After getting so much interest from our Facebook post earlier in the month, sharing the Pique story about funding to the CYMHSU drying up, we asked Tanya Richman, the local action team's co-chair, to explain what this means, and what we can do about it. Funding for 64 Local Action Teams across the province who are … Continue reading Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Collaborative: A Plea for continued funding.
I’m writing a will and representation agreement - a little overdue but I’m getting to it. With this planning has come a lot of thought. I have a folder on my computer entitled ‘T’s fun.er.al’ which, among other things, contains some thoughts on music to play at whatever death ceremony ends up happening (if … Continue reading Death, appreciation and the things we leave unsaid
(Last year, I ran into Tanya in the street the day before Mother’s Day and we had a little vent about Hallmark holidays. She’d walked into a classroom where the kids were busy colouring for Mother’s Day, and she personally knew that a lot of those students had pretty unHallmark relationships with their moms. Later, … Continue reading A plea to schools and daycares to be more mindful about Mother’s Day and ditch the colouring-in exercise that assumes everyone has a Hallmark family
Mentally healthy is not the same as happy-all-the-time. Happy-all-the-time is a fallacy, a myth, an unachievable state, it’s bullsh*t. If you take a look at the world around you and can be completely overjoyed, all the time about everything …. I’d say there’s something wrong with you. But being sad, angry, easy to anger, edgy, … Continue reading Mental Wellness: What to Do To Stay Healthy
There you are trying to be present for someone who is struggling. You think to yourself….what do I say? Well, thankfully many of us have been in this position. So many, in fact, that Family Smart has put out this handy list of things to say: http://www.familysmart.ca/files/FamilySmart-SAY-WEB-2017.pdf • Thick and thin I’ve gotchu • I’m … Continue reading Getting loud requires listeners. So, what to say, when someone gets brave and speaks up?
Plan-y.ca can be downloaded on to your smartphone or accessed on a desktop, laptop or tablet. It offers links to local resources, phone numbers, programs and more. This resource was designed with teens in mind and I’d encourage all you adults to look at it too to find the resources for youth in your community. … Continue reading Local Youth, this is your go-to resource. Plan-Y.
Have you heard of the Child and Youth Mental Health – Substance Use Collaborative (CYMHSU)? This collaborative project began in 2013 with eight Local Action Teams (LATs) across the province aiming to do something about the lack of coordination in response systems for child and youth mental health. Over four years the initiative has grown … Continue reading Mental health starts at home. Here’s what’s been happening in the Pemberton area
May 1 -7 is Mental Health Week and the Canadian Mental Health Association is asking you to ‘Get Loud’ for mental health. What this looks like is up to you. Hashtags, photos, activities, links, words of encouragement, words of understanding, compassion, empathy and kindness -- this week is about sharing how you maintain health and … Continue reading It’s Mental Health Week. Are you ready to Get Loud?
(I ran into Tanya in the street the day before Mother's Day and we had a little vent about Hallmark holidays. She'd walked into a classroom where the kids were busy colouring for Mother's Day, and she personally knew that a lot of those students had pretty unHallmark relationships with their moms. Later, a friend … Continue reading Mother’s Day, Father’s Day: a plea to schools and daycares.
“STIs on the rise” was a headline I saw on cbc.ca, the other morning, way back before summer, before school went out. Student engagement, learning outcomes, increasing participation, increase student achievement are all the subject of PAC documents and school websites. Mental health awareness, body image, LGBTQ concerns, anxiety, depression, ADHD, ADD are all over … Continue reading Teachers are mental health frontline workers and they need some better skills
The Wellness Almanac 