Products and Resources Catalog

Many practitioners know "the basics" of virtual treatment and seek support in improving their effectiveness & strategies. This desk guide provides resources, information, and quick tips for practitioners working with youth in virtual settings.  This guide was created by WAFCA with funding from the Great Lakes MHTTC and is based on material presented by Lisa Anderson, LPC, CSW, in spring 2021.

  All public schools in California are required to offer Identity Support Plans (IDSP) for LGBTQ+ students in elementary, middle, and high school.  This tool guides California public middle and high schools through the development of a plan to support LGBTQ+ students’ identity, success, and safety at school. It is designed for school staff, caregivers, and the student to work together to complete the document. This tool supports districts’ commitment to making educational spaces safe and supportive for ALL students, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression.   All available IDSP tools and supporting documents can be accessed on the main product page. 

  All public schools in California are required to offer Identity Support Plans (IDSP) for LGBTQ+ students in elementary, middle, and high school.  The IDSP for secondary schools supports public middle and high school staff in California to work with gender-diverse students, and potentially their caregivers, to identify ways in which the student’s identity is respected and supported at school. The IDSP process fosters an educational environment that is safe and supportive for ALL students, and it serves as an effective tool to help guide school staff through conversations with families, other caregivers, and children.  This document explains the IDSP process, provides guidance about how to use the IDSP tool, and offers strategies and discussion tips that school staff can use when working with caregivers and students.   All available IDSP tools and supporting documents can be accessed on the main product page. 

  All public schools in California are required to offer Identity Support Plans (IDSP) for LGBTQ+ students in elementary, middle, and high school.  This Identity Support Plan for Elementary (IDSPE) is a form designed to be filled out collaboratively by school staff, the student, and the student’s caregiver(s) to ensure that students feel safe in classrooms and across the school environment.  The IDSPE tool was created to help gender-diverse students share anything that might make them feel unsafe or uncomfortable. It also gives students a chance to share and express how they feel about their name and gender expression or identity. You can also access the corresponding Identity Support Plan for Elementary (IDSPE) Explainer, which explains the IDSPE process, provides guidance about how to use the IDSPE tool, and offers strategies and discussion tips that school staff can use when working with caregivers and students.   All available IDSP tools and supporting documents can be accessed on the main product page. 

  All public schools in California are required to offer Identity Support Plans (IDSP) for LGBTQ+ students in elementary, middle, and high school.  An Identity Support Plan for Elementary (IDSPE) supports public school staff in California to work with gender-diverse students, and potentially their caregivers, to identify strategies for ensuring that their identity is respected and supported. The IDSPE process fosters an educational environment that is safe and supportive for ALL students, and it serves as an effective tool to help guide school staff conversations with families, other caregivers, and children. This document explains the IDSPE process, provides guidance about how to use the IDSPE tool, and offers strategies and discussion tips that school staff can use when working with caregivers and students.   All available IDSP tools and supporting documents can be accessed on the main product page. 

The September issue of our newsletter spotlights Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and National Recovery Month, features an upcoming Northwest MHTTC webinar, MHTTC & ATTC network events, other events of interest and resources. 

Social media literacy is necessary for equitable mental health and the mental health workforce can help their clients build these skills. As a first step, mental health providers should pursue their own social media literacy, the “the practical, cognitive, and affective competences required to access, analyze, evaluate, and create content on social media in a variety of contexts.”   When providers are themselves digitally literate, they are prepared to support youth, young adults, and caregivers to develop and maintain healthy relationships with social media.  These skills can assist the mental health workforce in helping clients set appropriate boundaries, recognize mis- or disinformation, and protect themselves from the negative consequences of exposure to damaging content.    As the research summaries provided in this resource list indicate, social media can be both a powerful tool for connection and support and a space that can cause or extenuate mental health inequities.   This resource is a part of our Pacific Southwest MHTTC’s suite of programming, aimed to enhance the mental and school mental health workforce’s skills, knowledge, and awareness of how the positive and negative psychological impact of social media on youth and young adults.   We offer this list of resources, guidelines, and tips to support healthy use of social media.  These free, publicly accessible links give mental health providers information about the risks and benefits of social media for adolescents and youth. The links are offered as resources to be distributed to providers’ clients, including youth and their family/caregivers. 

This is a recording of the Pacific Southwest MHTTC's Back to School Workshop 1 entitled, “Study Session: A Practical Guide for Implementing a Trauma-Informed Approach,” on August 9, 2023. In this kickoff session, PS MHTTC School Mental Health Field Director Leora Wolf-Prusan and Trauma Informed Educator Network founder Mathew Portell facilitated an interactive study session to familiarize participants with SAMHSA’s June 2023 release of the updated and expanded practical guide from the 2014 Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach Resource.  This session's audience includes educators, school site leaders, school mental health professionals, youth advocates, trauma-informed professionals, and anyone interested in gaining a deeper fluency in trauma-informed language. Viewers of this video can benefit from the following learning objectives:  Define trauma, trauma-informed care, and connected terminology Identify resources to support a trauma informed approach to school mental health work Explore the guide’s case study of Fall-Hamilton Elementary School in Nashville, TN 

This is a recording of Session 4 in the Rising Practices & Policies Revisited series. This panel, "Mental Health & Student Mental Health Workforce: The Woes & Wonders of Recruitment & Retention" took place on August 14, 2023. In this final session of the series, Change Matrix’s Senior Technical Assistance & Training Specialist, Dr. Tonicia Freeman-Foster, moderated a panel and discussion with pre-service and in-service mental health and school mental health leaders on how to address the supply and demand gap, and models of resilience for providers in the field. In this session, we explored the following questions and more: What are the disparities between what the field needs in providers and service systems and what trained professionals are able to provide? What are innovative ways pre-service and in-service graduate school programs are creating, incentivizing, credentialing, and certifying the mental and school mental health workforce? How might we onboard and retain a new wave of providers?

This brief report examines the reported prevalence of sadness and hopelessness, suicidal ideation, bullying, fighting, and current substance use among high school age youth in the Southeast region’s eight states. These data are derived from the 2021 Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System.

This brief report examines the reported prevalence of sadness and hopelessness, suicidal ideation, bullying, fighting, and current drug and alcohol use among high school age youth in the Southeast region’s eight states. These data are derived from the 2021 Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System.

Recent prevalence estimates indicate that 1 in 36 school-age children have autism. Autistic students are much more likely than non-autistic students to experience mental health challenges, including difficulty with flexibility.  This infographic provides information about strategies that can be used by educators to help autistic students navigate situations that differ from their expectations. This infographic includes how to teach these flexibility strategies in a manner that is inclusive and neurodiversity affirming.

Welcome to Dreams, Dilemmas and Dialogues, a podcast produced by the Pacific Southwest MHTTC, that explores thought-provoking discussions between educators and school mental health providers on issues that impact our schools, classrooms, and communities.    In this four-part podcast co-hosted by Oriana Ides and Candice Valenzuela, and with guests throughout, we cover a rich tapestry of themes, ranging from fostering a positive school culture that empowers both students and educators, to the importance of centering compassion and empathy in the classroom, and creating spaces where learning and personal growth intertwine.   Join us as we dive into the realm of staff development, uncovering strategies to help educators continuously enhance their skills and ignite their passion for teaching. We also look at cultural shifts in education, examining how societal changes shape our classrooms and influence the way we educate the next generation.   Whether you're a school mental health provider, educator, parent/caregiver, student, or anyone curious about the future of education, these episodes are here to inform, inspire, and ignite conversations to inform our practices and policies. Tune in for fresh insights, and thought-provoking conversations that allow us to question and contemplate. Welcome to Dreams, Dilemmas and Dialogues—where every episode is a journey into our own and collective hope and healing.   Listen to each episode below, or click the "View Resource" button above to subscribe on Spotify!     Episode 1 - What Informs Us and Our Work? Reflection and Action: An Introduction to Liberation Psychology In this opening episode, hosts Candice Valenzuela and Oriana Ides explore their foundational values and formative experiences as healing centered practitioners in education.  Their conversations elevate some of the tenets and practices that have been most transformative in their individual and collective efforts to build school communities rooted in hope, healing and liberation.        Episode 2 - Interrupting Grind Culture; Shifting Professional Development, Pedagogy and Practice to Center Staff and Student Wellness Episode 2 features longtime classroom teacher Giulio Sorro, and co-hosts, Candice Valenzuela and Oriana Ides who steer the dialogue to how educators can uplift frameworks and orientations that support professional development where learning and personal growth intertwine. This episode illuminates the possibilities and practices for fostering a school culture that centers humanity, justice and empathy in the classroom.        Episode 3 - No Missed Steps; Laying the Groundwork for Healing and Restoration in Schools Episode 3 welcomes Stephanie Cariaga, professor of Teacher Education and Tatiana Chaterji, Restorative Justice (RJ) visionary, into an honest conversation that quickly moves beyond the implementation of programs and initiatives towards the possibilities of embodying the principles of RJ and building entire infrastructures rooted in its indigenous, culturally sustaining values. Together we witness, uplift and celebrate one another’s experiences of joy, righteous rage and safety as a pathway towards healing and visioning.        Episode 4 - Honoring Praxis; The Intentional Practice of Reflection and Action In this final episode, Candice Valenzuela and Oriana Ides reflect upon their decades in education and the ways in which they’ve consciously and unconsciously created culture in school sites and beyond. In the spirit of trailblazers and change-makers, this episode celebrates the abolitionists of traditional educational norms. Our podcast invites you to join the conversation on revolutionary approaches to teaching and learning, and to explore the transformative potential of anti-racist pedagogy.         Meet the Podcast Co-Hosts   Oriana Ides, MA, PPS, LPCCI (she/hers) is the School Mental Health Training Specialist at CARS, who approaches healing the wounds of trauma and oppression as core elements of social justice.  She has worked with young people across the life course from elementary school to college, and has served as teacher-leader, school counselor, classroom educator and program director.  She is committed to generating equity within school structures and policies by focusing on evidence-based mental health techniques and institutional design.     Candice Valenzuela MA, MFTI, YT-200 (they/them) is a proud Afro-Latinx native of Watts, California. They have worked at the crossroads of education and healing for 17 years. Candice earned a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and a minor in Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University, earned a secondary teaching credential from Alliant University, and a Master of Arts in East-West Psychology at the California Institute for Integral Studies. Candice is certified as a trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness instructor through the Niroga Institute and has training in mesoamerican indigenous healing practices through Ancestral Apothecary in Oakland, California. Candice is currently training as a Marriage and Family Therapist in Denver, Colorado.  Candice believes that ancestral, community and ecological healing are the most urgent issues of our time. They coach administrators, train teachers and lead professional development at schools throughout the nation in addition to providing gender affirming therapy as an Intern Therapist at Queer Asterisk in Denver, Colorado . When they are not working or studying, Candice enjoys sharing their enthusiasm for nature with their 6 year old child.       Meet the Guests   Giulio Sorro is a father of three as well as a son, brother, uncle, teacher and learner. He is forever in search of balance between the stars above and the concrete streets he walks. The Bronx, Enssogologo, Africa, San Francisco and June Jordan School for Equity serve as his official classes and continue to provide rich opportunities for learning and growth.  Even as a classroom teacher, he believes we must find our way out of these four walls and turn liberation theology into practice.  His bougie tendencies are loose leaf tea.     Stephanie Cariaga has served the wider Los Angeles community for sixteen years as a high school and middle school literacy teacher, founding member of the People’s Education Movement and co-organizer of the People’s Education Conference, and now an assistant professor in teacher education at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Rooted in radical feminist ways of knowing that center the body, wholeness, and justice, her teaching and research examines the intersections between trauma/healing-informed pedagogies, critical literacy, and critical teacher sustainability.       Tatiana Chaterjee is an educator, trainer, and restorative justice practitioner working at the borders of criminalization, intergenerational trauma, structural violence and youth empowerment. With over a decade of experience in schools, prisons, re-entry, juvenile justice, and community settings, I bring deep commitment to peacebuilding, violence prevention, and healing. ​Using personal narrative and embodied practice, I deepen conversations across difference and cultivate humanizing relationships. I integrate tools from multiple traditions to recover human connection between people at multiple ends of historical injustice. I seek opportunities for dialogue and accountability regarding systemic oppression and the way it manifests in interpersonal relationships. I mobilize my survivorship from violence for radical love, with an eye toward (dis)ability, disrupting power & hierarchy, and stopping harm.    

Welcome to the 2023-24 school year! We hope you had a fantastic summer.  To kick off this year, we present the following haiku: School bells are ringing Doors open widely for all  Eager students near Teachers greet students Classrooms are freshly prepared   Lesson plans begin  Anxious, distracted  Not all students adapt well Coping skills needed Who can they turn to? You! Mental health champions Assess, plan, support Action drives outcomes Building teams create promise Kids begin to thrive We invite you to read and access the many resources shared in this newsletter edition to help your students thrive. Wishing you a wonderful start to the new school year.  Best Wishes, The NWMHTTC School Mental Health Team   Sign up for our School Mental Health Newsletter!  Want more information and school mental health resources? Visit the Northwest MHTTC's School Mental Health page and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates about events, trainings, and resources available to the Northwest region.

The final August 2023 issue of our newsletter features resources for Overdose Awareness Week, upcoming Northwest MHTTC webinars, TTC Network events, other events of interest and resources. 

Attendees will learn foundational terminology and history related to gender and sexuality. Attendees will identify strategies in supporting LGBTQIA+ youth in schools. Presented by: Jordan Mix Jordan Mix (they/them) is the Director of Educational Programming at Iowa Safe Schools. They graduated from Drake University in 2016 with degrees in Law, Politics, and Society; Sociology; and Women and Gender Studies. While at Drake they were the president of Drake’s LGBTQ organization, Rainbow Union, helped establish the first all-gender bathroom on campus, and collaborated heavily in writing Drake’s Transgender Inclusion Statement. Jordan also completed their graduate studies in Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. In 2019, Jordan was the head curator of a project called Breathe, Learn, Act — the first ever virtual care package for parents and loved ones of transgender and non-binary kids. Jordan joined the Iowa Safe Schools team in March of 2020, where they work with K-12 educators to develop LGBTQ-Inclusive curriculum, facilitate an online academy for Iowa’s K-12 educators, and lead training sessions for students, educators, and other community members. When they’re not working, you can find Jordan hiking with their wife, cheering on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team with their cat, and honing their home barista skills. Learn more about this series: Supporting the Mental Well-being of LGBTQIA+ Youth in Schools   Co-sponsored by:

A joint project of the National Federation of Families, National Family Support Technical Assistance Center, and the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center, this tip sheet provides vetted resources and links for school, family, and community leaders to address school culture and climate. Access this publication for tips on what families, parents, caregivers, individual educators, family peer specialists, and mental health providers can do to address the young person engaging in bullying behavior while school and family leaders address school culture and climate and support the child being bullied.

  This is a recording of Workshop 2 in the Back to School Series, “Giving Voice to Youth Psychological Strengths: A Photovoice Partnership Project,” that took place on August 16, 2023.   In this second session, faculty from California State University, Sacramento’s School Psychology Program and staff and students from Natomas Pacific Pathways Preparatory (NP3) High School showcased the Photovoice Partnership Project, “Giving Voice to Youth Psychological Strengths.”   CSUS Anchor University Grant-funded this project, and it was carried out in a collaboration between the NP3 High School students, counselors, and school psychologists; and CSUS School Psychology faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students. The webinar celebrates the outcome of this project, that entailed a timeline of ten weeks in which NP3 students worked to (a) define psychological strengths such as self-efficacy, self-awareness, empathy, optimism, and gratitude; (b) examine sources of psychological strength in their school, peer, and family networks; and (c) produce photovoice projects illustrating their “world of strengths.”   View this video for a brief introduction to the project, featuring individual project presentations by each of the students, tools used to ground the activities, such as the CoVitality strengths-based mental health screener, and a question and answer discussion with the faculty, Dr. Meagan O'Malley and Jeremy Greene, MA, NCSP, LEP.   

The fourth August issue of our newsletter features two upcoming Northwest MHTTC webinars, an ACT networking event, ATTC and MHTTC Network events, other events of interest and resources. 

In furthering our efforts to meet people where they are and foster healthy practices in adolescents and youth, the Great Lakes MHTTC and Wisconsin PATCH (Providers and Teens Communicating for Health) asked teens to describe the best ways adults can partner with youth and what motivates young people to get involved with organizations like PATCH. The responses featured in this resource were provided by teenage participants of the PATCH Teen Educators program.    This product was created with our valued partners at Wisconsin PATCH.  

The third August issue of our newsletter features two upcoming Northwest MHTTC webinars, ATTC and MHTTC Network events, other events of interest and resources. 

This resource highlights how Buffalo Grove High School implemented Classroom WISE, as part of the 2023 Classroom WISE School TA Opportunity. To learn more about Classroom WISE, visit www.classroomwise.org.

This resource highlights how Provisional Accelerated Learning Academy implemented Classroom WISE, as part of the 2023 Classroom WISE School TA Opportunity. To learn more about Classroom WISE, visit www.classroomwise.org.

Motivational interviewing (MI) provides us with a way to have conversations about change. Practitioners use MI with adolescents, young adults, and parents to successfully support their values and guide them toward their own desired change targets. In this session, Dr. Dempsey discussed research-based MI interventions for youth and specific strategies to reduce resistance and engage young people in conversations about and movement toward personally meaningful change.   Viewers of this video can benefit from the following learning objectives:  Determine at least one type of motivation-based intervention appropriate for children, adolescents/young adults, and parents. Construct at least one values-based intervention to help guide adolescent and young adults toward change targets. Practice two interventions to reduce resistance and support autonomy of youth engaged in conversations about change. Design one conversation about change intended to support and guide parents of youth involved in change.