Today is my 55th birthday and, as I reflect, I am filled with gratitude. Ten years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My children were 9, 13, and 15 years old, and my middle son was in a residential treatment center after having struggled for years with major depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. These …
Read MoreCOVID-19 And The Mental Health Of Your Children
Life is full of uncertainty, and the public health concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic have increased stress and anxiety levels in children and adults in an unprecedented way. Our communities, leaders, friends, and family members are reacting intensely, which increases our distress. Whether you believe the world is overreacting or underreacting, try to remember that …
Read MoreGrant to expand The Parent Support Network
We are excited to share that we are one of Westchester County’s two recipients of a 2019 grant from the Gannett Foundation’s A Community Thrives program. The Youth Mental Health Project has been awarded a grant of $12,500 from the Gannett Foundation, which will be used to support the expansion of The Parent Support Network. Check …
Read MoreGiving Tuesday Kids
Change the Conversation about Mental Health. December 3rd! Use your voice to increase awareness about mental health. Create a “Mental Health Check-In” wall at your school, host a mental health awareness day, print and distribute fact sheets, or create a fundraiser to help change the conversation. We all have mental health, just like physical health, …
Read MoreHappy Mother’s Day
The fact that Mother’s Day is here just as Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week comes to a close has my head spinning. In my world, as a mental health advocate and founder of The Youth Mental Health Project, every day is children’s mental health awareness day! And if every day is children’s mental health awareness …
Read MoreSharing Our Stories: Jenny
I remember being at a screening of No Letting Go and realizing, for the first time, that I wasn’t alone. I had just come from the most difficult three years of my life… trying to save my daughter who had suicidal ideation and had been recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I had shared her story …
Read MoreSharing Our Stories: Brenda
I have 2 children. My oldest, now 23, was a quirky child, but a brilliant student, very polite, and very happy. Until she wasn’t. Around the age of 13, her anxiety turned to school avoidance. School and learning had been her favorite things. What was happening?! Therapists, neurological psychiatrists and endless research yielded results that …
Read MoreChildren’s Mental Health Awareness Week 2019
May 5th to May 11th! We are excited to join our national partner, National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, in celebrating Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. In addition to participating in upcoming events, The Youth Mental Health Project is celebrating Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week by focusing on PARENTS and CAREGIVERS to let …
Read MoreLetter From a Mom – Part Three
Foreword by Randi Silverman The pain you feel as a parent when your child is deeply struggling, in a hospital, confronting a life threatening condition, is indescribable. The silence around mental health problems only serves to compound that pain with isolation and loneliness. In the depths of despair, there are simply times when we can …
Read MoreParents Pay it Forward
Foreword by Randi Silverman: I am thrilled to share this guest blog from Jay Boll, the father of a child with serious mental health challenges. Jay poignantly describes how difficult it is for so many of us to find resources and how isolating the process can be: “I did not know what to do or …
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