MONTANA MENTAL HEALTH DIRECTORY

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PLACE THE BRIGHT APP ON YOUR WEBSITE

Stream The Bright App directly from your website and help your website visitors find a mental healthcare provider in Montana. This service is simple and available at no cost. To get the web-app for your website, simply email [email protected] and request The Bright App Implementation code.

THE BRIGHT APP FAQs

The Bright App is a statewide, mobile-friendly web application that houses information on Montana’s mental health counselors and other mental health service providers. The Bright App allows anyone to easily locate mental health providers based on specialty, location and gender. Best of all — The Bright App can be placed on any website with a simple piece of copy and paste code.  The App will be public facing and free to use by all.  The data behind the app will be continually updated with help from Montana’s providers.

Jena Smith started building The Bright App in 2018. As a health workforce researcher and a consumer of mental health services herself, she knew she was well equipped to create a tool to connect Montanan’s with mental health providers. She set out to build a directory that was not only accessible to the public on a single platform, but accessible to all mental health organizations that needed a mental health directory on their website.

Jena’s Story: When I was fresh out of college (MSU Bozeman), my mental health was struggling. When I finally decided to connect with a professional to talk about my struggles, I found it very difficult to locate the right counselor. First of all, I had NO IDEA how to access any type of healthcare. It sounds silly, but hear me out. I grew up in a small town in northern Montana. I received my primary care through a small clinic within a critical access hospital. To me, that meant you go to the hospital to see your doctor. Then, during my years at MSU, I had access to the student health services clinic, that made sense. Okay – now I’m out of college, I’m in a larger town and I do not have access to student health. What do I do? Go to the hospital? That seems odd.

So what do I do when I have no idea where to turn? I go to the urgent care. At the very least they will know where to refer me, right? Wrong. That was not my experience. The urgent care providers knew only of the local mental health center. I was told I would wait for a call. The call never came. I decided to reach out to counselors myself. I made call after call to counselors I found in the phone book. Many were not accepting new clients, some didn’t accept my insurance, it was a very frustrating process for me to find care. It didn’t give up. I finally found the perfect counselor who changed my perspective on life.

Here I am today, an advocate for those seeking mental health services and cheering them on. I hope The Bright App helps consumers to narrow down their options so they don’t have to make as many calls. However, I will say – if you don’t find the right counselor immediately, please keep seeking. The right fit is out there.

As a professional, I hope other organizations find use in the tool and it will keep them from duplicating their efforts.

The Bright App is designed for anyone seeking or referring mental health services in Montana.

For the Public:

  • Patients
  • Parents
  • Caregivers
  • School systems
  • Pre-release centers
  • Detention facility discharge coordinators
  • County jails

For Healthcare Providers:

  • Counselors
  • Nursing homes
  • Public health departments
  • Urgent care facilities
  • Emergency Rooms

For Allies in Mental Health:

  • Organizations that want to provide behavioral health provider data to their peers, website visitors or members

  • Psychiatrists
  • Behavioral Health Nurse Practitioners
  • Behavioral Health Physician Assistants
  • Psychologists
  • Licensed addiction counselors (LACs)
  • Licensed professional counselors (LCPCs)
  • Clinical social workers (LCSWs)

Providers who practice in school based settings, correctional facilities, VA and IHS are not included. Please contact these facilities directly for services. Providers may also request to be excluded from the app.

The Bright App includes all providers at not cost.

2 main reasons The Bright App is unique:

  1. The information is actively maintained. A team of information specialists from WIM Tracking LLC seek out counselors across the state and ensure they are included. It is inclusive of all providers across the state at no charge to them and regardless of network affiliation.
  2. The Bright App can be hosted on an unlimited number of websites across Montana. A simple piece of copy and paste code will allow the entire App and data to stream directly onto another website. Now everyone can host this resource, but not have to maintain the data.

Check it out at the Bozeman Help Center and Marias Medical Center websites!

Bozeman Help Center

Marias Medical Center

Yes! It is mobile friendly, but web-based so users don’t need to download anything to access it.

We are working to improve the accessibility of the app for those using screen readers and keyboard navigation.

Stream The Bright App directly from your website and help your website visitors find a mental health care provider in Montana. This service is simple and available at no cost. To get the web-app for your website, simply email [email protected] and request The Bright App Implementation code.

In your email please include the following information:

  1. Your website URL
  2. Type of code requested:
    1. Weebly
    2. WordPress
    3. Embed
    4. iFrame

The Bright App is funded primarily by an independent health workforce research company called WIM. Jena Smith, the founder of WIM and The Bright App is a consumer of and advocate for mental health services. Her passion for helping community members to connect with mental health providers, along with her knowledge of database applications, spawned the development of The Bright App.

The Bright App has had support from the Montana Access to Pediatric Psychiatry Network and other partners across the state.

Jena is still awaiting a response from the Twizzlers company about her partnership request. She is happy to tell this story to anyone who needs a laugh.

Thank you for asking. You can support The Bright App in the following ways:

  • Talk about it! Tell your friends, family and colleagues.
  • Put The Bright App on your website – it’s free and easy to do.
  • Become a sponsor, send Jena an email and ask about sponsorship. [email protected]