This recording is part three of the series "Rooting Young Adult Mental Health Services in Culturally Sustaining Values & Practices."

The session "Uplifting Culturally Sustaining Practices in Substance Use Prevention," was held on April 24, 2024, and co-facilitated by our Center’s Youth & Young Adult Programming Specialists, Oriana Ides and Falilah Bilal.

The discussion aimed to challenge prevalent deficit-model approaches in prevention and recovery, promoting strength-based and culturally sustaining perspectives instead. Special guest Maurice Byrd, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with extensive experience in harm reduction since 2004, joined the conversation. Ms. Bilal and Ms. Ides engaged Maurice in a discussion to explore his insights and experiences with culturally sustaining practices in supporting substance use prevention, harm reduction, recovery, and healing for youth and young adults.

This content was designed for all community-based organizations, institutions, and mental health professionals, including peer support specialists, therapists, psychologists, counselors, and others who support the mental health and wellness of transition-aged youth.