For many young people, the isolation, uncertainty, and trauma of the past few years have bred anxiety and depression, with potentially long-lasting effects on their success in school and beyond. Schools must respond to this need by providing thoughtful and effective mental health supports.
Thriving Minds is here to help. Through this initiative—a partnership between the Rennie Center, the Massachusetts School Mental Health Consortium, and BRYT—we offer learning opportunities and guidance in building comprehensive mental health systems that allow schools to support all students, now and in the future.
Upcoming Professional Development
Universal Mental Health Screening
Wednesday, February 1, 12:30-2:30pm
Schools are uniquely positioned to proactively identify students with emerging mental health concerns to support prevention efforts and reduce the impact of mental health problems. In this session, participants will gain knowledge and receive resources to support the implementation of universal mental health screening. It will include an overview of foundational steps that are required to support the use of screening measures and best practices for conducting screening and engaging in a coordinated follow-up with identified students. You will also learn about additional applications of screening data, including how it can be used to assess aggregate needs and gauge the efficacy of programs and systems.
Training Series on Trauma-Responsive Practices for School Mental Health
Thriving Minds is partnering with the Center on Child Wellbeing and Trauma (CCWT) to provide a series of six professional development sessions on Trauma-Responsive Practices for School Mental Health. These sessions will focus on helping participants take a healing-centered approach to using trauma-responsive interventions in every classroom. Participants will be introduced to the meaning of trauma and its impact on student learning, learn how to use the Trauma Informed Schools Implementation Assessment (TRS-IA) to identify areas for improvement, and increase their ability to incorporate trauma-responsive practices across tiers. Sessions will also cover adult wellbeing and whole-staff support to facilitate a school-wide approach to healing.
This PD series will take place from 2:30-4:00pm on the following Wednesdays:
- February 8, 2023: Interventions Across the Tiers, Part 1- Classroom and Universal Practices
- March 15, 2023: Interventions Across the Tiers, Part 2- Outside the Classroom
- April 12, 2023: Teaming, Data, and Screening
- May 10, 2023: Building a Trauma-Sensitive School Culture & Supporting Adult Wellbeing
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