I have been able to experience so many fascinating things in my mentorship. I have been able to sit in on professional meetings, offer advice on designs, work on a huge prevention event, and shadow psychologists testing students. While I was able to attend all of these things, I also did a lot of paperwork, scanning, and filing. But even these seemingly meaningless tasks ended up being really meaningful. I was able to ask my mentor to schedule meetings with different psychologists so I could experience a different part of Student Support Services. If I hasn’t asked her to do this for me, I would have missed a great opportunity. I have also been able to learn so much about prevention programs and how they affect my community, which is something I had never thought of before. This mentorship has prepared me for the future in a magnitude of ways. I have learned how to think on the spot and make the resources I have around me work in random situations. I have been able to experience office culture. Before, I had never been around adults in a professional setting so this was something new to me and enabled me to not have to learn about it in the future when I get my first job. This has also allowed me to experience what it is like to work in an office. This mentorship has broadened my view on psychology. Before, when I thought of psychology, I only thought of psychologists and psychiatrists. Now I realize that there are so many other branches of psychology and different ways to utilize a psychology degree. My advice to any future Honors Mentorship students would be to enjoy your mentorship and to try to build as many connections as you can in your workplace. While working with my mentor was amazing, my experience was enriched because I was able to work with others in the office as well to develop a broader understanding of Student Support Services.
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My name is Ainsley Stephens and I am an intern for Mrs. Lindsey Simpson, the Prevention Specialist working for the Forsyth County Board of Education. My research focuses on prevention programs focused on mental health. I researched methods of mental health and prevention program implementation in an attempt to determine what methods are most effective. Prevention programs can be very complex and due to the stigma often attached to mental health issues, affected populations can be resistant to program implementation. To begin, I broke down my area of interest into a series of questions. The answers to these questions are vital to society because we have seen a dramatic increase in suicides, self-injurious behavior, depression and anxiety in recent years. By developing more effective prevention programs, we should be able to better educate the community and reduce the number of mental health problems throughout a given population. First, I focused on research. The most innovative way to gain information from a population segment requires more than looking at statistics from surveys. Instead, mental health professionals, must be able to make physical observations about the community to determine overall shifts in mental wellness. Next, to ensure that the most appropriate programs are implemented, professionals across multiple disciplines must communicate and share information about programs that have been helpful, as well as those that have failed. I also determined that incremental introduction to population segments seems to ensure the most success. Overwhelmingly, I discovered that the best way to fight the stigma that especially surrounds mental health issues is to educate the population and openly talk about the issues. With incremental program implementation, education, and open communication, we can begin to see an improvement in the mental wellness of a society.
I have finally made it to the presentation day of this Capstone. I am so excited to share this information with my relevant audience but before I do I watched this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tShavGuo0_E
This video gave me some great tips about public speaking. I am generally pretty comfortable talking in front of people, but nonetheless this video has useful advice. First, they stressed the need to know your information and how you are going to present it. I have been researching my topic for this entire year, so I think I understand my information fairly well. Then, they talk about how to physically present yourself. You want to constantly obtain a casual yet poised posture. I need to remember to not slouch. Lastly, they suggest pandering to your audience. My audience will be students from my school so I will try to make it as relatable to them as possible. Letendre, Joan, et al. "Teacher and Staff Voices: Implementatin of a Positive Behavior Bullying Prevention Program in an Urban School." Children & Schools, vol. 38, no. 4, Oct. 2016, pp. 237-245. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/cs/cdw032. This article opens explaining how bullying negatively effects students and that the only way to effectively get rid of bullying is to implement prevention programs. These programs not only need to be taught to the students, but to the faculty as well so they are more equipped to handle these situations. Support staff can offer guidance to teachers, whom are more involved directly with the students life. This article then goes on to fully expand on the negative effects of bullying (low academic performance, powerlessness, loneliness, poor mental health, suicidal ideation). Article explains that in Connecticut created laws that requires schools to have evidence-based models of intervention. Then it i explained how they began to implement the systems (slowly with one school with focus groups). They also have integrated skills of bullying prevention with classroom content. There are two main quotes useful to me. “When school staff are included in bullying prevention efforts and have access to resources, they are more likely to feel comfort in intervening in general bullying as well as specific situations related to sexual orientation or gender nonconformity, disability, being overweight, sexism, racism, and religion…” (238). “ mandates that all schools (a) develop a clear policy against bullying behaviors; (b) gather baseline data to assess the extent of bullying behaviors in the school; (c) train all school staff on effective methods to prevent bullying; and (d) ensure that school staff act immediately whenever incidents o f bullying are observed or reported. “ (239). This source is credible because it is an excerpt of a book published on Galileo and the book is considered an Academic Journal published by Oxford University. This particular article was written by multiple professional social workers. There is a bibliography, indicating outside research was done. This will be helpful for me because it details the process of implementing a prevention program. While it is not a mental health prevention program, it deals with similar mental consequences of students. I can use this as an example of how a place has successfully implemented programs because they saw a problem and then took small steps to achieve a higher goal. This is similar to what Forsyth County has begun doing. This week was a week for us to continue to develop our Capstone. I have been working on getting the information to interview other Prevention Specialists to compare strategies between the counties. I've been researching evidence of other educational platforms beginning to acknowledge mental health and how they are addressing the problem. For a visual, I have been accumulating statistics relating to mental health for a brochure to aid in my presentation. I also still have a few ideas for the Capstone that I have been trying to develop throughout the week.
President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. “
Government-Sponsored Mental Health Screenings Would Benefit Children." Mental Illness. Mary E. Williams. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 26 Jan. 2018 This report discusses multiple important questions that will help me with my question. It depicts how having untreated mental disorders can effect someone terribly, however early identification can make living with the disorder much more plausible. With the use of the public school system, we could identify these problems early on and help treat them to prevent dropouts or failure. It also discusses how there may be co-occurring disorders and if they were identified could be put on the right track. They describe some obstacles to treatment but stress the importance of early detection. They provide a solution of a national approach that involves assessment, early intervention, training, and financing. It involves eliminating social and emotional barriers to learning through training and educating educators to spot signs of early disease. School mental health problems are also a way forward. There are two main quotes that appear to be useful to me. “The key to improving academic achievement is to identify mental health problems early and, when needed, provide appropriate services or links to services." This quote helps prove that there is a link between academic success and mental health, so the school system should want to aid in mental health. The second quote is “Early detection and treatment of mental disorders can result in a substantially shorter and less disabling course of illness. As the mental health field becomes increasingly able to identify the early antecedents of mental illnesses at any age, interventions must be implemented, provided in multiple settings, and connected to treatment and supports.” It helps prove the same thing. This is a government source which is valid. It appeared in Gooru. It has a lot of suggested reading along with other periodicals with reference to the mental health issue. This was composed in 2011, meaning it is not outdated. I will use the information about the early detection to prove my point that school systems need a way to help their students. I will also use the information about school mental health programs and how they are linked to improving education. This is also useful because it proves that people are already beginning to work on this issue, but aren’t very far along. My research is being driven by my desire to help prevent mental health issues such as: suicide, self-harm, anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, autism, etc. I want kids to be safe in school and for them to be knowledgeable about mental health. In my generation, there has been an increase in emergencies within the school system that relate to mental health problems. These emergencies could be prevented. I also wish to increase the conversation about mental health to make it a less taboo topic.
My essential question is: How can I, as a mental health professional, assess collected data to devise effective prevention programs? Since I am interning with the Prevention Specialist of my county, she has included me in the implementing of her new prevention programs. I grew more interested in why she chose these were the best programs and how she decided that our county needed help. Along with a powerpoint and my website, a pamphlet will best compliment my presentation. Statistics I gather and information about prevention programs can be placed in the pamphlet to give an overview of my presentation. This pamphlet can be distributed to a wide audience and serve as quick information for anyone interested. After I gave an interview to my mentor, I decided that these interview questions can be asked to any Prevention Specialist. Hopefully, I will be able to interview other specialists from surrounding counties to get information about how others are tackling mental health. With a wider perspective, I can better form an answer to my essential question. I conducted an interview with my mentor, Lindsey Simpson, the Prevention Specialist for Forsyth county. I was not able to do this interview in person, so it was conducted over email and Mrs. Simpson decided some of my questions would be best answered by Katie Newman, a social worker in Forsyth. Here are the questions (Q), answers (A), and my personal reflection about the answer (R).
1. Q: How did Forsyth County identify that there was a need to address mental health? Any signs or warning signals? A: School Counselors and Administrators continued to see the rise of students unable to emotionally regulate and seek external sources for self worth (i.e. social media). Upon the rise, more and more students started sharing about suicidal ideation. The school social work team and student support services started asking peer counties and the state DOE for guidance on these issues and programs/supports that our system could implement. R: From a student perspective, social media seems like such a normal part of life to me and at times I tend to not even stop and think about posts that hint at suicidal thoughts. I am troubled by the fact that the way our county was able to detect signs of mental health issues was through the student's use and addiction to social media. 2. Q: What are specific issues that you have been able to identify? A: Suicidal ideation, Self Injurious behavior, anxiety, depression, attention issues/trauma R: All of these issues are not talked about freely in society, so I cannot help but wonder if we, as a society, did not shy away from these topics and opened a conversation they would be less prominent of an issue. This answer also makes me realize that the way I learned about a lot of these issues was through social media and my peers, not adults that would have been able to properly educate me. 3. Q: What programs have you begun to develop as a response to the identified issues? A: Sources of Strength (Youth suicide prevention project that aims to change unhealthy culture norms), Signs of Suicide (tools used to educate a population on signs of suicide) and School Based Mental Health Services. R: I think these are great programs that will be able to reach students in a new way. It seems as though Forsyth county is attacking the issue from multiple sides. They are changing the stigma and social norms, educating the population in being able to identify an individual at high risk so they can get help, and they are attempting to provide the help in schools to students who may not be able to get help outside of school. 4. Q: Where did you get your ideas for the programs, meaning what knowledge did you base them off of (any research or maybe conversations had with other professionals)? How did you know where to start? A: In the Fall of 2016 Forsyth County Schools formed a Suicide Prevention Committee in response to the need in our community. The committee was made up of district level leaders, administrators, school social workers and school counselors. One of the goals of the committee during the first year was to identify programs that were research based and would be a good fit for our students. After much research and consulting with our committee, we decided to seek funding for Sources of Strength and Signs of Suicide. NREPP is the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices and we relied heavily on their research to select a program. R: I have been able to attend a couple of meetings that the Suicide Prevention Committee has had and they are incredibly dedicated to their cause. I am glad that they made their decision over-time to implement these two programs and that they relied on a large data base system to choose what to invest their money in. They continue to meet on a regular basis. 5. Q: How will you measure success after beginning to further implement your programs? A: Reduction in the number of emergency conferences and GSHS (Georgia Student Health Survey) questions R: As a student, I take the GSHS every year and within the last few months I have been able to see parts of the data related to mental health in the recent years. I have been shocked by some of the data and I know that the county will continue to monitor these numbers closely. I used to believe that the surveys were not accurate due to what I hear around school, but after seeing the data a lot of people do answer the questions honestly. 6. Q: Where have you found funding to implement new materials and programs with respect to mental health? A: Many of our local partners recognize the need for mental health services for students and have been very generous with funding resources to help our students. R: I am glad that there are resources in our area that are reaching out and helping aid the programs implemented. I know money is an important resource needed to actually begin the change in mental health. 7. Q: How did you decide and begin to roll out the programs? A: Signs of Suicide in implemented in 7th and 9th grade. Sources of Strength eventually will be in all schools, but we must start small. Sources of Strength is rolling out in one middle school and one high school during 17-18 SY. We hope to bring on at least three more schools in the 18-19 SY. R: It is great that they are starting Signs of Suicide early in 7th grade. Hopefully, by educating the students early they will better able to get help for their peers or know the signs within themselves. Hopefully Sources of Strength will spread quickly. 8. Q: What have you done to ensure that people you have trained or are working with you are invested in these programs to make sure it is as effective as possible? A: Two of our counselors were selected to become Sources of Strength trainers and will serve as a resource for new schools who begin implementing. A Signs of Suicide training was offered (not required) for all of our counselors to come and learn about the program and additional resources that support the roll out of the program in the schools. Additionally, our Social Work team has been essential in supporting our schools as they begin the Signs of Suicide curriculum by providing crisis support as needed. R: Having the Signs of Suicide training accessible to all counselors and having resources available to all schools is a fantastic way to begin a program. At the same time, I see the benefit of slowly beginning Sources of Strength so the county can see the results from small parts before rolling it out everywhere. I am interesting to know which way to begin will end up being more effective. 9. Q: Have you set up any time limitations to evaluate success? Are you looking for a more ongoing decrease in mental health issues or are you going to review data after a certain amount of time to determine if a specific program was a success? A: We have been given a grant to assess if school based mental health decreases issues and increase function level of the individual student. The 2 barriers that were the highest in the school counselor survey was financial and lack of access. We hope that with the grant, it will to help decrease cost of mental health services. We hope that allowing clinicians in the school will help increase access to mental health treatment for students. R: This grant seems like what the county needed to really push the programs out and that they will be measuring success based on overall decrease in mental health issues. They also seem to be able to begin to overcome the two barriers that high school counselors identified. 10. Q: As a Prevention Specialist you tend to focus on drug and alcohol awareness, so when did you decide that mental health needed to be addressed as well? A: Substance use and mental health go hand in hand and are often not isolated issues but rather co-occuring. R: I am glad I asked Mrs. Simpson this question because I had really not thought about how those who are suffering from mental health issues may turn to substances to cope. Tackling mental health may lead to a decrease in substance abuse since it is attacking the cause before the problem can occur. 11. Q: In the past, mental health issues have been a taboo topic, has the school system been able to address that to make it a more acceptable and encouraged discussion or do you think it is still a closed off topic? A: Each school has increased the amount of social/emotional awareness, although the topic is still taboo we feel that the more we talk about it openly and educate our community, mental health services will become more acceptable and students will feel encouraged by trusted adults and peers to talk about it. R: I am encouraged by the hopeful outlook our county holds for the future on mental health. For mental health issues to be reduced, the topic first needs to be publicly acceptable to discuss before we can see a change in the students' mental health.
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