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New Generation, New Conversations

Connecting The Community
Partnering with Riekes Center to Create Mental Health Videos for Teens

SafeSpace is proudly partnering with the Riekes Center for Human Enhancement to enable the youth voice to reach as many of their peers as possible. During the summer, SafeSpace and Riekes Youth will team together to write, film, edit, and distribute five short videos detailing mental health issues facing young people today. Our goal is to distribute these videos in September through social networks and links within and beyond our community.
 
Teaming Up with Play4Prevention

SafeSpace is pleased to be partnering with Play4Prevention, an organization started by Luke Bottari, a quarterback at Serra High School, whose friend lost her life to suicide. Play4Prevention shines a spotlight on the startling statistics about the increase in teen suicides and brings a voice to its stigma. On May 4, SafeSpace and Play4Prevention partnered together at the WBAL swim meet at Sacred Heart Prep, where student representatives from both organizations broadened the awareness of mental health issues through the voices of our SafeSpace Youth Ambassadors.
 
13 Reasons Why: An Adult Guide

On May 18, Netflix released its second season of the television series “Thirteen Reasons Why,” based on the novel by Jay Asher, which touched the issues of adolescent bullying, rejection, heartbreak, sexual assault, abuse, revenge (possibly even gun violence), depression, desperation, and suicide.  Due to the provocative content, it’s recommended that teens watch this series with an adult. Here are some tips and talking points/observations to watching this series.
 
Give Me A Break
 

SafeSpace proudly announced the inception of a new brown bag lunch group that regularly meets the first Thursday of every month.  These informal gatherings provide an opportunity for clinicians in our community to meet, relax, provide support, and develop positive relationships with each other in order to minimize the effects of secondary trauma.  We’re delighted to be partnering with JFCS Parent’s Place in Palo Alto on this endeavor. In the future, we hope to offer various support groups for parents, families, teachers, and community members with the focus on mental health and wellness issues.

RSVP through Eventbrite.

Ripple Effect
Reflections for Summer
by Michelle Mangiardi

As a future counselor and new member of the SafeSpace team, I’ve grown to understand the mindset of adolescents and how mental health awareness can reverberate throughout our community.  The activities at SafeSpace align my work with teens, and most recently how adolescents choose to spend their summers.

I often hear and see the stress of teens planning this time.  What internships can I apply to? What about college level and SAT prep classes?  What about finding a job?

My question is this:  When did summertime tip more toward work and less toward downtime?  My advice? Find things you love to do. Find that passion, that hobby, and carve out adequate time to relax and recharge your brain and your soul.  Self-care is a lifelong skill and important to learn at a young age.

How?  Use a rule of thirds: Allocate ⅓ of your time towards productive work with an outcome, such as an internship or job, ⅓ of your time towards unstructured activities, and the last ⅓ of your time towards experiences with family and friends.

Planning a balanced summer requires finding things you love, searching your soul, trusting your gut, believing in yourself, and having confidence in your choices. With the long days of June and July right around the corner, remember it’s your time to relax and recharge.
From all of us at Safespace Center,
thank you for your continued support.



For more information, please contact Managing Director,
Lesley Martin: lmartin@safespace.org