Post from Mental Health Initiative Germany
During seven days in October 2023, 16 nearly strangers came together in Munich, united by one mission: to become part of the YAM family and plant “mental health seeds” among German youth as YAM Instructors.
34 Certified YAM Instructors
Our trainers, Frieda, Jacqueline, Kathy, and Sanna from MHiM (Mental Health in Mind) guided us through an intense week. A week filled with laughter, enthusiasm, and many flashbacks to ourselves as 15-year-olds, leaving us connected, well-prepared, and ready to roll in the classroom.
Together with 18 YAM Instructors who received their certification in October 2022 we are now a team of 34 YAM Instructors in Germany.
YAMing in Germany
Germany is one of the newer YAM sites. The first YAM sessions were delivered in classrooms at the end of 2022, just two years after the founding of the Mental Health Initiative, which is responsible for the implementation of YAM in Germany. The Mental Health Initiative is a German social impact start-up based in Munich, committedto promoting a society in which the mental health and well-being of all persons are strengthened sustainably across the entire lifespan.
During the initial school year of introducing YAM in German classrooms, we successfully reached over 700 young individuals in Munich. We are now eager to expand our reach to even more students in this region.
We are also thrilled that three new YAM Instructors from Berlin have been certified during the training in October, and that there will soon be a second YAM location in Berlin, Germany.
The YAM community in Germany is expanding and we are proud to be YAMing, too!
(Big thank you to Kathy, for introducing this YAM pun to us)