Elyssa's Mission

        Elyssa’s Mission (website: http://elyssasmission.org/) offers five different free programs (Signs of Suicide, Grief Group, EveryBody Matters, Workplace Education and Scholarship Award Program) based around mental health and suicide prevention. The leading program that Elyssa’s Mission offers is their SOS (Signs of Suicide) Prevention Program (link: http://elyssasmission.org/sos-signs-of-suicide-prevention-program/). This SOS Prevention Program has the ability to educate students, staff, parents, and community members on the signs of suicide, as well as, helps save lives by teaching the technique, “A.C.T.” which stands for Acknowledge, Care, Tell. The program can be done within a period of a school day or can be drawn out to be longer. The program can be done by someone from Elyssa’s Mission themselves or by competent school staff (social workers, school psychologist, etc.). The program is delivered by introducing the students to Elyssa’s Mission and then having them watch a ~25 minute video and then discussing the video. Also, possibly the most important part of the program is screening students by using a Brief Screen for Adolescent Depression (BSAD) sheet. Any students who have alarming scores/answers should be seen by the school social worker in a timely fashion. The relevance of Elyssa's Mission for school social workers is to be proactive in finding students who may be struggling with their mental health or have suicidal ideation, as well as teach others how to identify signs of suicidal ideation and what to do if they see the signs.

        The Signs of Suicide Prevention Program was not invented by Elyssa’s Mission but was adapted by Elyssa’s Mission due to it being a successful evidence-based program. On the Elyssa’s Mission website it is quoted that, “Signs of Suicide (SOS) is the only school-based suicide prevention program to show a reduction (by 40-64 percent!) in self-reported suicide attempts in a randomized controlled study. -(Aseltine et al., 2007 & Schilling et al., 2016).” Elyssa’s Mission uses a prevention and enrichment social work model, as well as a crisis intervention model when needed. Elyssa’s Mission is to help prevent suicide but also provide intervention in the crisis in which someone is suicidal.

References

Our Mission: Suicide Prevention. Retrieved October 8, 2019, from http://elyssasmission.org/.

Breathing Exercises

Today, teens are struggling with stress and anxiety issues due to peer pressure, social media, academic performance, and college preparation. This can cause teenagers to turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms to manage their stress such as avoiding responsibilities, overeating, substance and alcohol abuse. There are healthier ways for teenagers to manage their stress such as drawing, listening to music, positive self-talk, meditation, yoga, and playing sports. Research also shows that breathing exercises help reduce stress at all age levels.

When people are stressed or anxious, they take shorter and more rapid breaths. By taking a few deep breaths can instantly calm and reduce stress in people. As a social work intern, I’ve been looking for practical tools to provide education and mental health services during my sessions with students. Many of my students have been struggling with stress and anxiety. So teaching my students how to take deep and slow breaths when they are feeling stressed or anxious can help them feel calmer at that moment. Breathing exercises can be helpful for students to use inside and outside of school. They can use deep breathing exercises before a test or even help fall asleep better. It can be easily used in their home, classroom, after school activity, anywhere. It is also a tool that can be used in the workplace after they graduate. I found three easy breathing exercises from Kids Health that can be implemented during counseling sessions or even at the moment a teen is experiencing a lot of anxiety or stress.

Reference

Teens Health from Nemours. (2019). Relaxation exercises: breathing basics. Retrieved from https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/relax-breathing.html

Website for Anxiety and Stress help

            The item of interest that I chose was a website on anxiety and stress.  The website is www.sound-mind.org.  This site was designed to educate and encourage those who are currently suffering from stress and stress-related disorders such as anxiety, panic attacks, agoraphobia, obsessive thinking as well as those who might be suffering from mild to moderate depression.  The website was created by Susan who shares her story of struggle with anxiety.

            This website has a lot of free resources that can help anyone, and I have used some of the resources to help high school students with anxiety and stress.  One of the main items on the website I have used is the self-talk for stress mp3s.  This guides you thru self-talk to help in reducing stress. 

            These are the steps she recommends to follow. Whether you suffer with chronic stress, anxiety, obsessive scary thoughts, phobias, or depression, you will be able to build your own self-help plan using the unique steps. Step 1: Understanding it all. Learn your options. It's time to make some real choices for yourself. Step 2: Get in touch with yourself and your self-talk.  Step 3: Exercise is important and necessary. Learning to bring exercise into your daily routine.  Step 4:Changing bad eating habits to good eating habits. What you eat makes a big difference in how you feel. Step 5:Time to take your self-talk for a walk.  Putting new thoughts into action using CBT Techniques. Step 6:Keeping Stress Management in your daily routine.  Step 7:Encourage others and you encourage yourself. Step 8:Keeping Realistic Expectations. Giving up is never an option.

            Take a look at the site an see what things you can use with your high school students, colleagues, family and friends.  She also has in the site a blog, articles, worksheets, alternative medicine options and many other helpful things. 

www.sound-mind.org

GoNoodle 

My first item of interest is one that is used at the school I work at. Gages Lake school is a therapeutic school for kids who may struggle in a standard academic setting and who may have fallen behind due to emotional, behavioral or other psychological challenges. Gonoodle is a tool that is used to provide desk-side movements that allow kids to achieve more by keeping them engaged and motivated throughout the day. It provides many different opportunities for short or long movement breaks to get kids up and moving. There are different categories to choose from depending on what you want to focus on. This tool is normally used with children that are 5-12 years old. This website is great because it is free because it can be used anywhere by educators, family and kids can use it. 

https://www.gonoodle.com/

GoNoodle is connected to evidence-based practice for many reasons. It boosts productivity, improves behavior and builds community. Students who move and practice mindfulness with this program tend to be more focused, engaged and ready to learn. It improves behavior because it gives kids the opportunity for kids to move and learn different mindfulness skills to manage their emotions. Study shows that students who use GoNoodle are involved in fewer behavioral incidents. GoNoodle also builds fun into classrooms by boosting students' confidence and providing the opportunity for peer to peer connections. Gonoodle could be connected to the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy model because it incorporates meditation, mindfulness, and relaxation. Through these techniques, CBT teaches children to take control of their own emotions. 

Learning In-between Languages And Cultures (LILAC)

Website of blog: https://claimed.blog/

My first item of interest that I would like to share is a blog titled CLAIMED. It is written by Olivia Mulcahy, who is an expert in educational programing for language learners (sometimes known as Dual Language, English Learners, Cross-Cultural Education). One of her blog posts was shared with me by our DL/EL director Mr. Villanueva. He shared the infographic that explains the acronym LILAC, which stands for “Learning In-between Languages And Cultures.”

Our school has about 100 students that identify as Dual Language Learners. Then we have in additional 40 students that identify as English Learners. Therefore, it is very important for our school that houses this program to “validate and protect spaces for bilingual/multilingual education practices that embrace a truer, fuller, more dynamic, and holistic view of bilingualism/multilingualism”(Olivia Mulcahy). Meaning, simply translating is not enough when working with multilingual students.

(*It is important to note that the term multilingual is more inclusive, however, bilingual is recognized to be more commonly used).

When we think of standards and curriculum, it is traditionally monolingual oriented. Students that identify as multilingual, multicultural have a unique set of skills and understanding that often go unnoticed. What LILAC provides is a way to think and be explicit and intentional when designing learning experiences for multilingual students. Olivia wrote that educators need to be “more successful in protecting space for our students to realize the full beauty and depth of their multilingual identities.”

Though this is geared more for teachers, this can be very applicable to School Social Workers. As School Social Workers, our SEL standards and programming is applied to all general students, which again, probably have a monolingual orientation. Olivia wrote, “they [SEL standards] do not capture the full and nuanced picture of what multilingual/multicultural kids can/should know/do, nor do they reflect what it means for multilingual/multicultural kids to grow as multilingual/multicultural learners in healthy, empowered ways.” What I have learned, or what I am still learning through my experiences with working with EL/DL students and the knowledge I have gain with LILAC, is that simply translating things/documents is not enough. As School Social Workers, we need to go beyond the fact that students are just “bilingual.” We should help to get students to understand and appreciate their multilingual identity; explore what it means to them; understand how it shaped their experiences in society; and ultimately, empower them to authentically express themselves how they choose.

LILAC and Olivia’s blog CLAIMED is a great resource and it helps bring awareness about multilingual programming.