Thank you to all who tuned in to the evening live streams, attended the morning workshops, and, especially, the sponsors who made this entire project possible. According to Facebook analytics, the evening live streams resulted in 4,800+ reached, 1,100+ engaged, and 37 shares (and viewed by evenin more people in those shares). The morning workshops were attended by 60 people from 26 parishes and two Catholic Schools. There's little doubt that mental illness and mental health are important pastoral care concerns in our Church.

Below you will continue to find the resources originally posted as well as new ones as they become available, the links to the live stream and workshop recordings that are posted oin the Diocese of Davenport YouTube channel, and the PowerPoint slides from all MIAW programs. You can still order St. Dymphna and St. John of God, patron saints of mental illness, prayer cards that are described below. You will also find news on our follow up to MIAW - Mental Health Awawreness Month coming up in May, 2021 - as it becomes available. 

So keep visiting this page for continual resourcing on mental health. Sts. Dymphna and John of God, pray for us.

 

On This Page

Mental Health Awareness Month
MIAW Evening Live Stream and Morning Workshop Recordings &
       PowerPoint Slides
Prayer Cards
Resources

Mental Health Awareness Month News

Mark your calendars for May, 2021, for this important month.
Check back periodically for information on plans for observing MHAM.

MIAW Live Stream & Workshop Recordings/Slides 

Evening Live Streams

Helping Hurting Teens        Caught Between The Rock &
A HARD PLACE: WELLNESS 101 

Morning Workshops

Helping Hurting Teens          Caught Between the Rock & 
A Hard Place: Wellness 101
Developing A Pastoral
Response Plan

PowerPoint Slides:

       - Morning Workshops with Roy:          Batch 1          Batch 2          Batch 3
       - Morning Workshop with Sean:          Slides document
       - Evening Live Streams with Roy:        Batch 1          Batch 2

Handouts from DEVELOPING A PASTORAL RESPONSE PLAN

       - Building A Team Approach
       - Mental Health - A Guide for Faith Leaders
       - Minister Self-Care Assessment and Plan  Worksheet
       - Spiritual First Aid - A Step-By-Step Disaster Spiritual & Emotional Care
                   Manual
       - Primeros Auxilios Espirituales - Un Manual de Cuidados Espirituales y
                   Emocionales Paso a Paso
       - Preventing Suicide - A Toolkit for High Schools

Prayer Cards

St. Dymphna is the patron saint of mental illness, and St. John of God is the patron saint of hospitals, nurses, and the sick. The prayer cards (that appear in the Toolkit and below) can be purchased for $0.05/each plus postage. Consider ordering a supply to distribute to youth, parents, and parishioners during Mental Illness Awareness Week. Complete this order form and your cards will be mailed to you along with your invoice.

Resources

Youth Mental Heath Resources. This NFCYM page contains numerous links to resources on "Mental Health and Well Being," "Stress, Anixiety, and Depression," "Suicide Prevention," and "Cutting and Self-Injury."

ARTICLES
Adolescent Suicide: Signs, Causes, and Possible Responses by Roberty J. McCarty. A dated article in terms of statistics, but still very applicable in its content.
Suicide Prevention in the COVID-19 Era - Transforming Threat Into Opportunity. This recent article from the American Medical Association that appeared on the JAMA Psychiatry website describes the current risk of suicide for specific populations and includes strategies for various civic and governmental groups to lessen the risk. added 10/20/20
Teens and Mental Health: An Urgent Need. A 2018 article from OSV (Our Sunday Visitor).
Youth Suicidal Behavior. A resource distributed a few years back by the USCCB as part of their respect life program. 

LESSON PLANS/CURRICULUM UNITS
Faith in an Anxious World: A 4-week High School Curriculum. Today's young people are anxious. This resource developed by the Fuller Institute teaches them they are not alone. (This resource must be purchased.)
Mental Health: Hope, Dignity and Our Compassionate Response - A School Curriculum for Grade 9-10. This resource was developed by Ontario (Canada) Catholic to support teachers in teaching students in grades 9 and 10 about mental health and mental illness. The Grade 9 unit, focused on "Hope and Dignity," contains nine three-part lessons. The Grade 10 unit, focused on "A Compassionate Response," contains ten three-part lessons.
Mental Health: Out of the Darkness, Into the Light. A catechetical lesson plan for teens on mental health.
Totally Mental. This three-week series is an encouragement for those suffering with mental illness and a challenge for Christians who are not. This series helps break the stigma associated with mental illness.
YOUTH MINISTRY ACCESS has three youth programs on mental health. (Subscription needed to access these programs.)
       - Living with Mental Health by Deborah McDonald
       - Giving Pain a Voice: Suicide Prevention by Cathy Becker
       - Suicide - What to do when a friend... by Deborah McDonald
Parish Youth Night Outline. A complete youth ministry program developed for MIAW that utilizes the Caught Between The Rock & A Hard Place live stream video.

TOOLS
GritX. This is a self-care website of the Young Adult and Family Center located at the Weill Institute for Neurosciences on the campus ofthe University of California at San Francisco. the3 Center's mission is to provide adolescents and young adults with the highest levels of mental health care. The website offers self-guided online resources to Discover, Explore, and Get Support for mental health issues that one faces.  added 10/29/20
Know the Signs. This California-based suicide prevention social marketing campaign website is very helpful and user-friendly.
mindyourmind is a secular Canadian resource that works with young people to co-create interactive tools and innovative resources for young people aged 14-29 to build capacity and resilience.
NAMI Info Graphics. These one-page sheets from NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health) give a quick overview of statistics and tips on each of the topics below.
       - The RIPPLE EFFECT of Mental Illness
       - It's Okay to Talk about SUICIDE
       - Common WARNING SIGNS of Mental Illness
       - You Are NOT ALONE
The Person with Mental Illness: Bearing God's Image. A downloadable tri-fold brochure from the USCCB talking about mental illness and our response as people of faith. Content by Rv. Richard Gill, L.C.  added 10/29/20
Say It Out Loud: Speaking with Teens about Mental Health. A tool kit from NAMI to get teens talking about mental health.

AUDIO & VIDEO RESOURCES
Brave Teens is a first-of-its-kind digital community of teen storytellers who are going on the record about their mental health journeys. These are personal, unfiltered accounts from young people who are living with or recovering from a mental illness or substance abuse disorder.
Social Media Dangers Documentary - Childhood 2.0. An eye-opening look at stress, anxiety, and depression along with some of the causes of it. Contains interviews with mental health professionals, parents, older and younger teens, and upper elementary school children. The video is almost 1.5 hours long, but definitely well worth the time. added 10/20/20
Speaking Up on Teen Stress. As schools look for guidance into the rise in high school stress, teens and educators share their insights. (NOTE: Excerpts from this video were used in the Prequel to the Evening Live Streams.) added 10/19/20
Today's Teenager podcast is a free tool for parents, teachers and other caring adults to understand, reach and influence teens. Roy Petitfils and his guests dive into the hard topics of child rearing like communication, bullying, depression and suicide, emotions, perfectionism, sexting, oping, cutting, accompanying LGBTQ teens and more. New episodes every Monday and Wednesday.