This week, Solstice is celebrating a decade of mental healthcare and the community it has built along the way. It’s a massive achievement for Kelly Madeiros, a social worker who saw a gap in local services and proposed the idea of a partnership to Eloise Pitts Crick, a chartered clinical psychologist specialising in psychotherapeutic work.

At the time, mental health carried a stigma. Together, they envisioned what they felt would be the ideal setting for clients.

“We started discussing what we believed mental health therapy should look like in Bermuda,” Ms Madeiros recalled. “We envisioned a welcoming environment – one that felt more like a spa than an institution.

“A place where people felt cared for not just through therapy, but through food, drink, confidentiality, compassionate support, and the many opportunities available to aid mental wellbeing.”

Solstice began with a single psychologist and one administrative worker. Today, it has grown into a team of 32 skilled professionals, each specialising in different modalities and united in their commitment to providing compassionate, client-centred care.

Wednesday brings the launch of the Longevity Centre, a new programme led by consultant psychologist Shawnee Basden.

Focused on ageing and brain health, it is expected to play a crucial role in Bermuda’s health future.

There are an estimated 3,000 people currently living on the island with dementia and projections suggest that number will increase by 200 per cent over the next 25 years.

“A lot of time is spent worrying about our hearts, our lungs, our other organs, but we don't often consider our brain as an organ that really needs to be taken care of and exercise like we would do to stay healthy otherwise,” Ms Madeiros said.

As managing director of the holistic wellness centre, she has been pleased to see programmes come to life that once existed only as ideas.

At a time when inclusivity wasn’t a top priority for all of the island’s clinicians, Solstice made it a focus ― creating a welcoming space for the LGBTQ+ community.

Equally important was providing opportunities for young Bermudians interested in the wellness field.

“We're really proud of our internship programme, which, when we began ten years ago, was one of our commitments: giving young people opportunities to be able to get experience that they needed to get into clinical training,” Ms Madeiros said.

Recognising the link between gut health and wellbeing, Solstice brought on Nerseh Douglas, a registered holistic nutritionist, to help clients balance hormones, manage weight, and understand nutrition’s impact on mental health.

The company’s growth reflects a broader shift in attitudes towards mental health, particularly in the wake of the pandemic.

“We've done a ten-year timeline and I think it really highlights the challenges that we had going into Covid and some of the positive outcomes that came out of Covid,” said Ms Madeiros.

At the start of the April 2020 lockdown, the Solstice team spent many sleepless nights worrying about how to support those in need of care, especially without tele-health coverage.

“Before Covid, telehealth services weren't covered by insurance companies. We basically had to peel away our entire business. People didn't have jobs, they didn't have money to pay for their mental healthcare, insurance companies weren’t covering telehealth at that time,” Ms Madeiros said.

“We knew that there were so many people out there who couldn't access their mental healthcare, who needed it, and we didn't know how many people were going to be impacted mentally [by the] experience.”

Many days were spent advocating with the Bermuda Health Council, insurance companies, and other stakeholders. All but the government employee health insurance have come on board.

“People are talking about mental healthcare more openly than before Covid. Companies are now making mental health part of their wellness packages. In the last couple of years, we've increased our employee assistance programmes.

“We have bigger companies that have entered into these agreements with us so that not only do they have health insurance for their staff, but now they're engaging in EAP programmes around mental wellness.

“So we're really excited about some of the opportunities that are coming out of that.”

Use is entirely confidential. Employers have no access to who is using the service, making staff feel more comfortable when booking appointments.

“Historically, people haven’t talked about mental health and haven’t known where to turn for help. They’ve felt ashamed, thinking there is something wrong with them,” she said.

“I think just having the opportunity to come in and walk into a nice space that’s welcoming [helps].

“Sometimes we'll have people who are like, ‘I'm not really sure how this works. I don't know what's gonna happen in this room, but I'm here because this bothers me.’ And by the end of the session you can hear the sigh of relief.

“If you have healthier staff, physically and mentally, the productivity is better, the relationship in the work environment is better, people are more motivated. Their family life is better.

“Having the opportunity to work through the mental health component of our health really does make a huge impact on our overall well being.”

Proud as she is of all the accomplishments, none of it would be possible without the team working with her, she added.

“I have to acknowledge the [people] that have been part of the Solstice team over the ten years and the care that they've provided in our community and the support that they've given to the other team members, as well as Elise and I.”

• In celebration of its tenth anniversary, Solstice is to host an open house on Wednesday from noon to 2pm. Free wellness workshops will be on offer from noon to 4pm. Limited seats are available. To register:info@solstice.bm. For more, visit solstice.bm or follow@solstice_bda on Instagram