Featuring insights from Nerissa McCormick, Director of Clinical Development at Eliot
May is Mental Health Awareness Month—a time to not only reflect on the challenges faced by individuals living with mental health conditions but also to champion the innovations that are changing how we support healing and wellbeing. At Eliot Community Human Services, one of those innovations is the integration of Values-Based Treatment, a transformative clinical framework that is shifting the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What matters to you?”
“Historically, mental and behavioral health services have centered around solving problems—alleviating suffering,” says Nerissa McCormick, Eliot’s Director of Clinical Development. “That matters, of course. But we’ve asked: What do you want? What is important to you? Who is the person beneath the pain—and what do they want their life to look like?”
Values-Based Treatment flips the script on traditional models of care. Rather than zeroing in solely on diagnoses or symptoms, this model begins with the individual’s lived experience, sense of purpose, and vision for their life. Eliot clinicians help clients explore what matters most across five domains—relationships, health, personal growth, community, and daily functioning—and then tailor treatment to support those values.
“We’re not just treating depression or trauma,” McCormick explains. “We’re helping people reclaim their own agency and design a life that feels meaningful to them.”
This person-centered approach has already taken root in key areas of the agency. It was first implemented in Eliot’s residential programs, where staff noticed that some clients seemed disengaged—going through the motions without connection or purpose. Through Values-Based Treatment, Eliot teams began having deeper, more intentional conversations with residents.
“What we found was incredible,” McCormick says. “People we’d known for years opened up about dreams and passions that had never surfaced before—one wanted to be a librarian, another loved reading but hadn’t picked up a book in years. Suddenly, we weren’t just offering support—we were discovering who they really were. We are seeing people recognize themselves as students, friends and important members of the community.”
From there, Eliot expanded the model to its Community Behavioral Health Centers (CBHCs), where many individuals begin their journey with the organization. Clinicians at Eliot’s CBHCs now begin urgent care visits not with a focus on problems, but on purpose: Who are you? What do you want your life to look like? What’s getting in the way—and how can we help?
The results have been powerful. Eliot is seeing clients engage more fully with their care, take more ownership of their healing, and build stronger connections with community and self. One young woman held the belief that school and work were out of her reach, and spent most of her time self-isolating. Through behavioral activation that focused on her values, she has enrolled in classes for the fall, leads a study group and obtained a job.
“Our goal,” says McCormick, “isn’t to create lifelong clients. It’s to help people recognize their own power—so they may never need us again. And if they do, we’re here.”
In a field where standardized interventions can sometimes feel impersonal, Values-Based Treatment reintroduces the most essential ingredient in healing: relationship. The model acknowledges that each person is the expert in their own life—and positions clinicians as partners, not authorities.
“We have the evidence-based tools and training to address barriers of trauma, anxiety, or addiction,” McCormick adds. “But the real foundation of this work is believing that every life holds purpose—and building care around that truth.”
Eliot is now working to embed this framework across all programs and populations, from children to older adults. And while other organizations may begin to explore similar models, McCormick believes Eliot’s early adoption positions the agency at the forefront of meaningful change.
“We’re leading with purpose,” she says. “And in doing so, we’re helping people reconnect with what makes life worth living.”
As we observe Mental Health Awareness Month, Eliot’s commitment to values-based care is a reminder that treatment isn’t just about reducing symptoms—it’s about building lives. It’s about honoring stories, elevating strengths, and walking alongside people as they rediscover joy, resilience, and hope.