Ted Matthews is the director of MN Rural Mental Health and is based out of Hutchinson, Minnesota. Ted is a mental health practitioner with more than 30 years of experience in counseling in rural areas. His focus for the past two decades has been farmer mental health support. He has been the director of mental health services during five natural disasters. Matthews provides outreach training and public speaking related to farm stressors, nationwide. He also has extensive counseling experience in the areas of PTSD, crisis intervention, family issues, suicidology and domestic abuse. Featured on the Huffington Post, MPRNews, CNN, AgriNews, Successful Farming, Prairie Farmer and many others, Ted offers his expertise to help the general public better understand farming culture.
There is no question that low prices for milk, soybeans and corn have increased farmer stress. By putting our energy into what we CAN change, instead of being overwhelmed by what we have no control over, we can reduce stress.
I believe that one of the top reasons that farm accidents can occur stems from the concept of laziness. If you’re doing the best you can, you aren’t lazy. Sometimes, we feel like we are “being lazy,” but what is actually happening is that we do not have e
Winter comes every year, and some years are better (milder) than others. Taking care of ourselves during the winter months means looking at and valuing the little things that we can do to help get through the (sometimes long and cold) winters.
If you could increase your yields by 10 percent, you would without question. Why not apply that to your own wellbeing? Self-care tends to be taboo in rural communities, but if you look at it as increasing your productivity, it starts to make sense. There