For many young people, the isolation, uncertainty, and trauma of the past few years have bred anxiety and depression, with potentially long-lasting effects on their success in school and beyond. Schools must respond to this need by providing thoughtful and effective mental health supports.
Thriving Minds is here to help. Through this initiative—a partnership between the Rennie Center, the Massachusetts School Mental Health Consortium, and BRYT—we offer learning opportunities and guidance in building comprehensive mental health systems that allow schools to support all students, now and in the future.
Thriving Minds is excited to offer a handful of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) this winter + spring. These PLCs are designed to support educators with building comprehensive mental health systems in schools and districts. PLCs will provide participants with training and coaching opportunities on a variety of topics, as well as a valuable network for collaboration to learn from other schools and districts across the state.
Every PLC will be held via Zoom at no cost to participants. Please note that the only way to access the content is to sign up for the full PLC—we will not offer a separate registration link for each training session. We encourage you to sign up for the PLC even if you’re not sure whether you’ll be able to join every session in the series. The start dates for sessions are rapidly approaching, so we recommend you sign up as soon as possible!
Trauma-Focused Therapeutic Supports: Practices and Techniques for School Mental Health Staff
Offered in collaboration with the Center for Child Wellbeing and Trauma (CCWT)
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:30-8:30am | February 8, February 13, February 27, February 29, March 7, March 12, March 14, March 21
Attendees will be engaged in discussion and practice to develop their understanding of techniques and strategies that support students who have experienced trauma. School mental health staff will learn about how trauma presents in children and adolescents and unique considerations for supporting students who are struggling with post traumatic stress. Topics will include the importance of stress response dependent selection of intervention, designing trauma supports that are rooted in evidence-based therapeutic approaches, and a review of practical resources that can be used to guide practice.
Fellowship: School-Based Practitioners Seeking to Spark Systemic Change
Thriving Minds is partnering with DESE to offer PLCs on a range of topics related to mental health and social-emotional learning.
Feb. 12, March 11, March 25, April 22, May 29 | 2-3pm
This fellowship is for individuals interested in building their skills to serve as mental health leaders within their schools or districts. During monthly fellowship meetings, participants will have the chance to collaborate with others in similar roles to share successful strategies, troubleshoot challenges, and identify action steps they will take before the next meeting. Fellowship sessions will be structured as highly interactive, participant-driven sessions, and they will incorporate regular check-ins with a peer group to promote community support and shared accountability. This fellowship will be specifically targeted to school-level practitioners who are interested in driving broader, system-wide change, but who may be unsure how to carry that out. Over the next few months, participants will focus on how to “manage up” to build buy-in from leaders within the school and district, as well as how to use small tests of change to work toward larger-scale impact. Fellows will have the chance to set and report back on their own goals for driving change within their setting. This PLC is designed for school-level mental health practitioners (school counselors, adjustment counselors, school social workers, school psychologists, etc.). It is intended for individuals, rather than school-based teams.
Social Emotional and Mental Health Universal Screening and Progress Monitoring: Using Data to Support Early Identification of Needs and Monitor Student Growth
Thriving Minds is partnering with DESE to offer PLCs on a range of topics related to mental health and social-emotional learning.
Feb. 15 Kick-Off Session | 1-3pm
March 12, March 26, April 23, May 23 | 1-2pm
Schools and districts are increasingly recognizing the importance of developing systems to collect and effectively use social emotional and mental health data. Despite this recognition, implementing these systems remains a challenging undertaking. This five-session PLC will provide participants with a strong foundational understanding of the components of universal screening and access to practical tools, resources, and approaches that have been proven to support the successful implementation of social emotional and mental health screening and progress monitoring. Content-oriented sessions will lay the groundwork for staff to begin pilot screening and progress monitoring, leading to workshop-style application sessions that will provide participants with an opportunity to actively plan for local implementation with support. We will use a continuous quality improvement approach to implementation in which small tests of change lead to large-scale implementation safely and effectively over time. We will start with "one student, one measure, one day" and help schools and districts prepare to bring screening and progress monitoring to scale over the course of the PLC. Our goal is to ensure each participant is better prepared to develop systems to foster early identification of student needs and monitor their growth over time.
This PLC is most applicable for administrators and school mental health staff (school counselors, adjustment counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists) who will be engaged in the collection and use of social emotional and/or mental health data. Individuals and teams are both welcome.
Needs Assessment & Resource Mapping: Achieving Clarity and Direction in Building School Mental Health Systems
Content Sessions: April 2, April 10, April 23, May 1 | 7:30-9am
Application Sessions: April 4, April 11, April 25, May 2 | 7:30-8:30am
Thriving Minds is partnering with DESE to offer PLCs on a range of topics related to mental health and social-emotional learning.
Many leaders and educators feel a sense of urgency about addressing school mental health needs, but they aren't sure where to start, and/or their existing supports may be primarily reactive, a bit haphazard, and not well-aligned. This eight-session PLC will provide participants with a range of tools to use in mapping existing resources and identifying gaps and needs related to infrastructure, data systems, and interventions in order to make their SEL and mental health systems "even better." We will alternate between 90-minute content-oriented sessions (incorporating both presentations and interactive work) and 60-minute application sessions (highly interactive and participant-centered, with a focus on local application of the content). Our goal will be for each participant to complete the PLC with a solid map, gap/need/redundancy analysis, and clear direction for their next developmental steps toward a high-quality, comprehensive school mental health system. This PLC is designed for systems thinkers at the district and/or building level. Individuals and teams are both welcome. Participants are expected to attend and participate in all sessions. The application sessions are an integral part of this PLC aimed at supporting participants in achieving practical changes/ improvements in their districts and schools, and thus are not optional/drop-in sessions.
Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to Support Tier II Interventions: CBT for Individuals and Groups
Mondays | April 29, May 6, May 13, May 20, June 3 | 2-3:15pm
Thriving Minds is partnering with DESE to offer PLCs on a range of topics related to mental health and social-emotional learning.
Our students' mental health needs have never been more prevalent. To ensure we are best prepared to support them effectively, we must look to evidence-based practices that address the specific areas where our students are struggling the most. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based approach to the delivery of counseling services that is the gold-standard approach for addressing anxiety, depression, and trauma, concerns that have extremely high prevalence rates among our youth. Participants will be provided foundational professional development to understand the cognitive model, learn how to deliver CBT to individuals and in groups, employ specific CBT techniques, and design interventions that are purposeful, goal-oriented, and sensitive to change over time. Practical resources to support the application of techniques and organization of sessions will be offered as well. Our goal is to support participants in understanding what CBT is, why it is such an important and effective intervention in the school setting, and how to effectively embed this approach into your work with students. This PLC is most applicable for school mental health staff (school counselors, adjustment counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists) and administrators who support school mental health staff. Individuals and teams are both welcome. Participants are expected to attend and participate in all sessions.
Special Topics on Marginalized Populations
Wednesdays | March 6, March 13, March 27, April 3, April 10, April 24 | 1-3pm
Offered in collaboration with the Center for Child Wellbeing and Trauma (CCWT)
Thriving Minds is excited to offer a Special Topics PLC series focused on trauma-informed care for specific marginalized populations that practitioners have expressed a need for guidance in supporting. All sessions will take place from 1-3pm. Participants only need to register once to join sessions.
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Date |
Session Topic |
Presenters |
|
March 6 |
Promoting Resilience and Healthy Outcomes for LGBTQ Students |
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March 13 |
Strengths-Based Trauma-Informed Practices for Supporting Newcomer Students and their Families |
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March 27 |
Early Psychosis: Symptoms, Identification, and Treatment |
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April 3 |
Youth Impacted by the Foster Care System |
Amy Schneider and Janet Daly (HopeWell) |
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April 10 |
Developmental Childhood Trauma and Its Impact on Academic Learning and Relationship Development |
Mary-Beth Landy (Federation for Children with Special Needs) |
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April 24 |
Shutting Down the Trauma to Prison Pipeline: Early, Appropriate Care for Child-Welfare Involved Youth |
Kate Lowenstein and Leon Smith (Citizens for Juvenile Justice) |
Fellowship: Student Support Team (SST) Leaders
Thriving Minds is partnering with DESE to offer PLCs on a range of topics related to mental health and social-emotional learning.
Wednesdays | Jan. 31, Feb. 28, April 3, May 1, June 5 | 2:30-3:30pm
This fellowship is for individuals interested in building their skills to serve as mental health leaders within their schools or districts. During monthly fellowship meetings, participants will have the chance to collaborate with others in similar roles to share successful strategies, troubleshoot challenges, and identify action steps they will take before the next meeting. Fellowship sessions will be structured as highly interactive, participant-driven sessions, and they will incorporate regular check-ins with a peer group to promote community support and shared accountability. This fellowship will be specifically targeted to individuals who are responsible for convening and leading Student Support Teams (SSTs) or the equivalent within their schools. Over the next few months, we will focus on how to build team structures and facilitate effective conversations among team members. Fellows will have the chance to set and report back on their own goals for leading an SST in their setting. This PLC is designed for school-level staff who currently lead SSTs or are preparing to lead SSTs (assistant principals, school counselors, etc.). It is intended for individuals, rather than school-based teams.
Unpacking Tier I Trauma-informed Supports for Students
Offered in collaboration with the Center for Child Wellbeing and Trauma (CCWT)
Wednesdays, 7:30-8:30am | January 10, January 17, January 24, January 31, February 7, February 14, February 28, March 6
Participants will be provided with a foundational understanding of trauma and its impacts on students in the classroom, including understanding the importance of considering how dysregulated students process information and respond to stressors. The function of students' behaviors will be discussed using a trauma informed lens. Participants will be introduced to a practice guide and self-reflection tool to understand how trauma sensitive classrooms can be established to reduce retraumatization for all students. Participants will engage in a considerable amount of practice and reflection to bolster their own application of these strategies through individual and group work during the sessions.
Navigating the Effects of Vicarious Trauma
Offered in collaboration with the Center for Child Wellbeing and Trauma (CCWT)
Tuesdays, 1-2pm | January 9, January 23, January 30, February 6, February 13, February 27
For many adults, particularly those in education, the last few years have been filled with constant change, ongoing uncertainty, unspoken losses, and increases in the manifestation of intense emotions. This PLC will examine the ways in which dysregulation impacts everyday functioning and emotions. Additionally, strategies will be discussed that can help foster regulation and resilience for adults. Specifically, it will explore what lies within and outside our sphere of control/influence. Participants will have the chance to learn and apply new strategies for cultivating wellness, provide timely feedback to peers, and share learnings through active participation in discussions. After participating in these six sessions, school staff should have a greater sense of how to cultivate belonging, wellness, and connection in their school buildings or among school teams. This PLC is designed for SEL champions, school leaders, teacher leaders, administrators, and district-level coordinators. This PLC will include six sessions, alternating between in-depth Learning Sessions and interactive Application Sessions.
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