Meet mental health coach 'Hummingbird,' healing hearts and saving one soul at a time

Anxious teen girl suffering from depression sitting with head in lap. [Courtesy/GettyImages]

Teresa Gathoni Muchiri is passionate about matters of mental health wellness. Muchiri has particularly devoted much of her 31 years in the mental health space to helping youths to drop suicidal thoughts and focus on building their lives.

According to a 2023 World Health Organisation (WHO) policy brief, every day 4 people die by suicide in Kenya; globally, 1 person dies every 40 seconds.

In fact, WHO says 75 per cent of Kenyans do not have access to mental health services.

Muchiri points out negative peer pressure on social media, broken families and the hustle culture, drugs and unemployment as among the issues exacerbating mental health among the youth.

“Most youths are under pressure to seek validation from their peers on social media. Some are bogged down by failing relationships, unemployment and daunting career challenges, drugs and broken families.

“What’s more, the mentorship by family and society that helped people navigate hard patches of life has almost collapsed,” says Muchiri, the director of Spark Camps.

The mental health trainer and coach has seen and heard it all in her trainings. In her three-decade-long career, she has been able to change the minds of tens of youths on the verge of taking their own lives.

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Rising suicide cases

WHO projects that integration of mental health services in primary care in Kenya will save 190 lives every year.

Muchiri says the rising cases of suicide among the 17-25-year-olds can be thwarted with the right and timely interventions.

She recounts an incident where a teenage girl nearly took her life after her parents insisted on her enrolling in a science-based course instead of her preferred degree in arts.

“The girl disclosed to me that she had attempted suicide by overdosing on prescription drugs. She even wondered how she had woken up despite the attempts.

“I spoke to her, and luckily, I was able to bring her and her parents to the table for negotiation. The parents eventually agreed to allow the girl to pursue her preferred course and promised to support her every step of the way.”

“She recently graduated with her preferred degree in arts,” Muchiri says, underscoring the incident as one of her most gratifying moment.

In one of her trainings, a high school girl confessed to having suicidal thoughts as she felt her parents favoured her sister more.

In yet another case, a teenager in high school said he felt hopeless after being bullied over his supposed ugly facial features.

In all the cases, she managed to steer the children from suicidal ideation.

But shortly after, she steels herself as she narrates an incident where an A student called to study a STEM course at university deteriorated academically after suddenly becoming an alcohol and drug addict.

“The boy became withdrawn and deteriorated academically, and one may not rule out stigma from siblings who were themselves accomplished scholars,” she said. The boy eventually committed suicide.

“Though my team and I did not quite get a chance to assist the boy get out of the rut, I somehow felt I and the boy’s family should have done better at alleviating the boy’s predicament,” she says, highlighting it as her lowest moment.

She urges parents to watch out for social withdrawal, moodiness, overeating or undereating and lack of interest in academics in hitherto lively teenagers.“These are signs that a child could be into alcohol and drugs or even radicalisation.

They could also be dealing with unresolved trauma issues. In such scenarios, parents are advised to understand in depth the issues disturbing their children instead of going for quick fixes,” says Muchiri.

Muchiri notes that unlike in the past, where family and society provided some mentorship safety net, such structures don’t exist, and when they do, they are normally weak.

She further says that some parents never healed from childhood traumas and abuse or may themselves suffer from depression and other mental health issues.

“It’s sometimes easy to notice that a good number of the parents and guardians expected to offer mentorship to the kids are themselves candidates for mentorship.”

She says unemployment coupled with hard economic times has made parents relinquish the duty of closely monitoring their children’s behaviour.

“It follows that a lack of psychosocial support at the family and society level has seen those struggling with mental health challenges unable to find the necessary tools to climb out of the dungeon.”

She says while most people can overcome situations like a failed relationship, some may find it difficult to manoeuvre without guidance and support.

“The person engulfed by the challenge, say, rape by a close relative, may fear to open up for fear of retribution and shame. Such negative feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness are what drive people to total mental health breakdown or even suicide,” says Muchiri.

In a thoughtful moment, Muchiri notes it’s important for every person to mind their thoughts or what they permit into their minds, as it can make or break them.

“There’s a relationship between how people feel and act. Our thought processes affect our thinking patterns, feelings and ultimately how we act,” she says. As such, she cautions against indiscriminate consumption of negative and graphic content online and on social media that could ruin moods and thinking patterns.

Typical training day

Muchiri notes her success in getting participants to open up and eventually get help stems from his approach.

She says typical training sessions involve ‘climate setting’, which involves creating a safe place for the participants to vent without fear.

“All participants subscribe to an agreement that whatever is shared in the setting will not be disclosed outside,” she says.

She notes the participants fill out a form prior to the training to pick the challenges they are facing.

She says her team emphasises experiential learning and therefore, incorporates exercises and fun games to make the learning memorable. There’s an evaluation at the end of every training to gauge the level of knowledge imbibed by the participants.

She is particularly awed by Wangari Maathai’s hummingbird analogy of how small actions can lead to positive change.

The mother of three has a master’s degree in science in entrepreneurship in addition to being a certified mental health coach.