La Maida Project is addressing the mental health crisis by healing our connection to self, community, purpose, and the natural world.

A problem with the
way we are living

Our society is in the midst of a human problem that has risen to the level of epidemic proportions. We have inherited stories about why we get sick that are not in line with our evolution as human beings and how we are naturally equipped to heal and thrive. La Maida Project is presenting a new story.

Rates of mental illness are growing at a staggering rate, and people are suffering.

50%

of US Adults 
will experience a mental 
illness in their lifetime 

Research shows that adults and youth are not receiving adequate support

Mental health disabilities have increased
by more than 550% in the last 70 years

Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide
Managing symptoms
with medication is now
the mainstream approach
Managing symptoms
with medication is now
the mainstream approach

1 in 5

US adults are on
psychoactive medication 

And yet, the crisis of mental illness is worsening

Over the last two decades

Group 7

Suicide rates in the US increased 30%

Group 7

Opioid-related deaths increased 750%

And yet, the crisis of mental illness is worsening

The Root of the Problem

At this point in history, we are living in a state of tremendous disconnection from our bodies, our emotions, our relationships, our communities, and from nature. Current attitudes and solutions around mental health treat emotional states as chronic lifelong illnesses, as opposed to human experiences of disconnection and trauma from which we can recover, heal, and grow.

We are bringing awareness, education, and programming to the public about solutions that support healing and promote health in community.

The Root of the Problem


La Maida Project’s
Ecological Lens

La Maida Project - La Maida Project

To foster these health-promoting conditions, La Maida Project has developed an ecological lens that clearly describes what humans need to thrive.
To foster health-promoting conditions, La Maida Project has developed an Ecological Trauma-Informed Lens that clearly describes what humans need to thrive.

Think of when we buy a houseplant, we receive a care card with instructions for how to create the optimal conditions for growth.

La Maida Project has developed a specific model, a “human care card,” that presents a clear pathway for health.


What We Do

La Maida Project’s Ecological Trauma-Informed Model offers a range of customized workshops, training programs, and large-scale projects where healing is manifested through self-empowerment, connection, and community.

Workshops

Our workshops are custom designed experiences for large and small groups of people and organizations. We tailor each workshop to address specific needs of the group based on our model, or we can offer a deep dive into La Maida Project’s Ecological Trauma-Informed Model for generating optimal health in your community.

Train-the-Trainer Programs

Using the LMP manual and customized training program protocols, we work with identified trainers within the group to educate, empower, and equip them to train others in the organization on LMP’s Ecological Trauma-Informed Model. This is a useful tool for organizations to derive deeper culture change, creating the sustainability needed for long-term impact and meaningful change.

Organizational Transformation

Through an innovative and holistic approach, LMP engages organizations to provide complete analysis through data gathering and provide a custom-tailored plan for shifting any organization to be geared toward co-creating optimal mental health. This long-term investment has been shown to create company cultures that promote new values and practices geared toward optimal mental health.

School Programs

Our schools are the frontline of mental health for our children as well as the dedicated teachers and staff who devote their lives to youth development. LMP has developed custom programs to educate youth in our Ecological, Trauma-Informed Model of mental health while supporting teachers and administrators with innovative tools for themselves and the educational institutions they serve.

Public Awareness

LMP is dedicated to raising awareness, smashing stigmas, and cultivating community competency around mental health. We do so through public lectures, educational events, social media, and more. Sharing information that is accurate and inspiring, we believe it is possible to reframe how we view mental health as a society in our lifetime. Through the promotion of values and practices that restore our natural capacities to heal and thrive naturally, we can together regenerate the conditions for self-empowerment and self-determination in our communities.

La Maida Project - Public
Awareness

The Impact of
La Maida Project

We have worked closely alongside child welfare agencies such as McKinley, which provides residential and outpatient care for foster and other high-risk youth across Southern California. McKinley provides direct mental health and school services to seriously neglected communities and families. Our work helped McKinley become trauma-informed through our LMP Model.

In 2019, we were honored to be a grant recipient to offer Provider Engagement for ACEs Aware, an initiative of the Office of the California Surgeon General and the California Department of Health Care Services. LMP led informative and inspirational webinars exploring the role of culture in healing and how the LMP Model can guide any organization and community towards a path of self-empowerment and the co-creation of optimal mental health from within.

Our work with community-based organizations like the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles involved an in-depth reflection and education program with core leadership of all 26 branches. The program served as a foundational building block for the LA Y’s commitment to culture change and social emotional well-being to face the challenges the COVID pandemic brought to light in mental health.


A Paradigm Shift

Using La Maida Project’s Blueprint approach for organizational transformation, we have seen remarkable results at McKinley, a child welfare agency servicing Southern California with a short-term residential therapeutic facility for male youth aged 6-17, non-public schools, outpatient mental health services, foster care, and adoption services.

Since 2018, the team at La Maida Project has led McKinley through a major cultural evolution to discover their own shared values and integrative practices, become trauma-informed, and empower each individual to create the ideal conditions for youth to heal from trauma and thrive.

La Maida Project - A Paradigm Shift


Innovation in mental health is in high demand and we need more people willing to champion causes that are offering system solutions. La Maida Project’s approach is upstream, working at the root of the problem to promote the conditions for regenerating connection and community as the natural foundation of optimal mental health.

With your support we can build sustainable solutions that address the problem and create change.

Engage With Us