From Susan’s Desk
August 19, 2021
How do we prepare our children for this new school year? Over these past 18 months, we have experienced some of the biggest stressors in recent memory that may create lasting issues for many students and their parents. COVID, George Floyd, Delta variant, and now Afghanistan. We are drinking from the stress firehose. 60% of Josselyn’s new clients are under the age of 29.
While the current events have caused many of us to run and hide, at Josselyn, we are running towards the crisis, and I could not be prouder of our amazing staff as they have supported and held some very challenging issues for our clients.
In addition to increasing our staff to meet the clinical need, we are also working with several schools in the area to provide Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) for school personnel, and 10th – 12 th graders. Last year we trained 650 area residents. MHFA teaches people how to recognize the signs and symptoms of a mental health or substance use challenge, and how to refer those affected to help.
The best advice we at Josselyn can give comes from some of our clinical supervisors and coordinators; our clients are so very lucky to be in their care and I wanted to share some of their words of wisdom.
We hope the school year goes well and that our community’s children thrive after such a difficult time. If, like so many, they could benefit from the caring support of someone to help them cope and make sense of this confusing time we are in, please don’t hesitate to call 847-441-5600 x 1. We believe in mental health for all.
Sincerely,
Susan
