Starting Sunday, a new kind of support will arrive on the phones and laptops of local adolescents in Taos County. Teenagers ages 13 to 18 will be able to log in to Navi, a wellness app designed to guide them through the ups and downs of mental wellness.
State officials say this launch is only the beginning. Taos serves as the pilot site for a larger plan to make Navi available in every county of New Mexico — all 33 counties — in the months ahead. The platform provides tools for stress management, emotional check-ins, and access to resources that many young people might experience difficulty finding.
The launch comes at a time when communities across the state are looking for new ways to reach adolescents facing anxiety, depression, and the lingering effects of isolation. They started in Taos. Officials hope to learn how teens use the wellness app and what features they need most before expanding statewide.
“We are starting in Taos because the community has endured unimaginable loss,” said Nick Boukas, director of the Behavioral Health Services Division at the New Mexico Health Care Authority. “This launch is about giving young people something they can use right away — and about listening closely as we expand to other communities across the state.”
A State Grappling With Youth Mental Health
New Mexico’s challenges are hard. The state has long logged near the bottom in terms of youth mental health. Forty-four percent of New Mexico high school students reported feeling either sad or hopeless, 23 percent said they engaged in self-harm, and 10 percent had attempted suicide, according to the 2021 Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey. Rural and tribal communities often face additional barriers, such as long travel distances to providers, provider shortages, cultural stigma, and limited internet access.
On the national level, the youth mental health crisis has increased in recent years. According to research published in Pediatrics, nearly 40 percent of high school students, in some surveys, reported chronic sadness or hopelessness. In New Mexico, factors such as poverty, historical trauma in Indigenous communities, and the wide expanse of its frontier landscapes compound the issue. Traditional services, including those of therapists, school counselors, and inpatient programs, are stretched thin or simply unavailable in many counties.
Now, Navi comes along. A team that includes co-founder Julia Belt developed the wellness app. It offers brief, evidence-informed activities focused on emotional regulation, stress management, and help-seeking. Teens can formulate simple action plans for everyday challenges like school pressure or conflict with a friend. The platform includes safety features that connect users to crisis resources and works offline for areas with poor internet connectivity. It is available in English and Spanish on any device. Most importantly, it is not diagnostic and avoids generative AI.
Local teenagers helped in developing it through a pilot and a youth advisory board to ensure the language and content resonate. Officials planned to form a network of 100 to 200 youth ambassadors to drive outreach.
Tech as Bridge — and Its Limits
New Mexico’s experiment fits into a larger push for digital mental health interventions, especially in underserved areas. Studies on similar digital mental health interventions (DMHIs)— from single-session interventions to app-based cognitive behavioral techniques — have produced positive results in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, enhancing accessibility, and reaching youth who are unlikely to walk into a clinic.
In rural areas, digital solutions offer a bypass of long wait times and transportation barriers. One study found that adolescents in rural areas of the United States completed digital single-session interventions at rates comparable to urban peers. It also reported similar benefits in depression symptom reduction. Offline service, like that of Navi, addresses the “digital divide” that persists in places like New Mexico’s frontier counties.
Mental health experts have cautioned, however, that wellness apps are no silver bullet. For one, engagement can decline without human connection. Another, cultural appropriateness matters in diverse populations, including the state’s Native American communities. They also warned that privacy concerns, especially for minors, require strong safeguards. And while short-term feasibility and acceptability are high, long-term clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness require further study, particularly in low-resource or culturally specific contexts.
Digital tools may increase inequities if they rely on smartphones or data plans that not every family can afford. The same concern could be raised if they fail to integrate with existing community resources like tribal healers or school programs. New Mexico’s approach — pairing the app with an event bringing together community organizations and young people in a shared design — attempts to mitigate some of these risks.
Broader Context: Behavioral Health Reforms
The Navi launch is one initiative of New Mexico’s overall behavioral health strategy. The state expands Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics and invests in rural access. It represents a national recognition that waiting for crises to escalate is not the path to sustainability. Health officials hope to shift from reactive intervention to proactive wellness by meeting teens “in the moments they need — not weeks later.”
The appeal is almost immediate for families in Taos, where loss has touched many. A parent might see Navi as one more tool in a limited arsenal; a teen scrolling late at night might discover a guided breathing exercise or action plan to calm overwhelming emotions.
Measuring What Matters
Success will depend on sign-ups, steady use, and real impact. State officials plan to monitor engagement and generate feedback as the program will be available to all 33 counties.
Several questions remain, however. Will rural and tribal youth adopt it at scale? Can it significantly reduce hopelessness or help-seeking delays? How will the wellness app complement in-person care?
In the mountain desert, where distances are the longest and providers are few, Navi is a bet on technology’s reach tempered by community wisdom. The wellness app offers a small, portable compass for a generation coming of age under the weight of adolescence and the distinct pressures of life in a state most often overlooked.
The promise of the wellness app, for now, is simple: a digital lifeline, opening quietly on a Sunday, meant to meet young New Mexicans where they are — online, and oftentimes in need of someone to listen.