Youth & Young Adult Mental Health
Lived Experience Narratives: A Lesson on The Healing Power of Storytelling
Speakers: Sophie Szew and Alexandria Ang
This session will provide attendees with an overview of the benefits of creative and culturally responsive storytelling practices such as spoken word poetry, journaling, narrative fiction, oral history recitation, and memoir writing in mental healthcare. Learn about expressing one’s lived mental health experiences through storytelling to promote healthy identity-exploration and affect systemic change, while learning how to craft their own lived experience narratives.
From Tragedy to Triumph: Powerful Stories and Best Practices from Youth Suicide Survivors
Speakers: Sam Eaton, Francesca Reicherter, MS, and Tori Tobias
Learn new perspectives on suicide prevention from three Generation Z and millennial suicide survivors who each started their own mental health organizations. Drawing on their personal and professional experiences, learn their stories, treatments that worked for them, innovative ideas to overcome suicidal ideation, and how we can all work together to create a world with zero deaths by suicide.
Student-Athletes Facing The Hidden Opponent
Speakers: Dexter Hein-Harrison, Morgan Philliber, Andy Saul, and Leeann Passaro
A panel from The Hidden Opponent will discuss the nonprofit’s mission to shatter the stigma surrounding mental health in athletics by educating, advocating, and supporting student-athletes. Our team will discuss The Hidden Opponent’s current programs, how to get others involved, and how to make an impact on campuses across the country. Attendees will also learn about challenges that student-athletes continue to face and why mental health is important in athletics.
Key learnings from Presence of Mind, a cross-sector approach to support youth mental health
Speaker: Gino Mortillaro, MD
There is a need for new approaches that support youth mental health by meeting them where they are, with messaging that aligns with ways they consume information. In 2020, Kaiser Permanente created Presence of Mind, the first mental health initiative embedded into pre-existing professional esports networks. This session will focus on: reviewing the implementation of Presence of Mind, discussing the need for tailored messaging, and reviewing lessons learned from a cross-sector approach.
Youth Peer Support: For Young People, By Young People
Speakers: Marissa Howdershelt, BA, Emily Kim, and Kayla Tawa
This session will discuss best practices around Youth Peer Support (YPS), what policies are needed to effectively support YPS, and will give examples from states with strong YPS programs.
RACE to Be Human: The Impact of Race and Racism on Youth Mental Health
Speaker: Scilla Andreen
A screening of the RACE to Be Human film, which explores the impact of race and racism on our mental health at school, work, and home through a diverse collection of youth personal narratives alongside DEIB expert, mental health professional, and educator voices.
BIZ X CAYR Network: Emergent Health Equity Youth Social Entrepreneurs in California & Our Community
Speaker: Desiré Johnson
Learn outcomes from a years-long dialogue and research project about youth mental health perspectives in California and how BIZ Stoop x CAYR Network fosters community transformation. Our organizational design, pathways to youth leadership, and campaigns to uplift youth led solutions will be highlighted in this session.
Our Turn to Talk – Youth Mental Health Documentary
Speakers: Beth Murphy and Jennifer Marshall
Our Turn to Talk affirms and helps normalize the feelings and experiences associated with asking and answering some of the most difficult questions in life: How do you find solace, sanity, and connection in the midst of mental and emotional confusion? What makes a life worth living, especially when you feel hopeless or disconnected?
