2023 HEALTH CARE EDITION
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES Parents and families can be on the lookout for several signs and symptoms that their child may be experiencing mental health issues. This list is not comprehensive.
school counselor at Hudson Bend Middle School. LISD Director of Counseling Services Steve Clark said the district has school counselors as well as a team of 15 who make up the Student and Family Sup- port Team, which includes licensed clinical social workers and licensed professional counselors. “They provide school-based therapy for students, which we involve the par- ents in,” Clark said. “It’s treated much like community-based therapy except it’s in the school setting.” All three districts also support students through the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedi- cine, or TCHATT, a program through The University of Texas that provides telemedicine or telehealth support to school districts and their students to help identify and assess behav- ioral health needs of adolescents and children as well as access to mental health services. “What TCHATT does is it allows school counselors and the social work- ers to connect with their programs and get students … virtual visits within the school day,” Branker said. Branker said the program is espe- cially helpful for students who do not have health insurance or who have very limited health insurance. She said the program provides short-term care with four to seven virtual therapy ses- sions as well as providing psychiatric assistance for medication management if needed. Proactive approaches Not only do all three school districts provide mental health care services for their students, but they also take pro- active approaches to overall wellness and well-being through social-emo- tional learning, or SEL, curricula.
“At its most basic level, SEL is about teaching core life skills, so you’re look- ing at teaching kids how to be resilient in the case of disappointment or set- back because that’s a human experi- ence to be disappointed in something or to hit … barriers as you’re trying to achieve your goals,” Sauer said. The focus of the SEL curricula is pri- marily in elementary grades at all three school districts using a nationwide program called Second Step. The ve components are self-awareness, man- agement, responsible decision-mak- ing, social awareness and relationship skills. “It’s a proactive approach to give students skills to navigate things when they’re having maybe a little distress, but just typical distress—it’s not a men- tal health curriculum,” Clark said. Sauer said SEL skills have a lot of overlap with the 21st-century skills that are sought by employers, includ- ing collaboration, self-management, problem-solving, being exible and communication skills. SEL provides students with the skills to enable them to live a healthy, func- tioning life in the future in regards to regulating emotions, expressing them- selves, using communication skills and dealing with con ict, Branker said. Fighting stigma Despite the mental health services and resources that are o ered by LTISD, Branker said one of the biggest challenges when it comes to mental health is ghting the stigma. A student club at Lake Travis High School called Breathe Initiative aims to reduce the stigma around mental health as well as providing support and a safe space for fellow students. Branker said the student group, whose members spoke at a board of
Changes in sleep and/or appetite (too much or too little)
Violent/aggressive behavior
Losing interest in things that used to be fun or interesting
Change in school performance
Engaging in self-harm, such as cutting or burning
Excessive worry/avoidance of life activities
SOURCE: MENTAL HEALTH TEXAS COMMUNITY IMPACT
WHAT IS SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING SEL ? Social-emotional learning, a proactive
emotional skills are better able to cope with everyday challenges and bene t academically, professionally and socially.
approach to overall wellbeing, is the process of developing the self- awareness, self-control and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work and life success. People with strong social- trustees meeting May 17, is trying to make more of a connection between LTISD’s upper administration and school needs in regard to mental health. “One of the biggest things they have tried to really recognize, as far as just trying to normalize mental health, is teaching people that it’s just like physical health,” Branker said. “The amount of emphasis and time and energy and just understanding that we put towards physical health and support, we should do the same for mental health.” Brooke Davis, a senior at Lake Tra- vis High School and the president of Breathe Initiative, said a 2021 survey of 1,134 students showed at least one- third or more reported they were suf- fering from anxiety, depression, a lack of sleep, an inability to concentrate and
SOURCE: COMMITTEE FOR CHILDREN COMMUNITY IMPACT
struggles with daily stressors. Iris Castruia, the club’s secretary and a junior, said the survey reported 92.8% of respondents cited school stressors as one of the biggest chal- lenges students face. “We need a more robust school culture that supports mental health e orts and o ers us a seat at the table,” Castruia said. Branker said mental health is a right, and every person deserves access to the care they need. “We all need to just come to the table and recognize that mental health needs to be valued as much as physi- cal health and that mental health is a spectrum,” she said.
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
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LAKE TRAVIS WESTLAKE EDITION • JUNE 2023
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