EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) – Adolescent mental health is a top priority for the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire continuing education programs.
Professor Michael Axelrod, who directs the Center for Human Development at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, hosted a two-day workshop to teach licensed therapists, county juvenile detention officials and special education teachers how to understand adolescent mental health.
His class was about common stressors that lead to anxiety, depression and mental disorders.
Axelrod said there is a lot of negative attention focused on being a teenager and how they are perceived by others. “Teenagers get a bad rap. There’s an old saying, ‘teenagers these days,’ and that bad rap is contagious,” he said.
The entire workshop began with Axelrod realizing there were disparities in mental health among children, adolescents and adults.
“This started with some observations about the need for more focused mental health interventions. What I saw was that there were gaps in the mental health services being provided to teenagers,” he added.
Bonnie Baskett Harvey, continuing education program manager at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, said there are positive ways the workshop can benefit the Eau Claire community.
“I hope they bring home new ways to help the clients and families that they serve. They focus on working with not only families but the individual teens that they work with, and they bring those tools back and share them,” Baskett Harvey said.
The goal of the workshop is to equip them with what they learn so they can take it back to the workplace and help youth with their mental health and avoid negative behaviors.
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