Ames School District will host mental health conference
Ames TribuneNov 14, 2018
"Mental health is a major issue within our schools and it's important as adults to understand and recognize the symptoms of mental health," Clark said.
Students and their families will be able to learn more about those symptoms and be educated about solutions to them.
The last hour of the conference will allow attendees to pick two sessions to learn more about mental health with some topics surrounding substance abuse, self harm, anxiety and depression and even social media's role in mental health.
The first thing the conference wants to tackle during the conference is the stigma of mental health and how to change that stigma.
"Creating these types of events minimizes the stigma that comes with mental health and will hopefully open the door to have more conversations surrounding the mental health needs of students in the community."
Leading the lecture, "Reducing the Stigma of Mental Health" is keynote speaker
Her lecture will talk about how debilitating mental health can be regardless of factors such as age, gender and race. She will be telling an exclusive story to the Ames community regarding how crippling mental illness is and how important proper treatment is.
School district director of media relations
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Smidt says this conference is the first step in supporting students and their families when it comes to these issues.
"We are poised to raise awareness across our community." He said. "This mental health conference is only the beginning of continuing that conversation."
The mental health conference will be held at the
SCHEDULE:
Informational Resources with light food provided:
"Reducing the Stigma of Mental Health" by
Gatekeeper training by
Two Breakout Sessions:
Sessions include:
Anxiety and Depression: What does it look like?
Eating Disorders
Gender Identity/Sexual Orientation
Substance Abuse
Self Harm
Social Media
ACES/Trauma Informed Care
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