Working in the Intersection: Wellbeing Facilitators and Mental Health Coordinators

The latest in our ongoing exploration distinguishing different roles across burgeoning fields in the creative industries.

If you are someone who cares deeply about changing workplace cultures for the better, centering wellbeing in creative spaces, and helping artists thrive, you are not alone. In the UK, the role of the Wellbeing Facilitator (WBF) was formed to uplift the wellbeing of creatives in professional spaces. 6ft From the Spotlight’s mission is to put wellbeing and mental health at the heart of productions. Focusing on the film and tv, as well as the theatre and touring sectors, their work continues to be vital in the UK, and became a part of a global movement towards psychological safety and wellbeing. Offering training, onset support, consulting, and even a podcast, 6ft From the Spotlight’s work serves to meet artists wherever they are. 

If you’re here, you may know that in 2021, the Association of Mental Health Coordinators started building their own foundation in the US. AMHC gathered theatre and film professionals, educators, and mental health clinicians to create a multi-disciplinary, sustainable role to support first the national, and then the global, creative industry. The role they generated was the Mental Health Coordinator, or MHC, a title that encompassed many lanes of expertise, such as training, onset support, and consulting. Sound familiar? It is. 

In 2021, Matt Longley, Co-Director of 6ft From the Spotlight, and AMHC President Amanda Edwards came together to figure out what was in the WellBeing Facilitator's scope and what was in the Mental Health Coordinator's scope. This conversation opened a door to deeper collaboration, and later, a partnership on the development of tools and language for this emerging field. In discussion with Leo Anna Thomas, the founder and co-developer of the role of WellBeing Facilitator, and co-director of 6ft From the Spotlight from 2019 to 2024, the architects of these two roles named that an MHC does have the same responsibilities as a WBF. However, the nature of the training for the MHC role added the expertise of dramaturgy or consulting for the inclusion of mental health challenges in productions, prepared MHCs to work with both youth and adult participants, and armed participants with a wide range of culture change interventions. 

In studying the differences, what is important to know is that both the training and the “scope of work” (or range of responsibilities) will differ for a trained WBF and an MHC. This distinction of being “trained” does not discredit people sharing the title who haven’t trained with these organizations. However, many people have begun to adopt these newly available titles, and this post can only speak directly about those trained by 6ft From the Spotlight or the Association of Mental Health Coordinators. 6ft From the Spotlight’s training for WellBeing Facilitators includes a weeklong intensive and a supervised first work experience, only after an individual has been professionally employed in the industry for at least 5 years. This understanding of the industry is crucial to ensuring that one understands the culture and “speaks the language” before endeavoring to change it.

The pathway to become a Certified Mental Health Coordinator through the Association of Mental Health Coordinators includes over 70 hours of direct training in topics such as conflict navigation and mediation, the ethical portrayal of challenging topics, and the body’s inherent responses to danger. In addition, MHCs participate in a 30 hour mentored capstone, or culminating project that demonstrates a practical understanding of both the industry and the role. The elements covered in WBF training are not thematically different from that of the MHC. However, the MHC process is more expansive and in-depth given the time and range of expertise MHC training aims to cultivate. 

So, what does this mean for you, who may be looking to hire one or the other of these roles? Or who may be wanting to train as an MHC or an WBF? Both of these roles, the WBF and the MHC, contribute incredible value to productions and companies. They can, in fact, even work alongside one another. Some individuals may train and be qualified to serve in both positions. The Association of Mental Health Coordinators is proud to be able to say that the curriculum offered for MHC training equips students to also serve in the culturally specific role of WellBeing Facilitators, if they choose to utilize that title, because that skillset is included. So the question truly lies in what you need from the experience of either hiring or becoming either a WBF or MHC. 

Both MHC AND WBF 

• Can perform culture and wellbeing assessments for projects or organizations

• Trained in mental health and psychological first aid

• Can perform Mental Health Content Assessments

• Can develop optional, consensual, and confidential wellbeing plans with crew and cast 

• Able to provide introductions to their work that equip crew and cast to utilize them

• Provides on-set and in rehearsal mental health support

• Able to provide consultation/guidance on harm prevention and welfare support steps, with an aim to require fewer interventions during processes

• Able to provide customized education and training for the wellbeing of cast and crew

• Able to provide individualized care and safety plans, including evidence-based tips for shift work/night shoots.

• Able to support de-escalation of bullying, harassment, and conflict

• Able to provide support for EDIAJ (equity, diversity, inclusion, access, and justice) 

MHC Exclusively 

• Able to provide advice on script/storytelling and curating the culture of workspaces, as part of pre-production. That may look like: 

  • Dramaturgy 

  • Identifying characteristics to help ethically portray conditions, mental states, or sensitive subjects

  • Integration of evidence-backed regulation practices into creative process

  • Support for minors and their guardians with consultation or education

  • Development of community agreements, concern navigation pathways, and access need surveys

  • Bridging creative and care teams to align mental health support with artistic goals

• Able to create tools to support a process in post or after opening. That may look like:

  • Able to support planning/facilitating audience care with content notes and advisements

  • Provision of local resources and referrals

  • Care planning for editors and post teams working with sensitive content

  • Participant and crew debriefs after production wrap/close

The hope of The Association of Mental Health Coordinators and our peer organization, 6 Ft From the Spotlight, is to make the distinction between the roles clear so that folks understand the scope and the value of both roles. If you need culture and wellbeing skills in your creative workspace, you can call a WBF. If that person needs to be ready to do some pretty specialized work around portrayal or storytelling, you’re going to want to call an MHC. Either way, if you’re calling, our industry is better for it. 

With gratitude for their contributions to this article:

Leo Anna Thomas 

www.leoannathomas.com

IG: @mentalhealthinfilm 

Matt Longley

https://6ftfrom.org/

IG: @6ftfrom 

Cameryn Richardson

Director of Education, AMHC

IG: @camcherise

Amanda Edwards

President & Co-Founder, AMHC

IG: @amandamedwards_