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Mental Health in the Classroom
posted by: Melissa | March 01, 2018, 06:56 PM   

The tragic events of the past month have acutely highlighted the need for better mental health care. No matter how the debates on gun control shake out, the need to properly address mental health in our schools and classrooms remain, leading many educators to ask, “How?”


We do not have all the answers, but we can provide educators with a starting point. There are a few resources that we believe can be especially helpful as educators struggle with how they should approach the issue. We’ve included them below:


Classroom Mental Health: A Teacher’s Toolkit: The University of Michigan Depression Center was the first-ever multidisciplinary center devoted to the treatment of depressive and bipolar illnesses. To help educators in the classroom, they created this excellent site filled with resources and information.


MentalHealth.gov Educator Website: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has created this page of resources that educators can use when dealing with mental health issues. Included is information on symptoms, resources on assessing school programs, and how to talk with children after traumatic events.


National Association of School Psychologists: As could be guessed, the materials provided by NASP are largely aimed at school psychologists and cover a wide variety of issues, which includes mental health resources. They also have numerous resources that are aimed at classroom level interventions and a special resource page for families and educators. With so much material on this site, using the search function is recommended.


Mental Health First Aid: Mental Health First Aid is a website that provides courses and materials on how to deal with mental health issues. They believe that knowing how to help someone who is struggling with their mental health should be as common as knowing CPR. Although not specifically for educators, this site is very much a necessity for anyone who will be coming into regular contact with people who need help in this area, teachers included.


National Alliance on Mental Illness: NAMI offers many resources on mental illness including personal testimonies from people who have dealt with mental illness issues, resources on treatment, and a fact sheet library. They also offer a course for educators who want to learn more and have a yearly conference.


Where do you go to help you deal with mental health issues in the classroom?

Share below!


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