August 27, 2025
As a mental health therapist with the Addiction & Mental Health Helpline, Ashley Roszell guides callers through their toughest moments. What starts with anxiety or uncertainty often ends with a clear path forward — for the caller or their loved ones. Supplied.
Roszell’s work calls for constant vigilance to stay attuned to each caller’s needs and respond in the moment. Pictured atop Grassi Knob Mountain, she recharges through endorphin-boosting activities such as hiking and trail running, and by spending time with friends and family. Supplied.
Nicolle Carr, clinical manager with the Addiction & Mental Health Helpline, is shown here during a recent trip to Japan with Mount Fuji behind her. A therapist when the helpline launched five years ago, she now leads a multidisciplinary team that helps Albertans find the right care. Supplied.
Story by Janine Poersch
“Addiction and Mental Health Helpline — this is Ashley. I’m a mental health therapist. I can help you.”
For five years, Ashley Roszell has opened every call with the same calm, deliberate tone. It’s her way of telling people, often in crisis, that they’ve reached the right place.
“It can range from de-escalating a crisis to supporting someone through a panic attack or helping a person with schizophrenia who’s off their medication,” says Roszell, a social worker by trade. “It could be someone grieving a recent death, struggling with a relationship or just not sure what to do next. We get quite a range of calls.”
Albertans can reach the Addiction and Mental Health Helpline at any hour, for themselves or on behalf of a loved one. The service offers confidential support, information or referral — what one of Roszell’s colleagues calls “a soft place to land” — and always ends with a plan for follow-up care.
That plan can be as simple as eating something to reduce anxiety, practising breathing techniques or preparing to advocate at a future doctor’s appointment. Sometimes it’s a referral to counselling, substance-use assessment or urgent in-person care.
Now celebrating its fifth year, the helpline has become a 24/7 entry point to mental health and addiction care across the province. Staffed entirely by registered health professionals — including psychologists, nurses and social workers — the line handles an average of 140 calls a day.
“People don’t always know how the health system works or how to get what they need — they’re anxious and uncertain,” says Roszell. Her role, and that of her team, is to tune in quickly and calmly, offering empathy, reassurance and a clear path forward.
“The staff here are amazing at what they do,” says Nicolle Carr, who began as a mental health therapist in 2020 and is now a clinical manager. She oversees day-to-day operations, from scheduling and recruitment to quality assurance, alongside her colleague Annemarie Tocher. “They’re nonjudgmental and very skilled at assessing what the caller needs, which in a lot of cases ends up saving them a trip to the emergency department.”
Trained in providing advanced clinical assessments, screening, crisis support and in-the-moment interventions, staff draw on thousands of resources to connect Albertans to counselling and detox programs to shelters, legal aid and more. “If it’s a hamlet or a city, we can find the nearest resource and direct them to it, if necessary,” adds Carr.
Since 2020, the service has offered round-the-clock coverage, increased staff to answer calls sooner, added more referral pathways and integrated special lines for EMS and for law enforcement.
By spring 2025, the helpline surpassed 200,000 calls — proof of the need for help and the trust the line has built.
“It feels good to know that you can help someone,” says Roszell, crediting her knowledge, background and support of her team. After five years on the line, her second-nature intervention skills have made a difference in individual lives and the many circles that surround them — their loved ones, friends and communities.
The Addiction & Mental Health Helpline is available 24/7, year-round, offering confidential support for anyone experiencing mental health or addiction concerns. Staffed by a multidisciplinary team of health professionals, the service provides:
Call the helpline directly 1-877-303-2642 or dial Health Link 811 and follow the prompts to speak to the Addiction & Mental Health team.
