Managing Mental Health in the Mountains

As the importance of mental health continues to be addressed and recognized as a safety issue for backcountry users, TCSAR Foundation was proud to organize a recent workshop detailing the ins and outs of stress trauma and psychological first aid.

On March 5, 2024, local TIPS therapists Lewis Smirl and Ryan Burke led 50 first responders, mental health practitioners, mountain guides, and community members passionate about psychological first aid through a workshop on ‘Managing Mental Health in the Mountains.’

Ryan Burke is a local therapist who works with the Teton Interagency Peer Support group, commonly known as TIPs. Photo: Taylor Fasolo

After a brief deep dive into the neuroscience of stress exposure, Lewis and Ryan facilitated an open conversation about the interface of mountain town culture and trauma. Participant questions underlined the prevalence of ‘stress injuries’ in Jackson and the stigma that can exist surrounding peer and professional support.

Therapist Lewis Smirl engages with the audience on March 5 at the Black Diamond store in downtown Jackson. Photo: Taylor Fasolo

Thank you to Black Diamond for hosting, Yeah Buddy for providing pizza, and Lewis, Ryan, and everyone who attended for making this night so meaningful. Mental health is incident prevention and we appreciate your commitment to normalizing these conversations.

If you need stress injury support, check out Responder Alliance, Mountain Muskox, Redside Foundation, Soar4Life, and the Community Counseling Center of JH. And don’t forget all Teton County first responders get FREE access to therapy thanks to the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole’s Teton Interagency Peer Support (TIPS) program.

TCSAR Foundation will continue to make this issue a priority in our educational programming. Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media to be alerted when new classes are scheduled. You can find all of our programming on the events page at Backcountry Zero.

Mental Health Matters: Community Foundation of Jackson Hole takes over management of TIPS

Jackson, Wyo. — In a sign of its success and value to the Jackson Hole community, management of Teton Interagency Peer Support, commonly known as TIPS, is being moved from Teton County Search & Rescue Foundation to the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole. This means that all future administration and fundraising will go through the Community Foundation, which is in an excellent position to run the program for several coordinating agencies.

The Stress Continuum is yet one tool that TIPS uses as a mental health check-in.

"TIPS provides a critical support system for our local first responders, who are experiencing a range of traumatic experiences in service to our community," Community Foundation President Laurie Andrews said. "The Community Foundation's Behavioral Health Initiative's administration of TIPS will ensure that our first responders continue to receive the support services they need."

TIPS began in the fall of 2018. At the time, local first responders were becoming aware that stress injuries could occur in the field, but they didn’t have the tools or network to adequately treat them. Acceptance of this issue made it clear that stress injuries needed treatment programs similar to physical injuries, and that simply ‘toughing it out’ could do lasting damage to a person and their relationships. TIPS was born to better serve local first responders by providing a network of mental health support. 

In 2022 alone, TIPS provided 1,500 peer support connections and access to 324 sessions with mental health professionals. 

"The TIPS program has been instrumental in elevating the importance of supporting our fellow first responders after traumatic rescues occur,” said TCSAR volunteer Ethan Lobdell. “TIPS seeks to establish a safety net for our friends and family members who make up the first responder community. Its goal is to make sure none of us succumbs to the negative mental health outcomes that can be associated with exposure to traumatic events. Our community is stronger, our futures brighter, and our first responder teams more prepared to engage with the critical work they do because of the TIPS support program."

TIPS has also provided the base programming for psychological first aid, allowing first responders all over the valley to be trained to help those involved in accidents to understand stress injuries and how and when they may affect you.  

TIPS, which serves all first responders in Teton County, Wyo., is funded by a combination of private donations and through funding commitments by the cooperating agencies. 

For more information on the program or to see how you can support TIPS, please visit www.tetontips.com.  

The announcement of TIPS coincides with May being recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month, a nationwide initiative intended to raise the importance of mental health while removing the stigma surrounding it. For more information, visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

TCSAR + Foundation Featured in New Film about Mental Health

First responders are often portrayed as being tough, burly, strong, physically fit…pick your adjective… And yes, they are all of those things, but they also experience rates of depression and suicide ideation far greater than the general population.

The dangers and stress of the job make first responders—no matter how tough they appear on the outside—susceptible to traumatic stress injuries. Just as physical injuries require medical attention, so do stress injuries. And while first responders have traditionally been expected to ‘suck it up’ and ‘be tough’ after dealing with stressful or traumatic events, that expectation doesn’t reflect the reality and dangers of stress injuries.

This issue is the focus of a new film called “A State of Mind: Protecting the Protectors,” part of a new series on mental health currently showing on Wyoming PBS. The film premiered in Jackson on February 9 at the Center for the Arts, and will be broadcast on Wyoming PBS later this spring.

Joanna Kail, Executive Director for Wyoming PBS, introduces the film “A State of Mind: Protecting the Protectors” at the Center for the Arts on February 9. Photo: TCSAR Foundation

Featured in the film are TCSAR volunteers Stephanie Thomas and Jen Reddy; Drew Kneeland, director of the Jackson Hole Ski Patrol; licensed therapist Lewis Smirl; Katie Davis from Jackson Hole Fire/EMS; and others who are working to provide a positive influence on mental health in Teton County and across Wyoming. The film provides an excellent look into the efforts from different individuals and organizations to eliminate the stigma around mental health as part of the TIPS program.

In 2019, TCSAR Foundation and several other local first-responding agencies launched the Teton Interagency Peer Support (TIPS). TIPS provides free mental health support for local first responders and their families, and is funded through private donations and grants. Since its inception, TCSAR Foundation has administered the program and accepted donations on behalf of the partner organizations. The TIPS’ approach gives first responders a network of peer support that works to keep them resilient, mentally strong, and of course, muscle bound.

Thank you to Alpheus Media for producing this important film and including TCSAR.

If you or a loved one is in need of mental health support, please know that help is available.

Contact the Jackson Hole Community Counseling Center at (307) 733-2046, or St. John’s Health Wellbeing Resources at (307) 203-7880.

The National Suicide Hotline offers 24-hour crisis support at (800) 273-TALK (8255), en Espanol (888) 628-9454.