Mental health support that fits the farmer

MARSHFIELD, Wis. — Helping farmers learn to address and care for their own mental health is a crusade Carissa Weber has dedicated her career to. Ensuring that therapists and counselors are properly equipped to meet the needs of the farming population goes hand-in-hand with that.
“I’m seeing a lot of farmers that are struggling,” Weber said. “(I see) everything from weather to markets, decreasing margins and growing input costs, increasing regulatory pressures — all those stressors, the little grievances that happen day to day. It’s enough to make us feel like the world is working against us and the negativity can start to suck us in.”
Weber, a licensed professional counselor, offers virtual counseling through her practice, The Joyful Mind Counseling. With her diversified background in agriculture, helping farmers weather the storms they frequently face is a priority for her.
“It seems like farmers are shifting back to putting their mental health and self-care on hold,” Weber said. “They’re busy trying to figure out how to do the things they need to do, and how to pay for them. They are compartmentalizing things that are associated with the chaos and the expectations they are facing. They’re not getting the help they need.”
Farmers bring a unique set of circumstances to therapy sessions, Weber said.
“As therapists, if we have a client involved in a profession we’re not familiar with, we ask a lot of questions,” Weber said. “For the farmer, that turns very frustrating, very quickly. They don’t feel they have time to educate the therapist about their issues.”
Therapists with an agricultural background comprise a minuscule percentage of the profession, making that cultural disconnect striking. Weber wants to help give those therapists lacking an agricultural background training to better aid farmers seeking a listening ear.
Weber was the first American therapist to undergo training with the National Farmers Mental Health Alliance, a Canadian-based program that is focused on helping farmers receive the mental health services they need. The training focuses on helping counselors understand how to best reach and connect with their agricultural clientele. Finding value in the program, Weber is leading the charge, trying to bring the group’s training to more American counselors.
“In Wisconsin we have a lot of therapists who practice in more urban settings that want to be able to help, to take the vouchers from the (Wisconsin) Farm Center,” Weber said. “They understand there is a need, but often, if the therapist isn’t well-versed in ag issues, the farmer is going to go in and not feel heard. It will be a one-and-done session.”
Weber refers to creating cultural competency for the therapists, helping them understand the culture behind farming and how farmers view mental health, allowing for a better connection between therapist and client.
“In continuing education, we’re great at looking at cultural competency as nationalities, but not when it comes to the subcultures within that,” Weber said. “I would treat a farmer very differently than I would a client that lives in downtown Milwaukee — their needs, upbringings and life experiences are all very different.”
Creating that competency means providing the therapist with the tools they need to understand the pressures farmers face on a daily basis, the long-term ramifications and the history that is entwined in everything they do.
“The training helps therapists learn about issues that are facing farmers, teaching them the familiar terms used in agriculture, so they don’t need to spend that time asking about it,” Weber said. “They understand when the farmer walks in, how things like the weather, equipment failures and prices all create challenges and stress.”
Many nuances of life resonate differently in the agricultural community, Weber said.
“Every human is exposed to grief on some level, but when we talk about farming, we see grief on a consistent basis,” Weber said. “(This might be) the death of a calf; crops under water or frosted; futures nose-diving; that one part that you desperately need but they don’t make it any more or is on backorder for six months — all things out of our control, but all things we might struggle to cope with.”
Weber said farmers do not typically display their mental health needs in the same way as those in other walks of life.
“Farmers don’t talk directly about their mental health,” Weber said. “They talk about tension headaches, or that they can’t sleep — they talk about the symptoms. They don’t label it, and sometimes it’s just hard for them to verbalize what they’re feeling.”
Understanding the need for flexibility is another disconnect between farmers and therapists unaccustomed to the life a farmer lives.
“We’re taught in school to keep firm boundaries on attendance that shows dedication to yourself and your therapy,” Weber said. “But in farming, we have to compartmentalize that sometimes. Other tasks are just bigger than us.”
Having flexibility by putting aside no-show fees for particular cancellations is huge, Weber said.
“It shows the farmer you understand there are many things in their lives that are just completely outside of their control, and it goes a long way in building trust and camaraderie,” she said. “It allows them to feel safe enough to come back.”
With everything farmers face, navigating the complexities of modern-day agriculture, having that outlet and support system can help make the burdens they shoulder feel less oppressive, Weber said.
“A lot of farmers are wondering how they are supposed to continue to do everything, on top of all the expectations placed on them of demonstrating the proud culture of agriculture,” Weber said. “We need to help farmers start talking about the pressures they face, and as long as they know we understand, they’ll keep coming back and their mental health with continue to be better.”