Reply to Children's mental health and the pandemic

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]But more than that, we need investment in mental health care in a way we have never done before, not during the pandemic or before the pandemic. I really like the idea of giving better training to PCPs, school counselors, teachers and also training parents, that's such an important piece. [/quote]

IMO it's not that we need to train counselors and teachers--we see the mental health problems, but we are not qualified to treat long-standing issues. What is needed is more counselors, social workers, and therapists in the school buildings to provide the support that we already know students need but can't offer because of a lack of personnel.
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Stop expecting schools to replace parents.  Mental health is not a school issue and parents need to get their kids treatmen.[/quote]

OP here. It's interesting you think a child's teacher has no role in supporting their students' mental health. It doesn't mean they provide therapy, it does mean that when they interact with the child they can do so knowing what will help them progress. I agree, we need to do a better job of helping our society's most vulnerable and not rely on teachers to provide therapy, but this idea that teachers can't even bother to think about how to meet children's needs if those needs go beyond a typically developing child with no disabilities, well all I can say is thankfully my child's teacher does not view her job that way.[/quote]
NP here. It's one thing to train teachers to look for signs of mental health issues and another thing altogether to expect them to treat them. If we expect schools to provide mental health services, it needs to be a separate army of staff who are trained and focused to do only that.

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I am a teacher and am trained to recognize signs of mental health concerns, signs of abuse, etc.  I can’t treat or respond to any of those issues besides speaking kindly or checking in with a kid and referring them to the appropriate support staff or team.  But we currently have one very overburdened school psychologist at our school and that’s it.  I’m not sure how she could handle all of the mental health issues our students are facing.[/quote]

Yeah, that's what I thought of when I heard "teacher training." And actually this is sort of what parents need too. Parents cannot be therapists; they need to be aware of the signs of their kid needing therapy and get it for them. MUCH easier said than done, obviously. [/quote]

This is why parents are struggling.  Parenting is part therapist and you need to adapt your parenting style if its not working vs. expecting someone else to fix your home life.  A therapist can help you change your behavior but your child cannot change if you are also not willing.[/quote]

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