Youth have the agency to experience positive mental health
Whether engaged through community/school programming or independent work with the youth skills building guide, Fireside Mental Health Chats is youth driven. Youth guide the selection of topics and sections to get the most out of their time with the program
...and excellent facilitaton can support youth on their mental health journey
The Fireside Mental Health Chats curriculum provides guidance for facilitation that is trauma informed, culturally-responsive, and equity focused
Why intervene with youth mental health?
The FMHC program was designed to provide communities with a trauma-informed, culturally-responsive, cost effective, flexible, and accessible curriculum. Research demonstrates that youth are in the midst of a mental health crisis (MHA; 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic and it’s exacerbation of pre-existing systemic inequity continue to introduce novel and complicated stressors developing youth must navigate while experiencing diminished access to safe spaces (such as school, after school programs, etc.) and coping resources. Essentially, many youth feel as though the world around them is “literally on fire” (a quote taken from a youth during pilot testing). FMHC was designed with the recognition that significant systemic change must happen before this fire is put out; however, while we work together to make systemic level change, immediate intervention is needed as youth continue to face potentially complex forms trauma. The FMHC program was designed to draw from youth internal, relational, and communal strengths to actively promote wellness while mitigating the impact of possibly traumatizing current events (Chokshi et al., 2021).
Careers
What is the program like?
What is the program like?
The FMHC hour-long sessions are provided by a trained facilitator. Each session is divided into two halves. During the first half of every session, facilitators (and possibly staff/counselors depending on community-partner resources and preference) will work to first check-in with the youth from the community partner program. These non-directive check-ins will provide the youth the opportunity to discuss any experiences or emotions they would like to receive additional support in navigating. During the second half of every session, youth will select a skill, topic, or activity from the skills building guide that the facilitator will then walk the youth through. It is emphasized that this session selection is youth-driven, as the youth’s development of autonomy during their time in this program is a priority. They should be considered equal co-creators of their experience. Therefore, it is not expected that the facilitators and youth move through the curriculum sequentially. It should be noted that each session in the curriculum is designed to support youth mental health regardless of the match between specific content and youth circumstances.
What's the evidence?
The FMHC curriculum is currently evidence-informed and research is being conducted to ensure the program can be considered evidence-based. The curriculum is rooted in a rich variety of theoretical work to bolster the versatility of the program. To promote overall wellness and positive development of the youth, this program is theoretically grounded in the principles of Transformative SEL (Jagers et al., 2018). Additionally, to enrich the mental health of youth and alleviate any mental distress the youth may be experiencing, this program is also theoretically inspired by principles and concrete skills from the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and group therapy literature(e.g., Corey & Corey, 2013; Ivey et al., 2014; Luoma et al., 2007; O’Donohue & Fisher, 2012). Although this program is not a substitute for therapy, nor should it be considered therapy, best practices in these areas are incorporated to promote mental health literacy and coping skills within the youth navigating mental distress. A litany of additional empirically-based and research-based elements serve as the foundation of this program.