On August 28, 2009 I went to a conference in Alamo with Youth in Mind. I was there until August 30th. Youth in Mind is an organization that believes that Mental Health system should hear youth’s opinions on what decisions they are making that effect youth.
Some of the issues that I learned about that effect youth in a negative way are:
- Not many youth representing in the local and national boards that decide how the mental health system decides resources and solutions for youth.
- The belief that once a youth is diagnosed with a mental health disorder that everything else in their lives is related to that disorder instead of it just being the natural cycle of life.
- There is not enough education in the community on how youths lives are when they have a mental health condition.
- That many do not believe in Art being a healer of traumas and the stress that they cause.
What Youth in Mind did was create workshops that addressed many of these issues so that we found ways to make a difference and overcome these obstacles.
Some workshops that I went to were:
- How to become a better board member- where I learned about other boards that youth were active in. I also learned of how to deal with boards that do not believe that they should listen to youth and how to get more youth to be involved in these boards. I was able to share what H.E.Y does and how our board works. Which many people liked.
- How to use Art as a healer- where I learned how I could express myself through art and feel understood. It is hard to express yourself in words at times because sometimes you do not know what is wrong you’re just sad. I loved it.
- How to write a memoir- Where I learned how I can write my story and heal through writing. A speaker talked to us about her life and how she used writing to overcome her traumas and heal. She also published two books one was where she talked about how you can write a memoir and the other about how she broke the cycle of abandonment in her family. She gave us and signed both of her books.
I loved being part of this conference because I learned more information about the mental health system that I wills use in my projects, made great connections with other youth that are also striving to make a difference for youth in the mental health system and very important how to take care of myself so that I can continue my work in the community. I will share what I learned with others and definitely recommend the Youth in Mind conference to others.
Related posts:
- Training to a Group of San Francisco State MSW Students
- Youth In Mind Leadership Academy 2010
- California Coalition for Youth hosts Taking Action Conference 2010
- A Message from EYAB – San Francisco State’s Press Conference
- Juvenile Justice Mental Health Consultation presents “Mindfulness & Self-Care for Service Providers with Mind Body Awareness Project (MBAP),” free training
