Earlier this year an article titled “Interactions between youth and mental health professionals: The Youth Aware of Mental health (YAM) program experience” was published in Plos One, a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal. As YAM Instructors this article might help you make sense of some of your experiences when engaging with youth in the classrooms. As prospective YAM Instructors this paper…Continue readingThe YAM experience in Plos One
Author: Camilla
Guest blogger: Melinda Atkinson, YAM Instructor and prospective YAM Trainer writing from Australia. Last week six YAM Instructors gathered in Sydney for a two day workshop, our first step to becoming YAM Trainers. We are very grateful to Camilla, Vlad and Will for travelling such a long way to conduct this workshop. It was amazing to…Continue readingSydney Trainer Workshop
At the end of January and beginning of February we held our second course in the UK, this time in London. This was our first course in collaboration with the Department for Education and the Anna Freud Centre. The week was filled of important discussions pertaining to how to invite youth to take center stage in…Continue readingInstructor Course: London
In early December eight YAM trainers from Sweden and the US traveled to Sydney to hold two parallel instructor courses. A total of 32 new instructors from New South Wales and other parts of the country were trained in collaboration with the Black Dog Institute. YAM in Australia is growing fast and here are some pictures…Continue reading32 new Australian YAM Instructors
Guest bloggers: Amanda Löwemo Nordanhag and Beatrice Johansson, YAM Trainers and Instructors. In mid July, 2017, the two of us participated in a two-day YAM Trainer workshop in Stockholm. We learned about the YAM programme in depth and how best to train new Instructors. We are very excited and proud to be certified YAM trainers!…Continue readingReport from the field: new YAM Trainers
Recruitment of YAM Instructors largely depends on location and context, but here are some thoughts from us on what makes a good YAM Instructor (in addition to completing the course and having lots and lots of practice in the field). Although the YAM Instructor Course prepares participants, there are several advantages to finding the right persons…Continue readingWhat makes a good YAM Instructor?
In September, a group of new YAM Instructors were trained by by our Dallas Trainers, Jenny Hughes, Luis Gutierrez, and Amanda Frederick. The course was held at the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care at UT Southwestern and from what we heard it was filled of discussion and fun role-play moments – and a YAMazing cake too. YAM in Texas is growing…Continue readingNew Dallas YAM Instructors
We recently completed two weeks of Instructor Courses in Sydney, Australia in collaboration with the Black Dog Institute. YAM is being implemented across multiple schools to Year 9 students in New South Wales as part of the Black Dog LifeSpan initiative. The NSW Department of Education will be in charge of delivery of YAM in public schools and…Continue readingYAM in Australia
Guest blogger: Kemal Demirtas, coordinator of YAM data collection In late August 2016, we began collecting data in the Stockholm study to continue our quest to better understand how YAM works. Questions include whether YAM increases well-being, improves peer-to-peer relations and the classroom climate, decreases the risk for mental health problems and/or reduces suicidal behavior. To…Continue readingData collection in Stockholm schools
We are happy to announce seven new YAM Trainers, the first in the USA. Amanda Frederick, Luis Gutierrez, Jenny Gorsegner, Jenny Hughes, Tom Shawl, Kathy Shea and Larry Woolf are now certified YAM Trainers! A YAM Trainer is different from the YAM Instructor who facilitate YAM with youth in the classrooms and beyond. The Trainers…Continue readingFirst US YAM Trainers