May
"boundaries are not walls"
Saying no to one more thing is saying yes to your longevity in this field. You can care deeply and still protect your energy. This month is about building sustainable boundaries — not walls that shut people out, but limits that keep you showing up.
📌 Note: All downloadable resources from The Underrated Superhero require at least a free account to access. Create your free account →
💡 May Tip
📋 Mid-Year Prep Check-In
You're almost halfway through 2026. How are you holding up?
- What's draining your energy the most right now?
- Where have your boundaries slipped — with clients, colleagues, or your own schedule?
- What's one thing you could stop doing — or do less of — in the second half of the year?
- What would "sustainable" actually look like for you right now?
✅ May Checklist
Mental Health Awareness Month. Mother's Day. National Prevention Week. Here's what to focus on.
💡 Tip: Screenshot this list or bookmark this page. Come back at the end of the month to see what you actually did.
📅 May Awareness Dates
Click any card to see related resources.
💚 Feeling overwhelmed? Pick one or two that connect with your caseload right now — and come back for the rest later.
Mental Health Awareness Month
SUD and mental health are not separate lanes. This month is a reminder to screen for the whole person — and to check in on your own mental health too.
📊 Co-Occurring Disorders: The Clinical Reality
- More than half of people with a substance use disorder also have a co-occurring mental health condition — and most are undertreated for both
- Depression and anxiety are the most common co-occurring conditions with SUD. They often precede the substance use and drive it.
- Trauma underlies a significant portion of SUD — especially in women, justice-involved clients, and those with histories of childhood adversity
- Integrated treatment produces significantly better outcomes than treating SUD and mental health separately
- Stigma cuts both ways. Clients may minimize their mental health struggles because they already feel stigmatized for their substance use. Create explicit space for both.
- Your own mental health matters. Mental Health Awareness Month isn't just for clients. When did you last check in with your own provider?
💡 Use This Month in Session
- Normalize the dual conversation. "May is Mental Health Awareness Month — a good time to check in on how you're doing emotionally, not just with the substance piece."
- Screen proactively. PHQ-9 for depression, GAD-7 for anxiety. If you're not using standardized screens routinely, start.
- Ask about trauma history — not to dig into it, but to acknowledge it. "Have you experienced things that were really hard or overwhelming? We don't have to go into detail — I just want to know it's on my radar."
- Honor your own mental health. Get the appointment. Take the day. Talk to the supervisor. The clinicians who last in this work are the ones who treat their own mental health like it matters.
🔗 External Resources
NAMI — Mental Health Awareness Month ↗ SAMHSA: Mental Health Resources ↗ MentalHealth.gov — Condition Information and Resources ↗🛒 Related Items in the Shop
Tools for clinician wellness and self-assessment:
World Maternal Mental Health Day
One in five mothers experiences a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder — and pregnant and postpartum clients with substance use histories carry double the stigma and half the access. Ask about both. Treat both.
📊 Perinatal Mental Health: The Clinical Reality
- One in five mothers experiences a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder (PMAD) during pregnancy or the first year postpartum — and most go undiagnosed and untreated
- Suicide is a leading cause of maternal death in the postpartum period in high-income settings, including the United States
- Postpartum depression is the most underdiagnosed pregnancy-related health problem in the U.S. — barriers stack from symptom misrecognition to dismissive provider responses to childcare and transportation gaps
- PMADs are not just postpartum depression. They include perinatal anxiety, OCD with intrusive thoughts, postpartum bipolar, postpartum PTSD, and postpartum psychosis — each with different presentation and treatment paths
- Symptoms can begin during pregnancy, not just after birth. Screening should happen prenatally, not only at the six-week postpartum visit
- Baby blues vs. PPD: Baby blues resolve in 2–3 weeks. Anything lasting longer, more severe, or affecting daily functioning warrants screening
💡 The Perinatal–SUD Intersection
- Pregnant and postpartum clients with substance use histories carry double stigma. They face judgment as "addicts" and "bad mothers" simultaneously — and may guard information from every provider in their life accordingly
- Don't make them choose which to bring into the room. Ask about mood, anxiety, and intrusive thoughts in addiction sessions. Ask about substance use in mental health sessions. Treat both or refer for both.
- Fear of DCFS involvement is a major barrier to disclosure. Be explicit about your reporting obligations early so clients can make informed decisions about what to share
- Medication-assisted treatment in pregnancy is evidence-based care — buprenorphine and methadone are recommended over abstinence-only approaches due to relapse and overdose risk. Know this. Some clients are still being told otherwise.
- Postpartum is a high-risk relapse window. Sleep deprivation, hormonal shifts, isolation, and the loss of pregnancy as motivation can converge into a vulnerable period that lasts longer than the 6-week postpartum check covers
- Watch for postpartum psychosis specifically. Rare but emergent — intrusive thoughts of harm to self or baby, paranoia, or breaks from reality require immediate psychiatric evaluation, not next-week scheduling
💡 What to Ask, Every Visit
- "How are you sleeping when the baby sleeps?" — sleep is the canary, not just a symptom
- "Are you having any thoughts that feel intrusive or scary — even ones that don't make sense?" — normalizes intrusive thoughts so clients will disclose them
- "How do you feel when you're with your baby?" — opens space without assuming connection or disconnection
- "What's your support like at home?" — isolation is a major risk factor and easy to miss
- "Have you used anything to cope since the baby came?" — direct, non-judgmental, lets the client tell you what's actually happening
- For partners and family members in your caseload: Ask about the mother in their life. Partner mental health predicts maternal outcomes too.
🔗 External Resources
World Maternal Mental Health Day — Official Site ↗ Postpartum Support International (PSI) ↗ National Maternal Mental Health Hotline — 1-833-TLC-MAMA ↗ Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health ↗ ACOG: Perinatal Mental Health Screening Guidelines ↗🛒 Related Items in the Shop
Tools for working with parents and families in recovery:
📚 Related Resources in the Library
Mental Health Awareness Week
A focused week within the month. Use it to amplify the conversation — in session, in your agency, and in your own life.
💡 Making the Week Count
- Post something. Share a resource, a statistic, or a reflection from your clinical practice. Your voice in this conversation matters — especially as an addiction counselor who bridges SUD and mental health daily.
- Check in with colleagues. "How are you doing — for real?" Ask it this week and mean it.
- Use it as a session opener. "Mental Health Awareness Week is happening right now — what does mental health mean to you personally?"
- Reflect on your own mental health. Not performatively. Genuinely. When did you last check in with your own provider?
- Advocate in your agency. Is there a policy, a conversation, or a resource gap you could raise this week?
🔗 External Resources
Mental Health America — May Is Mental Health Month ↗AAPI Heritage Month
Asian American and Pacific Islander communities face unique barriers to help-seeking — stigma, collectivist cultural norms, and underrepresentation in research and treatment. This month, check your cultural humility.
📊 AAPI Communities and SUD: What Clinicians Should Know
- Stigma is a significant barrier. Mental health and substance use stigma is often more pronounced in AAPI communities, where help-seeking can be seen as bringing shame to the family
- Collectivist values shape disclosure. Clients may be reluctant to share personal struggles if they fear it reflects poorly on their family or community
- AAPI is not a monolith. The term encompasses over 50 distinct ethnic groups with vastly different cultural, linguistic, and immigration experiences — avoid generalizing
- Alcohol use patterns vary significantly across AAPI subgroups. Some populations have higher rates of alcohol flush reaction (ALDH2 deficiency), which affects both use patterns and clinical conversations
- Underrepresentation in research means clinical evidence is often extrapolated from non-AAPI populations — approach with awareness of this limitation
- Language access matters. Do your clients have access to services in their primary language? Do you know what resources exist in your area?
💡 Cultural Humility in Practice This Month
- Ask, don't assume. "How does your family or community think about mental health and substance use?" opens the door without presuming
- Explore family involvement. For some AAPI clients, family is central to recovery decisions. For others, family involvement could be harmful. Ask before you involve.
- Check your referrals. Are there AAPI-specific resources in your community — culturally specific counselors, language-accessible groups, or community organizations?
- Reflect on your own biases. Cultural humility is ongoing. What assumptions are you bringing into the room with AAPI clients?
🔗 External Resources
SAMHSA: Behavioral Health for AAPI Communities ↗ NAMI: AAPI Mental Health Resources ↗🛒 Related Items in the Shop
Tools for culturally responsive practice:
📚 Related Resources in the Library
National Foster Care Month
Substance use and the foster care system are deeply entangled. Many of your clients are parents working toward reunification — or were themselves foster youth. This month, sharpen the lens.
📊 SUD and the Foster Care System: The Connection
- Parental substance use is a leading driver of foster care entry. In recent years, it's been cited as a contributing factor in roughly 40% of removals nationwide
- Reunification is often the clinical goal you're working toward — even when no one names it. Many clients in SUD treatment are doing the work specifically to get their kids back. That motivation is data.
- Court timelines drive clinical pace. Reunification timelines are often shorter than recovery realistically requires — and that mismatch creates unique pressure on both client and clinician
- Former foster youth carry their own weight. Adults who aged out of foster care experience disproportionate rates of SUD, mental health conditions, homelessness, and incarceration. Ask if it's part of the history.
- Kinship caregivers are often invisible. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and family friends raising children whose parents are in active use carry significant clinical weight that rarely gets acknowledged
- Stigma compounds. Clients with open DCFS cases face provider stigma in addition to system stigma — and may guard information accordingly. Be the clinician who doesn't add to it.
💡 What to Ask, What to Notice
- "Are you a parent? What's the current setup with your kids?" — every intake. Don't assume.
- "Have you had any involvement with child welfare — past or present?" — opens the door without judgment
- "Were you ever in foster care growing up?" — a lot of adult clients carry foster care history they don't volunteer
- For clients working toward reunification: Acknowledge the pace mismatch. "The court timeline doesn't always match what recovery actually needs. Let's talk about how you're holding both."
- For kinship caregivers in your caseload: Recognize the weight. "Raising someone else's child while they're in active use is a heavy thing. How are you doing with it?"
- Know your reporting obligations. Mandated reporting still applies — and clients with open DCFS cases need to know what you do and don't share
🔗 External Resources
Child Welfare Information Gateway — Foster Care Month ↗ Children's Bureau — Federal Foster Care Resources ↗ FosterClub — Resources by and for Foster Youth ↗📚 Related Resources in the Library
National Prevention Week
SAMHSA's annual week dedicated to prevention. Share what's working. Add your voice. Prevention is clinical work too.
💡 How to Engage This Week
- Share a resource on social media. Use #NationalPreventionWeek. Your reach matters — especially if you work with families, schools, or community organizations.
- Raise prevention in session. For clients with children or younger siblings, this week is a natural opening to discuss protective factors, early intervention, and what healthy looks like for the next generation.
- Recognize the prevention role you already play. Every session where a client builds insight, skills, or support is prevention work — of relapse, of crisis, of passing patterns to the next generation.
- Connect with your community. Are there prevention events, coalitions, or organizations in your area you could plug into or amplify?
🔗 External Resources
SAMHSA — National Prevention Week Official Page ↗🛒 Related Items in the Shop
Prevention tools for groups, schools, and community outreach:
Mother's Day — A Complicated Holiday
Grief, estrangement, guilt about parenting during active use — check in before the day, not after the crisis.
💡 Who to Check In With Proactively
- Clients who have lost their mothers — to death, estrangement, or abandonment. Grief intensifies around Mother's Day even when the relationship was complicated.
- Clients who have lost custody of their children. Mother's Day can be an acute reminder of what active use cost them.
- Clients whose mothers were present but harmful — abuse, neglect, or chaotic households. The expectation to celebrate can feel invalidating.
- Clients with strained relationships where recovery has complicated family dynamics — guilt, amends, or unresolved tension.
- Clients whose family gatherings involve alcohol — assess the risk environment and build a plan before the day.
💡 How to Address It
- Ask the week before. "Mother's Day is coming up. How are you feeling about it?" Simple. Low-pressure. Opens the door.
- Map the triggers. Who will be there? What's the dynamic? Will alcohol be present?
- Build an exit plan. Having an out reduces the anxiety of feeling trapped.
- Address the grief directly. For clients who are estranged or have lost their mother, the holiday can be isolating — not just triggering.
- Debrief the week after. The session after a holiday is often more clinically important than the one before.
🛒 Related Items in the Shop
Family-focused tools for navigating complex relationships in recovery:
📚 Related Resources in the Library
Memorial Day — Long Weekend, Hidden Risk
The unofficial start of summer comes with a long, unstructured, alcohol-centered weekend — and for clients with military connections, real grief. Plan ahead.
📊 Why Memorial Day Weekend Carries Clinical Weight
- It's a known relapse risk window. Three-day weekends, warm weather, BBQs, and "everyone's drinking" social pressure converge into one of the highest-risk weekends of the year
- Structure collapses. Many clients rely on routine for recovery — work, meetings, sessions. A long weekend without structure can trigger a slip before anyone notices
- Alcohol is everywhere and culturally celebrated. Memorial Day marketing leans heavily on beer, cocktails, and "kicking off summer" — making it harder for clients in early recovery to navigate without preparation
- For clients with military service or military families: The grief is real. Memorial Day specifically commemorates fallen service members — and for clients who have lost someone in service, or who are veterans themselves, the day can surface PTSD, survivor's guilt, and complicated emotions
- It precedes the unofficial start of summer. The clinical pace shifts — kids are out of school, schedules change, vacations begin. The weeks after Memorial Day are often when summer recovery challenges actually begin
💡 Proactive Planning Conversations
- Ask the week before. "Memorial Day weekend is coming up. What does it look like for you? Any plans, any concerns?"
- Address the alcohol environment directly. "BBQs and gatherings often have a lot of drinking. How are you thinking about navigating that?"
- Build structure into the unstructured. What meeting could they go to? Who could they call? What's a backup plan if the day starts to slip?
- For clients with military connections: Acknowledge it directly. "Memorial Day can be heavy for people who've served or lost someone. How are you doing with that?"
- For families of veterans: Don't assume the client identifies with the military narrative — but don't ignore it either. Ask.
- Schedule the post-weekend check-in. The Tuesday or Wednesday after Memorial Day is often clinically important. Make sure it's on the calendar.
Boundaries Are Not Walls
This three-page worksheet helps clinicians identify where their professional boundaries are thin and take action to protect their energy. It starts with a self-assessment covering common boundary issues, then moves into reflection on what thin boundaries are costing you — physically, emotionally, and relationally. The middle section offers ready-to-use scripts for saying no in softer ways, and the worksheet ends with a commitment section where you choose one boundary to set or strengthen this month.
Best for: Clinicians who struggle with overcommitting, feel guilty saying no, or notice they're running on empty. New counselors especially — who haven't yet learned that boundaries aren't about caring less, they're about caring sustainably.
Access ResourceMother's Day Check-In Guide
This two-page guide helps addiction counselors proactively check in with clients before Mother's Day — a holiday that can surface grief, estrangement, parenting guilt, and painful memories. It identifies who might struggle, offers conversation openers for different situations, and provides planning questions to help clients think through the day before it arrives. Includes guidance for navigating grief and estrangement, plus a list of protective factors to strengthen before the holiday hits.
Best for: Addiction counselors who want to get ahead of a high-risk holiday instead of doing damage control after.
Access Resource💬 Bring to Supervision This Month
Not sure what to talk about in your next supervision? Try one of these:
- → "I have a client with co-occurring depression and SUD and I'm not sure how much to address the mental health piece directly. Can we talk through where my role ends?"
- → "I said yes to something I didn't have capacity for and now I'm resentful about it. I want to talk about where my boundaries are and how to hold them better."
- → "Mother's Day is coming and I have a few clients I'm worried about. Can we talk through how to approach those conversations proactively?"
- → "I've been thinking about my own mental health lately and I want to talk about how to take care of myself without it feeling like just another thing on my list."
💡 Tip: Screenshot one of these and bring it to your next 1:1. Sometimes the best supervision starts with a good question.
📝 Related Reading
Coming in June
LGBTQ+ Pride Month, National Safety Month, and Juneteenth. Clinical resources for affirming practice, summer relapse risk, and the work of equity in behavioral health.