TIPS041: The “Nature” of Mental Health with Adam McNeill

040: Resplendent Rudy with Rudy Caseres
January 9, 2018
TIPS042: Facing Forward to Self-Love with Tina Perkins
April 30, 2018

TIPS041: The “Nature” of Mental Health with Adam McNeill



Adam McNeill lives in Kane, PA, which is situated in the middle of the Allegheny National Forest. His family spends a lot of time doing outdoor activities. He attended Arcadia University near Philadelphia and studied in Australia for a year. After college, he began contracting with the U.S. Forest Service and traveled the United States working in over a dozen national forests for the next five years. He is currently employed by Journey Health Systems, as an Executive Director of Forest Warren Mental Wellness Association.
Click to tweet: Adam McNeill shares his incredible journey on the i’Mpossible Project #podcast #mentalhealth! #podcast!

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Time Stamped Notes

  • 2.07 Adam has been in the field of social work since 2008 (originally in group homes and residential facilities, and was a foster care supervisor)
  • 4.40 Where Adam lives in Warren County PA (a tiny county) there are more homeless youth per capita than in Erie County PA (a large county)
  • 5.10 Adam and the agency he works for are working on a Trauma Informed Care initiative, teaching everyone in the community what trauma is and what its effects are on lives and families, and where to go to get help
  • 5.33 The ACES study is a personal interview for oneself to look at what you’ve gone through in your whole life and how you stand on a trauma scale and how that might affect you
  • 6.11 You are 300% more likely to have heart disease if you’ve had multiple traumas in your life
  • 6.20 Mental health can and does affect a person’s physical health
  • 11.15 When Adam went to college he decided to go not to get a job, but to study what he liked (sociology and anthropology)
  • 11.45 After college, Adam couldn’t find a job in a field he liked, so he jumped into Forestry and at some points lived in a tent for 10 months at a time
  • 15.35 Adam connects nature and mental wellness in a spiritual (not religious) way, and aims to use it to connect to mental health training and programming
  • 22.40 One of the most heartbreaking things Adam has seen in his work is people who give their children away to the system before that child has the chance to become a person
  • 24.15 One of the greatest things Adam has learned throughout working with children and in mental health is that you have to take care of yourself before you take care of others
  • 29.11 Adam’s least favorite word is “sorry,” his super power would be to predict the future, and his spirit animal is a bear (find out more fun facts about Adam in the “Quick Fire Round”)

Key Points

  • Mental health can affect physical health and it’s important that we pay attention and seek treatment for both
  • Many people have had multiple traumas in their life, which can affect their behavior on a subconscious level—an important fact to remember to help engender empathy toward all people

Resources or Websites Mentioned

To get in touch with Adam, you can reach him via email at: info@fwmwa.org