The Power of Community Health During COVID-19: A Look at Chelsea, Massachusetts, featuring Mary Lyons-Hunter, PsyD – Shrinking It Down

Mom holding baby while sitting on a couch

By Khadijah Booth Watkins, Associate Director, Mary Lyons-Hunter, Psy.D. and Gene Beresin, Executive Director

Since the pandemic, mental health concerns have risen across the country. But in communities that were already underserved, the burden is even greater, as hardships build one on top of the other: risk for illness, food insecurity, being an essential worker, being unemployed, kids not able to go to school, fear of housing evictions, resurfacing of trauma. Chelsea, Massachusetts is one such community where family stress is at near-crisis levels.

Today, on ‘Shrinking It Down,’ Gene and Khadijah welcome special guest Mary Lyons-Hunter, PsyD, Unit Chief of Behavioral Health at the MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center. For over 22 years, Dr. Lyons-Hunter has had passion and boots on the ground in Chelsea, engaging with and learning from residents in order to best serve this richly diverse community.

No time has proven more challenging than COVID-19 in responding to the community’s needs, but MGH Chelsea has made huge strides. Tune in for more on how MGH Chelsea is adapting its practices in public health outreach and clinical service to address the wide range of stressors families are facing. Plus, among the Center’s many efforts is a new pilot program to support children struggling with anxiety.

Thank you for joining in this conversation. If you have a story about work being done in your community to support family mental health, we’d love to hear. Write to us!

Media List

Follow along with the conversation.

Mary Lyons Hunter, PsyD
MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center
Oxytocin: Chemistry Between People and Dogs Is Real (BARk)
U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Chelsea city, Massachusetts (U.S. Department of Commerce)
Why the city of Chelsea has been so hard hit by coronavirus (Boston.com)
Chelsea is about to become the country’s biggest experiment in giving out no-strings-attached checks (The Boston Globe)
MBTA’s Silver Line Expands to Chelsea (WBUR)
Improving Access to Care—Community Health Workers and Patient Navigators (Massachusetts General Hospital)
Police Action Counseling Team (PACT)
Geocode Maps Spotlight Disparities in Telehealth Utilization During the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York City (Telemedicine and e-Health)
Community Engagement, Module B5 (World Health Organization)
Mass General Hospital Community Health Videos (YouTube)
Treating the Poor: A Personal Sojourn Through the Rise and Fall Of Community Mental Health (Matthew P. Dumont)
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) – CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
The #YouCanBeABCs with Sam (Facebook – Bobby White)

Tune in wherever you get your podcasts – just search for ‘Shrinking It Down.’

Episode produced by Sara Rattigan

Music by Gene Beresin

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Khadijah Booth Watkins, Associate Director

Khadijah Booth Watkins, MD, MPH, is associate director of the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and the Associate Director of the Child and...

To learn more about Khadijah, or to contact her directly, please see Our Team.

Mary Lyons-Hunter, Psy.D.

Mary Lyons-Hunter, PsyD, is the Unit Chief of Behavioral Health for the MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center. She has engaged with and cared for residents in the Chelsea community for over 22 years in this role. Her clinical interests include anxiety disord...

To read full bio click here.

Gene Beresin, Executive Director

Gene Beresin, MD, MA is executive director of The MGH Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, and a staff child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also...

To learn more about Gene, or to contact him directly, please see Our Team.