Cathy Martin-Hernandez’s own biking journey has taught her a lot about building healthy habits – it’s a practice she brings to her patients in Mental Health every day.
“I encourage my patients to move – even if it’s just walking to the end of your driveway and back and that’s all you can do. That’s okay,” she says.
Cathy’s career and biking journey began while working at a drop-in centre in downtown Toronto for marginalized individuals experiencing mental illness. “It was a place for them to engage, to be – it created a real sense of community where we could play pool or bridge, write poetry, participate in a drama group, dance every Friday night or just hang out.”
Starting with no formal social work education, Cathy thrived – eventually working to get her Masters Degree in Social Work and completing her co-op placements in boarding homes and the Forensic Unit at CAMH working with the most disadvantaged people. Later, she shifted into crisis intervention with the Peel Region police supporting people in moments of acute mental health distress.
Throughout her career, biking remained a quiet constant – serving as a means to achieve her goals, while supporting her own mental and physical health.
Now working in CMH’s Outpatient Mental Health as a Social Worker/Mental Health Clinician, Cathy continues to advocate for marginalized individuals, particularly those facing severe mental health challenges.
She launched the Behaviour Change Group – a collaborative initiative led by CMH’s social workers and mental health clinicians designed to help patients set achievable goals and learn/reinforce skills in support of their mental health journey. For Cathy, that includes encouraging them to set goals for movement.
When she encourages her patients to take on movement goals, she bears witness to the changes in her patients – “It’s amazing! Sometimes all they need are those mindful moments. When you’re just walking to your car, you often forget to just breathe.”
Mental health creates many barriers for people – from something as simple as walking out the door to getting a job – each small milestone is a huge success. For Cathy, watching them overcome each barrier – achieve each goal is “astounding – especially considering the challenges they face.”
This Bike Month, Cathy’s story reminds us that movement, no matter how small, can help us catch our breath, even in our darkest days.