For Stacey Snape, Mental Health Awareness month is an opportunity to spread the word that seeking treatment is an important and proactive step for people with mental health conditions. “I think therapy would help a ton of people if they realize it’s helpful,” she said.

Professional help certainly has been a valuable tool for her, and she wants others to know. “I’m proud,” she said. “I’m not embarrassed at all.”

Snape receives services at CHD’s Park Street Outpatient Behavioral Health Clinic in West Springfield. Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Alexandra Moylan is her psychiatrist, Clinical Supervisor Debra Call is her therapist, and Ada Landry is her recovery coach. Snape is in recovery from alcohol use disorder, and she had relapsed last June, but CHD has been extremely supportive in helping her get back on her feet.

“They’re phenomenal,” said Snape. “They genuinely care about my well-being. They call and check on me, they want me to succeed and be healthy, and they’ve helped me grow as a person.”

Snape suffers from trauma because of domestic violence, but she’s been successful in working through her anxiety issues. “In the past, I was jumpy, and if someone touched me on the shoulder, I got really startled,” she said.

There was a time when she was ashamed of her challenges, and she believes that many trauma victims go through the same feelings. “You think it’s your fault, or that you deserved it,” she said. “It took me a long time to realize that it wasn’t my fault—that things happen to people.”

Now she is working on her master’s degree at Bay Path University to become a clinician. She had earned her bachelor’s degree in legal studies at Elms College, at the time thinking that she was going to law school, but she changed her plans because of her experience and now wants to help people like her.

She said that she wants to share what she has learned on her mental health journey and let people with mental health disorders know that identifying patterns that hold them back—and developing coping strategies—is the key to getting better. “I’ll be the first to admit that I have struggles and I make the wrong decisions sometimes,” she said. “But I learn from them, go forward, and try to make the right decisions.”