it is a challenging and compelling time to be a nonprofit focused on mental health. Our mission of “improving lives worldwide through excellence and innovation in Cognitive Behavior Therapy training, practice, and research” places Beck Institute squarely in the position of forwarding a conversation about what excellence in our field truly means. But more important than conversation is taking actions that matter to people and practitioners around the world.
Access to quality mental healthcare is more important today than ever before. The one-two punch of COVID-19 and the increased focus on racial injustice in the US has illustrated the incredible need for quality mental health services that promote healing, both in the US and around the world. To tackle these rising concerns, we have renewed our intention to deliver on our mission, increase our capacity, and expand the reach of quality CBT and Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy (CT-R). To do so, we are not only transforming our business models to accommodate the “next normal,” but we are re-engineering many of our organizational processes and deliverables as quickly and effectively as possible.
For more than twenty-five years, we have focused on bringing the gold standard in CBT training around the world, therefore increasing accessibility to quality care for countless individuals. In the coming months, you will see us paying increased attention to the diverse training needs of our community, regardless of professional or personal orientation to CBT or experience with CT-R. We will work to improve access through language and cultural sensitivity. We will implement a broader range of live virtual events that engage a range of experts who will share their knowledge with us and with you. These and other activities will pave the way to a bigger impact and continued delivery on our mission.
Wellness is something we have always taken very seriously at Beck Institute. To be the difference-makers we want to be, we need to change. Change can be messy, and we will probably make mistakes along the way. But the moral imperative presented by the rising mental health concerns of the day calls us to manage that change for the good.
We look forward to engaging in this work and growing with you as allies. Please contact me with any ideas or feedback you might have.