The Mental Health Association of Middle Tennessee (MHAMT) is now in its 63rd year of service to the Middle Tennessee community. Since its founding, our mission has been to promote mental health for all people through education, advocacy, and service. Over the years, the Association has worked diligently to educate all members of our community about how to attain good mental health and wellness. Last year alone we were able to share our message of hope for mental wellness to over 100,000 individuals. By being a frontline resource for the community, the MHAMT is in a position to identify important mental health needs in Middle Tennessee, and then often facilitates the development of programs to meet those needs or enhance resources to address service gaps. Several programs that began with the MHAMT have now evolved into independent agencies, such as park Center, Tennessee Voices for Children and the Crisis Center.

Current Services

J. Speed Thomas Mental Health Assistance Center provides consultations, information, and referrals about mental illness and community resources to consumers, family members, and mental health professionals.

The Aging Services program assists caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease through educational classes, in-home consultations, and support groups. erasing the Stigma is a statewide mental health education program that makes presentations to schools, businesses, civic clubs, and faith-based organizations.

The I.C. HOPE® - “don’t duck Mental health” campaign serves to dispel the negative images associated with mental illness. The friendly face of the duck with its healing bandage promises to show that mental illness is treatable and not unusual. his life preserver symbolizes that every life is worth saving. I.C. HOPE® takes the form of a six-foot character trained in mental health messages coupled with age-appropriate curriculums.

The Hispanic Outreach program (HOP) helps Spanish- speaking clients access mental health providers and services, advocates for increased mental health services for nashville’s foreign-born residents and builds coalitions with other agencies to create new resources. Additionally, HOP provides educational/ support groups for hispanic women and middle school students.

The TennCare Partners Advocacy Line (TPAL) is a statewide program that assists the 1.2 million TennCare-eligible Tennesseans in accessing mental health and substance abuse benefits.

Suicide prevention and intervention are the goals of the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network (TSPN) and Tennessee Lives County (TLC). Both statewide programs teach effective techniques that can be used by parents, peers, educators and non-mental health professionals, with the ultimate goal of reducing suicide rates in the state of Tennessee.