January 15, 2025 • 20 mins
A new study found Americans see poor mental health as one of the biggest threats to public health, just behind obesity and the opioid epidemic — more of a societal threat than cancer, COVID 19, or access to firearms. We've also seen that rise in mental health challenges in school age students over the last few years. As we've seen youth of all ages dealing with those challenges, and the cold months drag on, Canyon School District has worked to ensure we have people in place to help.
On the latest episode of Connect Canyons, we hear from two of those people working to help guide our students – Kelly Redican, Prevention Specialist for the District, and Sasha Freed, Canyons Education Therapist and School Social Worker.
“Just knowing and understanding it’s OK to be vulnerable and to express how you feel and that you’re struggling at times too,” says Redican. “I think coming out of the holidays and with winter, especially here when we get that inversion, it’s hard not just for teenagers with all the things they’re dealing with, but adults can really struggle too.”
Episode Chapters
00:56 Meet the Experts: Kelly Redican and Sasha Freed
Our guests share a bit about themselves and the experience they bring to helping Canyons students.
03:28 Support Systems in Schools: Resources and Programs
Canyons has a number of resources in place for not only students but for parents alike. We learn about the experts in place at each school across the District.
06:06 Recognizing Mental Health Signs in Students
Feed tells us about some of the signs parents can look for if their child might be struggling, and how they differ from day-to-day feelings.
11:25 Parental Guidance: How to Talk to Your Kids About Mental Health
Once parents have identified changes in their children, our experts explain how parents can start a dialogue with their child in ways that will make them feel understood. We also learn the next steps parents can take in reaching out to District staff who can help.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Connect Canyons, a podcast sponsored by
Canyons School District.
This is a show about what weteach, how we teach and why we
get up close and personal withsome of the people who make our
schools great Students, teachers, principals, parents and more.
We meet national experts too.
Learning is about makingconnections, so connect with us
(00:26):
experts too.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Learning is about making connections, so connect
with us.
A new study found Americans seepoor mental health as one of
the biggest threats to publichealth, just behind obesity and
the opioid epidemic, and more ofa societal threat than access
to firearms, cancer or COVID-19.
We've also seen that rise inmental health challenges in
school-age students over thelast few years and, as we've
seen youth of all ages dealingwith those challenges, canyons
(00:49):
School District has worked toensure we have people in place
to help.
Welcome to Connect Canyons.
I'm your host.
Frances Cook, joining me todayare two of those people working
to help guide our students.
I'm joined by Kelly Redican,prevention Specialist for the
District, and Sasha Freed,kenyon's educational therapist
and school social worker, amongother things, and we'll get into
(01:09):
that a little bit.
Thank you both for joining us.
Thank you for having us.
Yeah, thanks.
I'd like to start with what itis you ladies do we?
You know.
Therapy, social work that's alla lot of words that, to a lot
of people, mean the same thing.
So, kelly, would you start usoff?
What is a prevention specialist?
Speaker 4 (01:25):
I have a background in mental health and school
counseling and then I moved toCanyons District as a prevention
specialist and I'm over suicideprevention, substance abuse
prevention, mental healthscreening nights, the Canyons
Family Center, which we offergreat opportunities for families
to have classes to support notonly parents and students at the
(01:45):
Canyons Family Center, but theMental Health Screener Nights
help us to identify students ina short-term way where parents
can kind of get an idea of wheretheir students stand and what
they're struggling with socialand emotionally.
It's ways for us to helpsupport them.
I just kind of connect all ofthose things and logistically
and over all of those things weimplement in the district to
(02:06):
help support our students andfamilies.
So you don't do much.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Well, a little, that's a lot, that's a lot of
great things.
Sasha, how about you?
You wear quite a few hats aswell.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yeah, so I guess just a little background.
I have my master's in clinicalsocial work and then when I
started, I actually started atHillcrest as the school-based
mental health therapist there.
So in contract I worked forHopeful Beginnings and then kept
a caseload of students atHillcrest as their individual
therapist.
Then, when I came to Gaines, Istarted working out what we call
(02:39):
Youth Academy, and so my roleat Youth Academy is I work with
a lot of kids who have struggledto succeed in the typical
school environment, whetherthat's for disciplinary reasons
or, you know, their own mentalhealth concerns.
A lot of times they come to usin different ways and so we work
in that environment to providethem with a lot of
individualized support, botheducationally and social,
(03:02):
emotionally and so like on aday-to-day basis.
What I do with those studentsis individual counseling, group
counseling, and then we work alot with the students and the
families for, like, casemanagement support of connecting
them to outside therapists,helping them find medication
management providers and thengetting them on a plan to get
back to regular school.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
That's really cool to hear.
I'm relatively new to thedistrict and I'd never heard of
the Youth Academy, so learningabout it I was like wow, that's
fantastic that we have thatresource.
There are a number of factorsthat impact our mental health,
whether it's lingering effectsfrom the pandemic, political and
cultural landscapes, thosewinter blues.
Then you take all of thosethings and you add it to being a
(03:41):
student, being a kid right nowand the pressures that they're
seeing.
Can you talk about some of thepeople and the steps that we
have in place at each of ourschools to help those students?
Speaker 4 (03:53):
We're so lucky at Kenyans District to have a great
student support team in everyschool, which usually includes a
school social worker, a schoolcounselor, school psych that
helps support our students andfamilies, to make sure they are
checking out our students'social and emotional health and
intervening when they need help,whatever might come up or
(04:16):
anything that they're dealingwith, so that we can help them
get from point A to point B sothat they're more successful in
their school environment as well.
And we have a lot of greatthings outside of the district.
We have our Canyons FamilyCenter, which we have great
classes for our parents andstudents that include anxiety
and anger management.
Sasha luckily teaches one ofour classes at the Canyons
(04:37):
Family Center, which was newlast semester for teen
depression and suicidal ideation, for helping parents to
identify some of those thingsyou might see in your students
and how to address those thingsand what you do and how you
handle it and how you moveforward.
And she and Jessica Winward runthat class.
It's been a great class.
We'd love to have more peoplein our class because I think
(05:00):
it's a great resource, but allof our other classes are
available as well.
And then we offer our mentalhealth screener nights for
parents that might be a littlebit concerned about their
students and just want to seewhere they are socially and
emotionally, so they come in formental health screenings.
Our next one will be January23rd at Union Middle School.
They start at four o'clock,they go till about 730.
(05:22):
They'll take a terrasmetricscreener, the parents will
complete a questionnaire andthen they'll meet with a
screener to go over the resultsof the terrasmetric survey and
talk about how we can best helpyou.
Some of our families don't evenknow the resources they have in
their school and sometimesthose screening nights are very
helpful for them to understandwhat they have right at their
fingertips but also some thingswe have outside of those
(05:44):
resources where we can help ourfamilies even in the community
as well.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
You know you mentioned parents not knowing
about the resources.
I mean, when I was in school Ihardly knew what the purview of
a school counselor was right,and that's all we had yeah, we
didn't have therapists, and youknow these myriad of team
members that are available tohelp.
So I think that's a reallybeautiful thing.
You mentioned signs of, youknow, maybe, if your students
(06:12):
are struggling with mentalhealth.
I think right now the funholidays are over, santa's gone
back to the North Pole, it'sjust cold and I think for a lot
of us the wintertime can be, youknow, kind of a bluesy time as
it were?
What are some of the signs thatnot only we can look out for as
(06:34):
adults, but that we can maybelook, that parents can maybe
look for in their children?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I'll just go ahead and answer that.
I think two of the things thatyou may be talking about is what
we would call seasonalaffective disorder, which is
really those winter blues wherepeople you know are starting to
commonly say that they haveseasonal depression.
Right, because it's dark, it'sgloomy and we're cooped up
inside of our house and it'slike throwing us back to living
through COVID again.
Right, where you can't goanywhere and it's too cold.
It's literally sad.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
It's literally sad.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
And that is definitely something that we I
think a lot of people need tolook for.
But what I think we commonlysee in a lot of our teens and
our kids is they're goingthrough school and then just the
pressures of right thirdquarter.
There's no breaks.
They just got through the bestof the breaks and third quarter
is a little rough is we havekids that are a lot of times
dealing with what we would callmajor depressive disorder.
Right, and this is what we saywhen we classically say our
(07:28):
students depressed or worriedabout depression.
The signs that we look out forare that poor performance in
school.
Depression makes it really hardfor us to concentrate, feel
motivated to go to school andreally be able to learn the
material that we're sitting inclass trying to absorb.
You also see our students startto withdraw from activities
they once thought were fun.
(07:49):
Right, you have your kid wholoves gaming and now video games
just don't seem that fun.
Or your kid who loved to be infootball and now he's like no,
mama, I want to skip practicetoday.
Depression we also think aboutis classically that mood change.
It's that sadness and thathopelessness feeling.
What is very interesting isthat a lot of times with our
teens, we expect them to bemoody.
(08:10):
Right, we're like oh my gosh,teens mood swings hormones, but
we will see some of that sadnessand hopelessness, depending on
your kid and kind of how theydeal with things.
And then some kids we actuallysee it come out more in anger
and rage and irritability.
So this is our kid that hasturned beyond normal teenage
moodiness and now is excessivelysad, sleeping a lot.
(08:31):
Or our kid who is just veryangry and irritable.
They overreact about thesmallest things.
They don't want to talk aboutanything.
They're like mom, get off myback.
Why are you even asking me this?
So it's more than just yourteenage moodiness and a lot of
these symptoms.
We see they need to last longerthan two weeks.
That's what we're wanting,right?
It's not just a.
I had a bad day at school, I'mgoing through a breakup.
(08:53):
It's that two weeks or more ofthis prolonged changes in the
mood, changes in theirfunctioning and then changes in
their performance in school andat home.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
I really liked your point about how we expect teens
to be moody to some extent or tohave a bit of an attitude,
because they're learning,they're growing, they're
adjusting to a different world,but then there's that crossover.
I would imagine parents can bealmost that first line of
(09:29):
defense, right, like you said,after that two weeks, if parents
are still seeing it, what canthey do?
Can they come to their schools?
Who do they go to to say, hey,you know, maybe this is my kid
being moody, but I don't know,you know, my parental instincts
are telling me it's somethingelse.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Yeah, well, there's a lot of things you could do.
Obviously, you could reach outto your school counselor or
school social worker just say Ihave some concerns or I'm
worried.
But you could also set up anintake at the Canyons Family
Center.
We could assess what is goingon or attend a mental health
screening night.
We don't diagnose at either ofthose events, but we could see
(10:14):
signs of patterns of behaviorthat would show depression,
anxiety, other things, and thenwe would offer supports that
could help you navigate the newthings that you might be dealing
with with your students' moodsand behaviors, the new things
that you might be dealing withwith your students' moods and
behaviors.
So there's some initial ways todo that.
But also to reach out to themto maybe get some resources in
the community.
If parents are maybeuncomfortable going to talk to
someone at the school, sometimesparents feel like they want to
have things more confidential orthey might, you know, not feel
(10:36):
comfortable doing that we canhelp you access services outside
of the school.
So if someone wanted to contactme at the district, I could
certainly link them to someresources outside as well.
And on Mental Health ScreenerNights, we give the family a
packet with tons of resourcesthat are not only within the
school but outside of the schoolas well.
Just some options where peoplecan reach out and try to find
(10:58):
resources for their studentswhere people can reach out and
try to find resources for theirstudents.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
I feel like we're finally hitting that point where
mental health isn't this tabootopic.
I think there's still a stigmato it, but I think a lot of the
younger generation is more opento talking about it.
And oh, my therapist said this.
You wouldn't hear somebodyhaving openly talked about their
(11:22):
therapist 10, 20 years ago.
What are some ways that maybeparents can talk to their kids
to see if something's wrong orwhat that underlying issue is?
Maybe it is just they're havinga bad week at school, they fail
a test or they broke up withtheir partner, you know, but
maybe it's deeper.
What are ways that they can goto their child and start those
(11:45):
conversations?
Speaker 3 (11:46):
This is my jam.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I love this Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
So I mean I'm going to credit Bruce Perry.
He does a lot of work withtrauma, but I like his format of
I call it the three R's.
And this is what we talk aboutin our teen depression class
with parents is it's regulate,relate and then reason.
And the idea is, as adults, wewant to jump to problem solving.
(12:10):
We want to say, hey, kid,something's going on.
I think I need to take you tothe doctor.
I think.
I need to talk to your schoolcounselor.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
How do we fix it right now?
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Right, and then your kid goes.
Why are you even bugging meLike, leave me alone?
Speaker 2 (12:21):
You're very good at that, by the way.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
This is where we pause, we take that step back
and we think, okay, is my kidregulated right now?
Meaning, are they in a calmstate of mind?
Because, right, any of us whoare calm and somebody goes up to
us and says, hey, calm down, Iwant to talk, I would, we're not
.
That's not going to help me.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Never in the history of calming down.
No, no, calm down, yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Calm down has never worked when someone is
uncooperative.
So make sure that they'reregulated and that they're in an
emotional state where they'reopen to talk and that they're
everything's, not a heightenedsituation Once they're there.
We want to relate to our kids.
Most of the time these teensare smarter than we think they,
but sometimes dumber than theythink they are.
(13:02):
Our kids know a lot of whatthey should do or they know that
they need to reach out to theirparents.
They're just worried thatthey're going to be
misunderstood.
Most of the teens I work withthat's one of the number one
things they say is that peopledon't understand or my parents
don't understand, and so what wecan do with that relate, that
second R is validate our kids.
Just say, hey, you know, don'tignore your parental gut and say
(13:27):
, hey, I've just been noticingsome things that you know, the
little changes.
You know you seem a little bitmore frustrated with things or
you're having more bad days atschool.
I just want to understand, tellme what's going on.
I want to be here for you andsupport you in any way you need
and then open that door, see ifthey're willing to talk.
If they start talking, welisten to learn right.
It's that TikTok.
We listen, we don't judge.
(13:49):
But, you just listen to learn,figure out what are they trying
to tell you, rather thanlistening to respond.
And then from there, once yourstudent is starting to feel like
they're understood, then that'swhen we can move into the
reason thing.
And a lot of times kids justwant to feel empowered.
So you just kind of say, youknow, like, hey, what do you
think we should do about that?
Or I wonder if you've beenthinking about this a lot and
(14:12):
you've kind of had some ideasabout what you want to do.
Tell me, what could I help with?
Where do you want to start?
And then usually your teen willjust start saying you know, hey
, man, I want to talk to myschool counselor.
She's really cool and let's belike, great, let's take you, you
want me to call, you want me toset it up.
But really, those first two R'sbefore we jump to the problem
solving, because as adults wejust want to jump to the reason.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
We do but let's get them regulated, help them feel
understood and then problemsolve and once you break that
barrier, a lot of times it justopens up the floodgates for
students being able tounderstand.
I can talk to my parents andactually they're pretty
level-headed and maybe they dohave some wise thoughts for me
and actually do get it, becausethey were teenagers once
(14:56):
themselves, which they seem toforget sometimes that we do
understand and we want to help.
Yeah, we've been there.
We've all been in high schooland had to deal with some of
those stressors.
Although I feel like nowadaysthere's a lot more stress and
pressure, it seems to me thatit's a lot more than I had to
deal with, for example.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
But helping them to hear and actually take in that
we do recognize that in that.
We do recognize that you know,we know there's a lot going on
these days.
That are maybe some differentissues or challenges that we
didn't have to face, but we canprobably understand some of
those key underlying issues.
I loved your point aboutlistening to learn.
(15:39):
I think that's one of thebiggest For me.
I struggled with that.
I would listen to respond andfound myself waiting for the
other person to stop talking sothat I could start talking.
And we want to show that we'reempathetic.
Oh, I totally understand when Iwas your age and sometimes that
doesn't really help because thekids are like well, what was
(16:01):
that 1914?
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Kids are like well, what was that 1914?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
So I think you hit the nail on the head having that
safe space, knowing yourparents want to hear what you're
saying and are more thanwilling to take the time to sit
down with you.
And then maybe you do need totake it to that next step.
What would you like people toknow about mental health?
Like we've said, it's kind of adifferent landscape these days.
(16:28):
What message would you want outthere?
Speaker 4 (16:30):
I just want people to understand that, paying
attention to what's going onwith you socially and
emotionally your kids yourselffirst sometimes.
Sometimes we have to put onthat oxygen mask in the airplane
before we can put on, you know,the mask of our child,
understanding where you'recoming from and what you might
(16:51):
be dealing with or what youbring to the table based on your
past trauma or your experiences, whatever it might be.
There might be some underlyingmental health issues that some
of our you know parents have aswell, that are struggling and
understanding that piece.
It's okay to get help, to alsotalk about it to other people.
We want to get our kids helpand we want to support them when
(17:11):
we want them to be successfulor be better than we have been,
whatever it might be.
Just knowing that understandingthat piece and it's okay for
you to be vulnerable and for youto express how you feel and
that you're struggling.
Maybe at times too, I think,coming out of the holidays and
with winter, especially herewhen we get that inversion, it's
(17:32):
hard, not just for teenagerswith all the things they're
dealing with, but adults reallystruggle with that piece.
You know the holidays can beextremely stressful.
There's a lot of familysituations that can be highly
traumatizing or stressful oramazing.
You know you have extremes ofthat and understanding that.
That's all okay.
Everyone deals with it indifferent ways, but if you feel
(17:54):
like you need help too, we haveways to support our parents so
we can be the best we can be tohelp support our students as
well.
And mental health.
You're right.
I think we are breaking downbarriers and we're able to talk
about it more, and it's okay.
It's okay if you have adiagnosis.
It's okay if you need to takemedication.
It's okay if you need to talkto someone.
We all want everyone to behappier and healthier and lead
(18:17):
better lives, so there's nothingstigmatized about it or should
be, and we should be okayexpressing that.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
It's okay to not be okay.
Be you guys.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
I think, just as a parent, I think what we worry
about is like are weoverreacting?
And I think you have thatparental gut for a reason, so
respond to it and just beingaware of your headspace, right,
am I in the right time and placeto listen to my kid and have
this conversation, or is thereother stuff that's going on for
me?
Because it's taking that stepback and think is this the time
that I want to have thisconversation?
(18:49):
And then, if you're midwaythrough the conversation and you
need to stop, because you'refeeling all those feelings and
you have that urge that you wantto problem solve, you have that
urge that you want to be likewhy?
Why are you depressed?
Right?
That's where we just take thestep back and be like hey, you
know, thanks for talking with meabout it.
I really want to continue thisconversation, but why don't we
put a pin in it and let's chatagain tomorrow?
Then you take that break, youstop and don't say anything you
(19:11):
don't want to say, but stillleave the door open.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Yeah, yeah, I think, like you said, once that doorway
is open, they realize that andthey see that there's a light on
the other side and that there'shelp on the other side.
I see that there's a light onthe other side and that there's
help on the other side.
You know, it's really abeautiful thing to hear just the
plethora of amazing resourcesthat we have here at Canyons,
(19:36):
from the Canyons Family Centerto our teen classes, to the
Youth Academy, you know thesemental health screening nights.
I just want to thank you bothand all of your teams for all
the hard work that you do tohelp our students, both and all
of your teams, for all the hardwork that you do to help our
students especially like yousaid, third quarter can be kind
of tough without those breaksand graduation still looks like
it's over the hill and summerbreak.
But I think if we work togetherand we're willing to ask each
(19:56):
other for help and show somecompassion, then we'll all get
through it together.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
I agree.
Yeah, thanks for having us.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Yeah, thank you, and thank you for listening.
If there's a topic you wouldlike to hear discussed on the
podcast, send us an email tocommunications at
canyonsdistrictorg.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Thanks for listening to this episode of Connect
Canyons.
Connect with us on Twitter,facebook or Instagram at Canyons
District or on our website,canyonsdistrictorg.
Welcome to Connect Canyons, a podcast sponsored by
Canyons School District.
This is a show about what weteach, how we teach and why we
get up close and personal withsome of the people who make our
schools great Students, teachers, principals, parents and more.
We meet national experts too.
Learning is about makingconnections, so connect with us
(00:26):
experts too.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Learning is about making connections, so connect
with us.
A new study found Americans seepoor mental health as one of
the biggest threats to publichealth, just behind obesity and
the opioid epidemic, and more ofa societal threat than access
to firearms, cancer or COVID-19.
We've also seen that rise inmental health challenges in
school-age students over thelast few years and, as we've
seen youth of all ages dealingwith those challenges, canyons
(00:49):
School District has worked toensure we have people in place
to help.
Welcome to Connect Canyons.
I'm your host.
Frances Cook, joining me todayare two of those people working
to help guide our students.
I'm joined by Kelly Redican,prevention Specialist for the
District, and Sasha Freed,kenyon's educational therapist
and school social worker, amongother things, and we'll get into
(01:09):
that a little bit.
Thank you both for joining us.
Thank you for having us.
Yeah, thanks.
I'd like to start with what itis you ladies do we?
You know.
Therapy, social work that's alla lot of words that, to a lot
of people, mean the same thing.
So, kelly, would you start usoff?
What is a prevention specialist?
Speaker 4 (01:25):
I have a background in mental health and school
counseling and then I moved toCanyons District as a prevention
specialist and I'm over suicideprevention, substance abuse
prevention, mental healthscreening nights, the Canyons
Family Center, which we offergreat opportunities for families
to have classes to support notonly parents and students at the
(01:45):
Canyons Family Center, but theMental Health Screener Nights
help us to identify students ina short-term way where parents
can kind of get an idea of wheretheir students stand and what
they're struggling with socialand emotionally.
It's ways for us to helpsupport them.
I just kind of connect all ofthose things and logistically
and over all of those things weimplement in the district to
(02:06):
help support our students andfamilies.
So you don't do much.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Well, a little, that's a lot, that's a lot of
great things.
Sasha, how about you?
You wear quite a few hats aswell.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yeah, so I guess just a little background.
I have my master's in clinicalsocial work and then when I
started, I actually started atHillcrest as the school-based
mental health therapist there.
So in contract I worked forHopeful Beginnings and then kept
a caseload of students atHillcrest as their individual
therapist.
Then, when I came to Gaines, Istarted working out what we call
(02:39):
Youth Academy, and so my roleat Youth Academy is I work with
a lot of kids who have struggledto succeed in the typical
school environment, whetherthat's for disciplinary reasons
or, you know, their own mentalhealth concerns.
A lot of times they come to usin different ways and so we work
in that environment to providethem with a lot of
individualized support, botheducationally and social,
(03:02):
emotionally and so like on aday-to-day basis.
What I do with those studentsis individual counseling, group
counseling, and then we work alot with the students and the
families for, like, casemanagement support of connecting
them to outside therapists,helping them find medication
management providers and thengetting them on a plan to get
back to regular school.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
That's really cool to hear.
I'm relatively new to thedistrict and I'd never heard of
the Youth Academy, so learningabout it I was like wow, that's
fantastic that we have thatresource.
There are a number of factorsthat impact our mental health,
whether it's lingering effectsfrom the pandemic, political and
cultural landscapes, thosewinter blues.
Then you take all of thosethings and you add it to being a
(03:41):
student, being a kid right nowand the pressures that they're
seeing.
Can you talk about some of thepeople and the steps that we
have in place at each of ourschools to help those students?
Speaker 4 (03:53):
We're so lucky at Kenyans District to have a great
student support team in everyschool, which usually includes a
school social worker, a schoolcounselor, school psych that
helps support our students andfamilies, to make sure they are
checking out our students'social and emotional health and
intervening when they need help,whatever might come up or
(04:16):
anything that they're dealingwith, so that we can help them
get from point A to point B sothat they're more successful in
their school environment as well.
And we have a lot of greatthings outside of the district.
We have our Canyons FamilyCenter, which we have great
classes for our parents andstudents that include anxiety
and anger management.
Sasha luckily teaches one ofour classes at the Canyons
(04:37):
Family Center, which was newlast semester for teen
depression and suicidal ideation, for helping parents to
identify some of those thingsyou might see in your students
and how to address those thingsand what you do and how you
handle it and how you moveforward.
And she and Jessica Winward runthat class.
It's been a great class.
We'd love to have more peoplein our class because I think
(05:00):
it's a great resource, but allof our other classes are
available as well.
And then we offer our mentalhealth screener nights for
parents that might be a littlebit concerned about their
students and just want to seewhere they are socially and
emotionally, so they come in formental health screenings.
Our next one will be January23rd at Union Middle School.
They start at four o'clock,they go till about 730.
(05:22):
They'll take a terrasmetricscreener, the parents will
complete a questionnaire andthen they'll meet with a
screener to go over the resultsof the terrasmetric survey and
talk about how we can best helpyou.
Some of our families don't evenknow the resources they have in
their school and sometimesthose screening nights are very
helpful for them to understandwhat they have right at their
fingertips but also some thingswe have outside of those
(05:44):
resources where we can help ourfamilies even in the community
as well.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
You know you mentioned parents not knowing
about the resources.
I mean, when I was in school Ihardly knew what the purview of
a school counselor was right,and that's all we had yeah, we
didn't have therapists, and youknow these myriad of team
members that are available tohelp.
So I think that's a reallybeautiful thing.
You mentioned signs of, youknow, maybe, if your students
(06:12):
are struggling with mentalhealth.
I think right now the funholidays are over, santa's gone
back to the North Pole, it'sjust cold and I think for a lot
of us the wintertime can be, youknow, kind of a bluesy time as
it were?
What are some of the signs thatnot only we can look out for as
(06:34):
adults, but that we can maybelook, that parents can maybe
look for in their children?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I'll just go ahead and answer that.
I think two of the things thatyou may be talking about is what
we would call seasonalaffective disorder, which is
really those winter blues wherepeople you know are starting to
commonly say that they haveseasonal depression.
Right, because it's dark, it'sgloomy and we're cooped up
inside of our house and it'slike throwing us back to living
through COVID again.
Right, where you can't goanywhere and it's too cold.
It's literally sad.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
It's literally sad.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
And that is definitely something that we I
think a lot of people need tolook for.
But what I think we commonlysee in a lot of our teens and
our kids is they're goingthrough school and then just the
pressures of right thirdquarter.
There's no breaks.
They just got through the bestof the breaks and third quarter
is a little rough is we havekids that are a lot of times
dealing with what we would callmajor depressive disorder.
Right, and this is what we saywhen we classically say our
(07:28):
students depressed or worriedabout depression.
The signs that we look out forare that poor performance in
school.
Depression makes it really hardfor us to concentrate, feel
motivated to go to school andreally be able to learn the
material that we're sitting inclass trying to absorb.
You also see our students startto withdraw from activities
they once thought were fun.
(07:49):
Right, you have your kid wholoves gaming and now video games
just don't seem that fun.
Or your kid who loved to be infootball and now he's like no,
mama, I want to skip practicetoday.
Depression we also think aboutis classically that mood change.
It's that sadness and thathopelessness feeling.
What is very interesting isthat a lot of times with our
teens, we expect them to bemoody.
(08:10):
Right, we're like oh my gosh,teens mood swings hormones, but
we will see some of that sadnessand hopelessness, depending on
your kid and kind of how theydeal with things.
And then some kids we actuallysee it come out more in anger
and rage and irritability.
So this is our kid that hasturned beyond normal teenage
moodiness and now is excessivelysad, sleeping a lot.
(08:31):
Or our kid who is just veryangry and irritable.
They overreact about thesmallest things.
They don't want to talk aboutanything.
They're like mom, get off myback.
Why are you even asking me this?
So it's more than just yourteenage moodiness and a lot of
these symptoms.
We see they need to last longerthan two weeks.
That's what we're wanting,right?
It's not just a.
I had a bad day at school, I'mgoing through a breakup.
(08:53):
It's that two weeks or more ofthis prolonged changes in the
mood, changes in theirfunctioning and then changes in
their performance in school andat home.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
I really liked your point about how we expect teens
to be moody to some extent or tohave a bit of an attitude,
because they're learning,they're growing, they're
adjusting to a different world,but then there's that crossover.
I would imagine parents can bealmost that first line of
(09:29):
defense, right, like you said,after that two weeks, if parents
are still seeing it, what canthey do?
Can they come to their schools?
Who do they go to to say, hey,you know, maybe this is my kid
being moody, but I don't know,you know, my parental instincts
are telling me it's somethingelse.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Yeah, well, there's a lot of things you could do.
Obviously, you could reach outto your school counselor or
school social worker just say Ihave some concerns or I'm
worried.
But you could also set up anintake at the Canyons Family
Center.
We could assess what is goingon or attend a mental health
screening night.
We don't diagnose at either ofthose events, but we could see
(10:14):
signs of patterns of behaviorthat would show depression,
anxiety, other things, and thenwe would offer supports that
could help you navigate the newthings that you might be dealing
with with your students' moodsand behaviors, the new things
that you might be dealing withwith your students' moods and
behaviors.
So there's some initial ways todo that.
But also to reach out to themto maybe get some resources in
the community.
If parents are maybeuncomfortable going to talk to
someone at the school, sometimesparents feel like they want to
have things more confidential orthey might, you know, not feel
(10:36):
comfortable doing that we canhelp you access services outside
of the school.
So if someone wanted to contactme at the district, I could
certainly link them to someresources outside as well.
And on Mental Health ScreenerNights, we give the family a
packet with tons of resourcesthat are not only within the
school but outside of the schoolas well.
Just some options where peoplecan reach out and try to find
(10:58):
resources for their studentswhere people can reach out and
try to find resources for theirstudents.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
I feel like we're finally hitting that point where
mental health isn't this tabootopic.
I think there's still a stigmato it, but I think a lot of the
younger generation is more opento talking about it.
And oh, my therapist said this.
You wouldn't hear somebodyhaving openly talked about their
(11:22):
therapist 10, 20 years ago.
What are some ways that maybeparents can talk to their kids
to see if something's wrong orwhat that underlying issue is?
Maybe it is just they're havinga bad week at school, they fail
a test or they broke up withtheir partner, you know, but
maybe it's deeper.
What are ways that they can goto their child and start those
(11:45):
conversations?
Speaker 3 (11:46):
This is my jam.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I love this Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
So I mean I'm going to credit Bruce Perry.
He does a lot of work withtrauma, but I like his format of
I call it the three R's.
And this is what we talk aboutin our teen depression class
with parents is it's regulate,relate and then reason.
And the idea is, as adults, wewant to jump to problem solving.
(12:10):
We want to say, hey, kid,something's going on.
I think I need to take you tothe doctor.
I think.
I need to talk to your schoolcounselor.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
How do we fix it right now?
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Right, and then your kid goes.
Why are you even bugging meLike, leave me alone?
Speaker 2 (12:21):
You're very good at that, by the way.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
This is where we pause, we take that step back
and we think, okay, is my kidregulated right now?
Meaning, are they in a calmstate of mind?
Because, right, any of us whoare calm and somebody goes up to
us and says, hey, calm down, Iwant to talk, I would, we're not
.
That's not going to help me.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Never in the history of calming down.
No, no, calm down, yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Calm down has never worked when someone is
uncooperative.
So make sure that they'reregulated and that they're in an
emotional state where they'reopen to talk and that they're
everything's, not a heightenedsituation Once they're there.
We want to relate to our kids.
Most of the time these teensare smarter than we think they,
but sometimes dumber than theythink they are.
(13:02):
Our kids know a lot of whatthey should do or they know that
they need to reach out to theirparents.
They're just worried thatthey're going to be
misunderstood.
Most of the teens I work withthat's one of the number one
things they say is that peopledon't understand or my parents
don't understand, and so what wecan do with that relate, that
second R is validate our kids.
Just say, hey, you know, don'tignore your parental gut and say
(13:27):
, hey, I've just been noticingsome things that you know, the
little changes.
You know you seem a little bitmore frustrated with things or
you're having more bad days atschool.
I just want to understand, tellme what's going on.
I want to be here for you andsupport you in any way you need
and then open that door, see ifthey're willing to talk.
If they start talking, welisten to learn right.
It's that TikTok.
We listen, we don't judge.
(13:49):
But, you just listen to learn,figure out what are they trying
to tell you, rather thanlistening to respond.
And then from there, once yourstudent is starting to feel like
they're understood, then that'swhen we can move into the
reason thing.
And a lot of times kids justwant to feel empowered.
So you just kind of say, youknow, like, hey, what do you
think we should do about that?
Or I wonder if you've beenthinking about this a lot and
(14:12):
you've kind of had some ideasabout what you want to do.
Tell me, what could I help with?
Where do you want to start?
And then usually your teen willjust start saying you know, hey
, man, I want to talk to myschool counselor.
She's really cool and let's belike, great, let's take you, you
want me to call, you want me toset it up.
But really, those first two R'sbefore we jump to the problem
solving, because as adults wejust want to jump to the reason.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
We do but let's get them regulated, help them feel
understood and then problemsolve and once you break that
barrier, a lot of times it justopens up the floodgates for
students being able tounderstand.
I can talk to my parents andactually they're pretty
level-headed and maybe they dohave some wise thoughts for me
and actually do get it, becausethey were teenagers once
(14:56):
themselves, which they seem toforget sometimes that we do
understand and we want to help.
Yeah, we've been there.
We've all been in high schooland had to deal with some of
those stressors.
Although I feel like nowadaysthere's a lot more stress and
pressure, it seems to me thatit's a lot more than I had to
deal with, for example.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
But helping them to hear and actually take in that
we do recognize that in that.
We do recognize that you know,we know there's a lot going on
these days.
That are maybe some differentissues or challenges that we
didn't have to face, but we canprobably understand some of
those key underlying issues.
I loved your point aboutlistening to learn.
(15:39):
I think that's one of thebiggest For me.
I struggled with that.
I would listen to respond andfound myself waiting for the
other person to stop talking sothat I could start talking.
And we want to show that we'reempathetic.
Oh, I totally understand when Iwas your age and sometimes that
doesn't really help because thekids are like well, what was
(16:01):
that 1914?
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Kids are like well, what was that 1914?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
So I think you hit the nail on the head having that
safe space, knowing yourparents want to hear what you're
saying and are more thanwilling to take the time to sit
down with you.
And then maybe you do need totake it to that next step.
What would you like people toknow about mental health?
Like we've said, it's kind of adifferent landscape these days.
(16:28):
What message would you want outthere?
Speaker 4 (16:30):
I just want people to understand that, paying
attention to what's going onwith you socially and
emotionally your kids yourselffirst sometimes.
Sometimes we have to put onthat oxygen mask in the airplane
before we can put on, you know,the mask of our child,
understanding where you'recoming from and what you might
(16:51):
be dealing with or what youbring to the table based on your
past trauma or your experiences, whatever it might be.
There might be some underlyingmental health issues that some
of our you know parents have aswell, that are struggling and
understanding that piece.
It's okay to get help, to alsotalk about it to other people.
We want to get our kids helpand we want to support them when
(17:11):
we want them to be successfulor be better than we have been,
whatever it might be.
Just knowing that understandingthat piece and it's okay for
you to be vulnerable and for youto express how you feel and
that you're struggling.
Maybe at times too, I think,coming out of the holidays and
with winter, especially herewhen we get that inversion, it's
(17:32):
hard, not just for teenagerswith all the things they're
dealing with, but adults reallystruggle with that piece.
You know the holidays can beextremely stressful.
There's a lot of familysituations that can be highly
traumatizing or stressful oramazing.
You know you have extremes ofthat and understanding that.
That's all okay.
Everyone deals with it indifferent ways, but if you feel
(17:54):
like you need help too, we haveways to support our parents so
we can be the best we can be tohelp support our students as
well.
And mental health.
You're right.
I think we are breaking downbarriers and we're able to talk
about it more, and it's okay.
It's okay if you have adiagnosis.
It's okay if you need to takemedication.
It's okay if you need to talkto someone.
We all want everyone to behappier and healthier and lead
(18:17):
better lives, so there's nothingstigmatized about it or should
be, and we should be okayexpressing that.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
It's okay to not be okay.
Be you guys.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
I think, just as a parent, I think what we worry
about is like are weoverreacting?
And I think you have thatparental gut for a reason, so
respond to it and just beingaware of your headspace, right,
am I in the right time and placeto listen to my kid and have
this conversation, or is thereother stuff that's going on for
me?
Because it's taking that stepback and think is this the time
that I want to have thisconversation?
(18:49):
And then, if you're midwaythrough the conversation and you
need to stop, because you'refeeling all those feelings and
you have that urge that you wantto problem solve, you have that
urge that you want to be likewhy?
Why are you depressed?
Right?
That's where we just take thestep back and be like hey, you
know, thanks for talking with meabout it.
I really want to continue thisconversation, but why don't we
put a pin in it and let's chatagain tomorrow?
Then you take that break, youstop and don't say anything you
(19:11):
don't want to say, but stillleave the door open.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Yeah, yeah, I think, like you said, once that doorway
is open, they realize that andthey see that there's a light on
the other side and that there'shelp on the other side.
I see that there's a light onthe other side and that there's
help on the other side.
You know, it's really abeautiful thing to hear just the
plethora of amazing resourcesthat we have here at Canyons,
(19:36):
from the Canyons Family Centerto our teen classes, to the
Youth Academy, you know thesemental health screening nights.
I just want to thank you bothand all of your teams for all
the hard work that you do tohelp our students, both and all
of your teams, for all the hardwork that you do to help our
students especially like yousaid, third quarter can be kind
of tough without those breaksand graduation still looks like
it's over the hill and summerbreak.
But I think if we work togetherand we're willing to ask each
(19:56):
other for help and show somecompassion, then we'll all get
through it together.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
I agree.
Yeah, thanks for having us.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Yeah, thank you, and thank you for listening.
If there's a topic you wouldlike to hear discussed on the
podcast, send us an email tocommunications at
canyonsdistrictorg.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Thanks for listening to this episode of Connect
Canyons.
Connect with us on Twitter,facebook or Instagram at Canyons
District or on our website,canyonsdistrictorg.
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