Helping the Helpers: Understanding and Addressing Secondary Traumatic Stress in K-12 Schools
The BHA Resilience Committee is hosted a virtual Lunch & Learn event. Speakers: Dr. Jerica Knox and Dr. Mayra Gaona.
Multisystem Resilience: The Role of Sociocultural Processes and Contexts in Ethnic-Racial Minority Youth Development | Resilience Talk: October Lunch and Learn
The BHA Resilience Committee is hosting a virtual Lunch & Learn event, in which attendees can earn 1 CEU credit*. Speaker: Dr. Fanita Tyrell Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and a Faculty Affiliate of the Department of African American and Africana Studies at the University of Maryland at College Park. She is also the Director of the Resilient Adaptation across Culture and Context (RACC) Lab.
Project AWARE Strategic Planning Meeting Overview
On Wednesday July 31, 2024 Caroline Jones, Chalarra Sessoms, D’Lisa Worthy, and Adam Johnson attended the Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) Strategic Planning at The Meeting House in Columbia, MD. During this meeting we were able to share our training highlights from Year 4 of Project AWARE.
The BHA Project AWARE Year 4 highlights included: training over 190 participants in ACES, completing 5 HOPE presentations for 93 participants, and completing 3 YMHFA trainings for 40 participants. Finally, we recognized Chalarra Sessoms for receiving the HOPE Policy Award in March 2024 for her dedication to the mission and values of HOPE. Chalarra Sessoms also leads our Resilience Committee and oversees our Mind Resilience website.
We were also able to hear highlights of the other Project AWARE grantees. They shared information about the Yellow Ribbon initiative in Talbot County, the mobile substance use van in Caroline County, and student-led mental health projects in Baltimore City Public Schools.
The Mental Health Association of Maryland provided attendees with a Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) Training. QPR is an evidenced-based suicide prevention method. QPR helps individuals to recognize the warnings signs of someone experiencing suicidal ideation, offer hope to someone experiencing suicide ideation, and helping individuals to find the appropriate resources. Later in the meeting we had a presentation from MSDE about different ways to find funding for different types of education and mental health initiatives. The Strategic Planning Meeting concluded with, working in groups to develop strategies to help each LEA increase their mental services in their schools.
This year’s Project AWARE Strategic Planning meeting provided grantees the opportunity to connect, learn, and grow in order to expand quality youth and family mental health services to our communities.
Issues in Men’s Mental Health
The presentation will examine the current state of the science around men’s mental health. Topics will include cultural factors affecting men’s mental health, the unique presentation of depression and suicidal ideation/behavior among men, and men’s patterns of mental health care usage. Practice recommendation based on this science will be shared.
Alexander E. Chan, Ph.D., LCMFT
Mental and Behavioral Health Specialist
University of Maryland Extension