Commonwealth Alumnus Jo-Nelle Matara Walsh is a Counsellor at the Family & Social Services Division of Antigua and Barbuda. She works with magistrates, justices, police, social workers and probation officers to deliver mental health support. She is also a Psychologist for the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force and provides counselling support to children and communities in Barbuda.
In 2020, Jo-Nelle Co-Founded Mental Health Talk Antigua, a local NGO which seeks to help people manage the changes and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and wellbeing.
On completing her Commonwealth Scholarship-funded Master’s in Foundations of Clinical Psychology in 2017, Jo-Nelle returned to her role as a Career Counsellor at the Ministry of Labour. However, a chance encounter with the Director of Family and Social Services set her on a new pathway to pursue her passion and advocate for better mental health services in Antigua and Barbuda.
“After I completed my Commonwealth Scholarship, I came back and went to the same department. And then, one day, I was walking on the street, and the Director of Family and Social Services said: ‘Hey, I’ve been looking for you. I heard you were back. I want you to come and work for me.’
“And so, I started. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to use my newly learnt skills. I love psychology. It was going to be an opportunity to work with a larger cross section of the population.”
Mental health awareness and the COVID catalyst
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health was not fully recognised at the national and individual level, with many people not accepting they may be experiencing poor mental health.
Jo-Nelle reflects that there was very little tolerance for people with mental health conditions and that mental health laws and psychiatric care were archaic and not fit for purpose. The media also played a damaging role in portraying people with mental health conditions, and insensitive reporting on extreme mental health conditions and suicide.
Post-COVID, however, and through increased advocacy work, there has been a significant shift in people recognising symptoms of poor mental health and seeking support.
“After COVID, though, we saw that shift, in terms of people saying: ‘I’m more anxious, I need help. I am depressed, I need help.’”
From lockdown conversations to national impact
Jo-Nelle has been a key advocate and changemaker for mental health services in Antigua and Barbuda during and post-COVID.
Her NGO, Mental Health Talk Antigua, is the leading recognised NGO for mental health in the country. Co-founding an NGO was not the original plan, however.
During lockdown, Jo-Nelle and two colleagues, one a psychologist and the other a mental health advocate, had the idea to set-up a one-time Zoom call for people to join and share how they were feeling and encourage people to help each other process the pandemic.
“At the end of the session, people were asking when will the next session be, so we decided to do another, and do another, and so, we did plenty more… We’ve now grown into an NGO.”
Through popular and increasing demand, the Zoom calls turned into Facebook Live sessions which were joined by people across the Caribbean and further afield, highlighting the growing need for mental health support during the pandemic.
Throughout the pandemic, Jo-Nelle and her fellow co-founders used the platform to raise awareness of mental health challenges and how to seek help. This led to the realisation that many people joining the calls didn’t know how to find a therapist. In response, they compiled a free directory of therapists in Antigua to connect people with the mental health support they need. Jo-Nelle notes that the psychologist and therapist community in Antigua is small and that this type of promotion is important in encouraging people to access help and in pursuing careers in this area.
Extending support to the world of work
Following the pandemic and the return to work for many people, the NGO has widened its focus by supporting community groups and businesses in recognising good and bad mental health amongst employees and how to support them. This includes visiting workplaces to present and speak about the importance of mental health issues in the context of the workplace, such as work-life balance, as well as coping in offices and other work environments.
Registering as an NGO was no small feat and Jo-Nelle shares that this could only have been achieved through the incredible support received by local businesses and community members.
“The business community came on board and said: ‘We’ll sponsor you in your barbeque, we’ll sponsor you in your cake sale to help you to raise the funding that you need to become an NGO.’ And then, we had two lawyers jumping on board to help draft legal papers.”
In 2024, Jo-Nelle and her co-founders were recognised by the Family and Social Services Division and Governor General’s Office for pioneering mental health in Antigua.
Advocating for accessible and dignified mental health care
Jo-Nelle and her co-founders are now looking to expand the work of the NGO to provide subsidised mental health support to those who cannot afford to access existing services.
She shares that whilst there have been significant gains in mental health awareness and service provision post-COVID, more needs to be done on the government and legal side. She has contributed to consultations on amendments to the existing Mental Health Act, in particular looking at ways to incorporate psychologists in assessing mental health challenges identified through the court system and developing specific support for children.
For Jo-Nelle, one of the biggest changes she’d like to see is the change in how mental health is referred to in the Act.
“In our Act, we’re calling people ‘unsound mind/lunatics’. The terminology – it’s really awful. And so, reviewing the Act can possibly help to reduce stigma by simply considering more accepted terminologies that are used in mental health, which is likely to have people be more open to accessing mental health services.”
Supporting underserved communities in Barbuda
Alongside her work in Antigua, Jo-Nelle also holds counselling responsibilities in Barbuda.
Barbuda has a significantly smaller population than Antigua and many services are underserved on the island. Communities are very close-knit, making it difficult for those not native to Barbuda to be welcomed and trusted. Jo-Nelle was specially selected to introduce counselling services based on her expertise in psychology and understanding of the community culture.
One of Jo-Nelle’s biggest concerns was the long-term impact of the 2017 category 5 hurricane, Hurricane Irma, on mental health. Despite the hurricane taking place 7 years ago, the trauma suffered by islanders, and in particular children, is only just being recognised.
This includes climate anxiety, with many islanders waiting for the next extreme weather event to land, and the impact of child migration to Antigua following the hurricane. Although children were able to return to Barbuda following the initial rebuilding period, many who migrated in their early childhood have struggled with behavioural challenges.
Jo-Nelle stresses that rebuilding is still ongoing in Barbuda and that it has been hard to prioritise and implement all the services required. Support for children is one such area.
“One of the things that we found was that there were no activities for children. Absolutely nothing. Everybody was just left to do whatever.”
Introducing structured activities and programmes to support children in reintegrating and developing important behaviours was identified as an immediate priority by both Jo-Nelle and her team and community members.
Jo-Nelle and her team developed a new behavioural programme VIBE, standing for a Vivid Imagination Builds Extraordinary Children, for children between ages 5 to 11 years. The programme is a first of its kind as a preventative strategy and supports children in building self-esteem, communication skills and behavioural boundaries, including recognising and reporting sexual abuse.
Jo-Nelle explains that raising awareness of sexual abuse at a young age is important in Barbuda as incest is not uncommon, with children particularly vulnerable.
“It’s to understand that they have the power. In such a small community, you find that perpetrators tend to be the persons in their family, or the people that they know. It’s helping them to understand that even though it’s a family member, it’s still okay to tell them ‘no’, and it’s OK to tell somebody else that you trust.”
Investing in the future of mental health professionals
Jo-Nelle is committed to continuing to improve mental health support in Antigua and Barbuda and to grow the number of psychologists available. With over 10 years’ experience in the field and the reach of her NGO, she feels hopeful that change is coming.
“One of our advocacy missions is to encourage the government to offer more scholarships to people to study psychology. That hasn’t happened as yet, but we’re hoping that, one day, we will get there.”
Jo-Nelle Matara Walsh is a 2019 Commonwealth Scholar from Antigua and Barbuda. She completed an MSc in Foundations of Clinical Psychology at the University of Southampton.
