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Mountain towns are full of contradictions.

We live in places people daydream about, snow-covered peaks, endless trails, big sky, and yet our communities have some of the highest rates of burnout, injury, financial strain, depression, substance use, and “push-through-it” culture anywhere.

So when an employer does offer mental health benefits, it feels like a huge win. I recently learned of a major resort now provides 12 mental health appointments a year for employees.

Honestly? That is incredible. That is progress.

But, and here’s the part we often avoid saying out loud, it’s only one piece of the wellbeing puzzle. A single gear cannot turn a whole machine.

Mental health support matters deeply. But mental health without physical health, community support, education, lifestyle skills, or access is an incomplete system. It creates a gap big enough for people to fall straight through.

And people are falling through.

The Reality on the Ground: Services Exist… But People Can’t Use Them

A theme that hit me hard at a recent local wellness summit I attended was this:

We are creating more services than ever.

We are not creating pathways for actual humans to use them.

From the stage, we heard a lot about what exists. What we didn’t hear was how someone working two jobs, commuting from 45 minutes away, living with five roommates, and exhausted from physical work is supposed to:

• find an appointment
• travel to that appointment
• get childcare
• navigate insurance
• overcome stigma
• follow the recommendations they’re given

And if I’m being honest, parts of that event felt like a room full of well-meaning, privileged people talking at and about the community instead of with it. The disconnect was palpable.

This is the heart of the problem: services are not the same as accessibility.

Where Wellness Falls Apart: The Missing Middle

Most mental health appointments end with something like:

• “Try yoga or meditation.”
• “Work on your stress levels.”
• “Build a healthier routine.”
• “Move your body regularly.”
• “Find community.”
• “Work on your sleep.”

These are excellent recommendations. But here’s the question we don’t ask enough:

Who teaches the “How”?

A therapist can tell you what to do. A doctor can tell you why you need it. A prescription can support your brain chemistry.

But none of these things build the skills of whole-person health. That’s where coaches come in.

The DEEP Health Model Makes This Crystal Clear

In DEEP Health (the holistic coaching framework we use in Summit Stronger), wellbeing is made of six interconnected domains:

• Physical
• Emotional
• Environmental
• Mental
• Relational
• Existential / Meaning

Mental health care touches one, maybe two, of these. Fitness programs touch one or two more. But real change happens only when all six are supported together.

Without that, people are always forced to “patchwork” their own wellbeing out of whatever scraps they have energy left for.

What Coaches Actually Do (And Why They’re Essential)

Coaches operate in the space between appointments, the space where life actually happens.

We help people:

• build routines
• create physical activity that matches their reality
• practice stress skills
• navigate food, schedule, fatigue, and overwhelm
• break goals into doable steps
• build community
• stay accountable when motivation dips
• translate “should” into possible

We support the whole person, not just the crisis moment. Mental health providers are absolutely essential. But coaches extend the impact of that care into daily life, the part of life that determines whether change sticks.

This is why coaching should be covered by insurance. This is why HSA/FSA reimbursement should not require a Letter of Medical Necessity (currently it does, an unnecessary barrier for people who already feel overwhelmed).

Because right now, physical and lifestyle care are treated as optional luxuries…. while burnout, chronic stress, and preventable injuries continue to cost the system far more.

Workers Need More Than “Benefits” , They Need Capacity

We cannot expect people in high-cost mountain towns, making resort wages, living far from work, often juggling shift work and seasonal burnout, to magically create time and bandwidth for wellbeing.

People are not resisting wellness. People are out of capacity.

Even I feel like I can barely manage the logistics of my life some weeks, and this is my field.

So when we hand workers a list of services without removing barriers like:

• schedule conflicts
• transportation
• accessibility
• time scarcity
• intimidation
• stigma
• cost
• paperwork
• unclear pathways
• the need for a doctor’s letter
• lack of physical wellness support

…well, we shouldn’t be surprised when usage stays low. It’s not a motivation problem. It’s a systems problem.

What a Whole-Person Wellness System Could Look Like

If we really want mountain town, and all, people to thrive, emotionally, physically, socially, and spiritually, we need to think bigger:

✔ Mental health care (counseling, therapy, crisis support)
✔ Coaching for lifestyle, behavior change, and daily habits
✔ Physical wellness access (strength classes, yoga, recovery tools, education)
✔ Time policies that protect employee wellbeing
✔ Pathways that show exactly how to use benefits
✔ Reduced administrative barriers (no more needing letters for basic wellness)
✔ Cultural buy-in from leadership

This is the ecosystem our Summit Stronger: Wellness Elevated program was built for.

Not another lecture. Not another brochure listing services. But a framework that makes wellbeing achievable in a real mountain-town life.

Mental Health Benefits Are a Start. Whole-Person Support Is the Solution.

Twelve therapy appointments a year is beautiful. It’s something to celebrate.

But alone, it won’t move the needle. Not in the way our communities need.

We need the missing pieces. We need the connections between the services. We need coaches, educators, physical wellness access, and systems that meet people where they are.

Mountain towns are resilient, gritty, passionate, creative places. Our wellness systems should reflect that same energy.

NBC-HWC | ACSM-CPT

⛰️PEAKS: The Science Behind DEEP Health. (Why “whole-person health” isn’t woo...it’s physiology.)

Most wellness conversations separate the body and the mind, as if they operate on different software. But the research is clear: human beings are integrated systems, not isolated parts. DEEP Health, the model we use inside Summit Stronger, reflects what physiology, neuroscience, and behavioral science have been telling us for decades:

If one domain of health is struggling, the others compensate. If several domains struggle, the entire system breaks down.

Here’s how the science backs that up:

Physical Health Is the Foundation… but Not the Whole Story

Sleep, nutrition, movement, and recovery influence everything from stress hormones to emotional regulation:

Poor sleep increases amygdala reactivity (your threat + stress center).

Regular strength training boosts BDNF (a brain-growth protein linked to mood stability).

Adequate protein and micronutrients influence neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine.

Your mental health lives inside your physical body.

Emotional Health Determines Capacity

Stress isn’t just a feeling, it’s biochemistry:

Chronic stress raises cortisol and adrenaline, which over time:

• blunt motivation
• impair decision-making
• disrupt sleep
• increase injury risk
• reduce immune function

This is why “just try harder” never works. Willpower collapses when physiology is overloaded.

Environmental Health Shapes Your Behaviors Automatically

People don’t rise to the level of their intentions, they fall to the level of their environment.

Research in behavioral design shows:

• Clutter increases cortisol.
• Long commutes reduce life satisfaction and physical activity.
• Access to recreation predicts better mental health outcomes.

In a mountain town, this domain is constantly pressured: housing, cost of living, commute time, winter fatigue… these environmental factors affect every other domain.

Mental Health = Cognitive Fitness

This isn’t only about therapy, it’s about brain function.

Neuroscience shows that practices like mindfulness, breath-work, and even light aerobic exercise:

• strengthen the prefrontal cortex (planning, patience, organization)
• increase gray matter in areas related to emotional regulation
• improve pain perception and recovery

Mental skills are trained skills, not personality traits.

Relational Health Predicts Longevity

Strong relationships can literally reduce mortality risk as much as quitting smoking. Social isolation is associated with:

• higher inflammation
• increased anxiety and depression
• slower healing
• reduced adherence to health behaviors

Mountain towns create community, but can also create transient, seasonal loneliness. Coaches help people build connection and belonging, which stabilizes the rest of their health.

Existential Health Is the Anchor

Meaning, purpose, and values-driven living reduce stress, increase resilience, and improve long-term consistency. When goals connect to identity, not just outcomes, people stick with them. Purpose is an energy source. When meaning is clear, behavior becomes easier.

The Big Picture: Everything Influences Everything

DEEP Health is not a buzzword. It’s an integrated model supported by psychology, biology, behavior change science, and human physiology. Here’s what that means for real people:

• You can’t separate mental health from sleep.
• You can’t separate physical performance from stress.
• You can’t separate behavior change from environment.
• And you can’t separate resilience from relationships or meaning.

This is why coaching and connection is so powerful: we don’t just address one domain, we help people strengthen all six, so progress becomes inevitable rather than fragile.

📚 Sources & Further Reading

A few of the research-backed ideas behind this week’s PEAKS section.

Exercise & Brain Health (Physical ↔ Mental)​
Gomez-Pinilla, F. (2002). Exercise: a behavioral intervention to enhance brain health and plasticity. Trends in Neurosciences.
​https://www.cell.com/trends/neurosciences/fulltext/S0166-2236(02)02143-4​Cell​

Sleep & Emotional Regulation (Emotional ↔ Physical/Mental)​
Yoo, S. et al. (2007). The human emotional brain without sleep — a prefrontal amygdala disconnect. Current Biology.
​https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982207017836​ScienceDirect​

Mindfulness & Brain Structure (Mental ↔ Physical)​
Hölzel, B. et al. (2011). Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.
​https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110121144007.htm​ScienceDaily+1​

Social Relationships & Mortality (Relational ↔ Longevity)​
Holt-Lunstad, J. et al. (2010). Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review. PLoS Medicine.
​https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316​PLOS+1​

Purpose in Life & Mortality (Existential ↔ Health)​
Hill, P. & Turiano, N. (2014). Purpose in Life as a Predictor of Mortality Across Adulthood. Psychological Science.
​https://research.amanote.com/publication/5pXb2HMBKQvf0BhiWQSl/purpose-in-life-as-a-predictor-of-mortality-across-adulthood​

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