From September 12 to September 16, 2023, Lartey Wellness staff member Pauline Jo Adia, LMSW completed a mission trip on the main island of Luzon in The Philippines. Pauline Jo currently works at Lartey Wellness Group as a psychotherapist, conducting individual therapy sessions for ages 16 and up. However, Pauline Jo is a social worker at heart. It is through her unique perspective that everyone comes from a unique story that she believes she is able to assist others and help them improve their life.

The mission of the trip was to spread the word of mental health from a micro perspective. Pauline Jo was able to plan, coordinate, and lead a 2-day, administrative staff conference and retreat including the discussion of mental health. Pauline Jo was also able to coordinate and execute a mental health education event with a local church and was able to help 10 high school-aged students receive school supplies. A third event Pauline Jo was involved with was being a guest speaker and presenter with The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) and the Association of Medical Social Workers in the Philippines (AMSWPI) for World Suicide Day.

The Philippine people (Filipinos) are known for being fairly happy people. In fact, the country has the most islands in the world. It is most famous for being the creator of karaoke, being the origin of famous singers (example: Lea Salonga aka Disney's Princess Jasmine and Princess Mulan), being one of the world leaders in beach tourism, and having delicious tropical fruits such as mangoes. The country is summer all year round with it being a tropical country located in Southeast Asia, touching the Pacific Ocean. But, like anywhere else in the world, mental health challenges still exist. Due to the country being a third-world, developing country, the former president of the country only declared mental health a public health issue within the past 10 years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it became more obvious how serious of an issue mental health is. Psychiatrists and psychologists in hospitals in the Philippines continue to be overwhelmed with the ratio of people needing help versus the people who are legally able to help. Thus, social workers are pushing to not only close the gap in services but to also have a seat in the group of mental health workers in the country. Currently, social workers are only able to do case management. They are hungry for more learning opportunities.

This was Lartey Wellness' first work opportunity in this way. Pauline Jo was invited to complete the opportunity due to her existing involvement in mental health in the Filipino-American community when she is not at work. Pauline Jo has also visited the Philippines 6 times before within her lifetime. Part of social work is utilizing the "person in environment" context. PaulineJo was able to not only hear out different individuals in different environments on the island but she was able to gain a better understanding of how their environment impacts their mental health which ultimately impacts their life.

Pauline Jo was able to share her expertise in social work and in what she knows about psychotherapy (as she is working to take the clinical exam next year) but she was able to utilize and sharpen other social work and professional skills outside of her psychotherapy duties (emphasized in her day-to-day work at Lartey Wellness). Those skills were leadership, expense management, coordination, advocacy and training.

As Lartey Wellness Groups expands to more places around the world, the agency hopes to make mental health more accessible for more groups than what is currently being served in the field of mental health. The CEO and owner of Lartey Wellness Group, Frank Lartey, LCPC has always had a vision to expand mental health in all communities. Maryland, being the birth place of Lartey Wellness, houses many individuals, couples and families who had immigrated from nations such as The Philippines, Ghana, Jamaica, Vietnam, El Salvador, etc. giving all Lartey Wellness staff practice with cultural competency and understanding mental health is different backgrounds and walks of life. The agency hopes to complete another mission trip next year in Africa to complete similar work.