It takes all of us.
The statistics are staggering please click through to understand the magnitude and why the time NOW.
— Rachael Founder of Heads Up Holistic
Program Offerings
Mental Health First Aid for Youth
This 1 day (8 hour) or 2 day (4 hours each day) workshop trains and certifies those who work with young people. The training program provides evidence based practices that anyone can use to support a young person in a mental health challenge or crisis. Similar to a CPR training for medical emergencies, MHFA supplies participants with opportunities to practice their skills and discuss them with others so that they feel confident supporting young people in their lives.
Positive Education Introduction
There is a science to human flourishing. What better place to promote it than in your classroom? Gain an overview of the comprehensive science of Positive Education. Identify how it can positively impact students and staff, empowering them to be happier, and more resilient humans. This workshop can be offered in a one-hour, two-hour or four-hour format.
Resiliency
Resilience is arguably the most important life skill a person can possess. It’s the capacity to bounce back from adversity and to pursue one’s goals despite obstacles. Today’s students and teachers are fraught with more obstacles than ever before. This one-hour workshop provides an overview of the science of resilience, identifying it as a buildable skillset and mindset. Participants will learn to spot the signs of distress and how to manage stress within themselves and help their students do the same. This workshop can be offered in a one-hour, two-hour or four-hour format.
Growth Mindset
What makes for a languisher versus a flourisher? Mindset. Researchers confirm that holding a growth mindset is a prerequisite for success. How is a mindset achieved? How do we train a mindset? And most importantly, how do we detect and redirect when students are developing a fixed mindset about their capacity? Join us for this 1-hour, 2-hour or 4-hour overview of the science of mindset: where it comes from and how to shape it.
Strength Based Teaching
Since the days of Aristotle, humans have been driven to understand what it means to live a good life. Over the past 30 years, scientists have uncovered the ingredients, and more importantly, they’ve identified how to use that knowledge to help children flourish personally, academically, and socially. In this 1-hour workshop, discover the 24 strengths of character and how to help children know, show and grow their strengths. Learn to have strengths-based conversations and implement activities to bring out the best in ourselves and our young people. This workshop can be offered in a one-hour, two-hour or four-hour format.
Yoga + Stress Management
According to NEA, 55% of teachers intend to leave the profession earlier than planned. According to Fortune Magazine in Jan. 2022, K-12 teachers are the most burned out employees in America with 44% being “always” or “very often” burned out. These trainings provide educators with yoga and stress management strategies and habits to build into their schedules to try to combat some of the burnout and stress they are experiencing. To attend Rachael’s weekly classes at Serendipity Yoga and Wellness, click here.
7 Truths in Supporting Youth Mental Health
There are research backed ideas to keep in mind when supporting youth in their quest toward mental wellness. This workshop will cover seven essential truths that will help introduce ways to support others.
Read more here.
Design Your Own Professional Development Workshop
Organizations and Campaigns for Mental Health Advocacy:
Across the country numerous organizations and campaigns focus on addressing the issue of mental health stigma and discrimination. A few examples are highlighted below:
Bring Change to Mind is a nonprofit organization focused on encouraging dialogue about mental health and raising awareness, understanding, and empathy. Actress and activist Glenn Close co-founded Bring Change to Mind in 2010 after her sister and nephew were diagnosed with mental illnesses. It offers resources and tools to learn more and take action to reduce stigma.
Stamp Out Stigma is an initiative spearheaded by the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness and substance use disorders. The campaign encourages people to start the conversation and to talk openly about mental illness and substance use.
"Make It OK" is a campaign to reduce the stigma of mental illnesses. The campaign offers personal stories, tips on what to say when talking about mental health, and resources to help fight stigma in the community. (See some tips on what to say and what not to say below.)
This is My Brave is a storytelling theater show where individuals from the community share their stories of living a successful life despite mental illness. Since 2014, This Is My Brave has produced nearly 800 storytellers sharing true, personal stories on overcoming depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD and other illnesses. In spring 2020, the organizers developed BraveTV to bring stories of hope online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
One recent effort is the Mental Health Coalition, spearheaded by Kenneth Cole in partnership with handful of partners. Partner organizations and celebrities include Active Minds, NAMI, The JED Foundation, Anxiety and Depression Association of America, Kendall Jenner, Kesha, and others. The focus of the coalition is fighting stigma through the sharing of stories with the tag line "How are you really?"
Safe Space Radio combines compelling storytelling with practical expert guidance to give you the tools you need to start finding your own courage. The Profiles in Mental Health Courage series explores the experience of living with mental illness—such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and borderline personality disorder.
NAMI's StigmaFree campaign is working to end stigma and create hope for those affected by mental illness: "Through powerful words and actions, we can shift the social and systemic barriers for those living with mental health conditions." As part of the campaign, people can take a stigma quiz at CureStigma.org and learn more about becoming stigma free.
Healthy Minds with Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein aims to remove the stigma of mental illness and demonstrate that with help, there is hope. The series focuses on common psychiatric conditions through inspiring personal stories, as well as experts sharing cutting edge information, including new approaches and next-generation therapies in diagnostics, treatment and research. Series is produced by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.