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Partly Cloudy Nassau County Youth Wellness Summit takes a new look at teens’ mental health
In today’s society, teachers, school administrators, social workers and mental health advocates agree that, more than ever, teens need outreach and support when they battle negative thoughts and actions.
At last week’s Nassau County Youth Wellness Summit, hosted by the New Jersey-based Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide Last week, Long Island teens were encouraged to focus on conquering their toughest mental health challenges. Since 2019, the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District has offered the Brookside School, its district offices, as the venue for the mental health event.
Stacy Brief, 25 of Bellmore, is a 2016 graduate of Mepham High School and a licensed social worker at Calhoun High. Brief previously told the Herald that she went through a difficult time in high school, struggling with anxiety and depression. Through a colleague of her father’s, Brief and her family were connected to SPTS, and began volunteering and working with the organization. Seeing the success of wellness summits in New Jersey, she decided to bring one to Nassau County.
Mike Harrington, superintendent of schools in Bellmore-Merrick and a former principal at Mepham, has known Brief and her family since she was a student.
“Stacy was one of my standouts at Mepham,” Harrington said. “A tremendous, tremendous young lady. After graduating, I knew right away that she wanted to get into mental health and pursue a social work career.
“Once I got to the central office,” he added, “her mother and Stacy reached out, expressing their interest to host a youth summit to prevent teenage suicide.”
Harrington, who was all for the idea, said the topic was introduced at the Bellmore-Merrick Community Parent Center, and a planning committee was established to create the summit. In 2019, its first year, around 20 school districts attended. The most recent summit, which took place on March 28, attracted 35 schools from Nassau and Suffolk counties, including the first Catholic institution, Chaminade High School.
Six students and two staff members from each school took part in panels and discussions throughout the day, all geared toward understanding more about their mental health, managing anxiety and learning how to cope with negative thoughts.
“Every year we try to feature a new coping skill workshop, just to be introducing the teenagers to new concepts, as far as what they can do to cope with stress,” Brief explained. “Last year we did Movement Genius, and this year the students (did) a Tibetan singing bowl sound healing workshop.
“I think it’s something very different,” she added. “They don’t often have access to something like sound healing.”
Lunch was provided to all the attendees, and afterward they walked through a resource fair, where students could gather information about local organizations that offer mental health services.
Dawn Doherty, executive director of SPTS, said that there is a correlation between mental health struggles and the coronavirus pandemic. Social media, she said, also plays a huge role in how teens view themselves.
“There can be very positive aspects of it,” Doherty said of social media. “But then, unfortunately, you know, much of it can be negative, with the cyber-bullying and even just the comparison of yourself with everyone else.”
A point of emphasis, Doherty said, is the concept that your friends and others your age are often going through the same thing. “If you’re struggling, that’s OK, because there are others who are struggling or have struggled,” she said. “We really use the day to enhance coping skills and strategies, and certainly educate on the resources available.”
The commitment to wellness doesn’t end with the summit, Brief said. This year, SPTS is again hosting a panel for parents, on a date yet to be announced, to teach them to recognize the signs of mental health struggles and how to connect their kids to the appropriate services. Brief added that she was also starting another program on Long Island in September called the Youth Council, open to high school students.
“I’ll be running monthly meetings where they’re going to develop more skills, insight, education and awareness on everything to do with mental health and suicide prevention,” she said. “That’ll be a year-round, to develop leaders so they can take (what they learn) back to their communities and develop more structural change.”
Applications for the youth council opened immediately after the summit. For more, visit SPTSUSA.org/NassauSummit.
Stacy’s mother, Lisa, a co-organizer of the summit, said that everyone who attended said they loved it. “The Suffolk attendees asked us when we could do a summit in Suffolk,” she said. “A lot of the staff said they were going to incorporate some of what they learned and experienced into their own classrooms.”
Doherty credited Brief for the success of the summit, and said the society was pleased with all she had done. “We are just so proud of her for everything she’s accomplished personally and professionally,” Doherty said, “but really, just in awe of the success that she and the committee have really had with expanding the reach of this event.”
