Monthly Resources – January 2023
Published December 13, 2022
Mental Health & High School Curriculum Guide
Mental Health Literacy provides, FREE of charge, a curriculum for 9th and 10th grade students to learn mental health concepts and vocabulary. The curriculum includes pre- and post-tests, lesson plans, slides, handouts and videos, as well as a Teacher Knowledge Update section.
This curriculum concentrates on four components of mental health literacy:
- Understanding how to optimize and maintain good mental health
- Understanding mental disorders and their treatments
- Decreasing Stigma
- Enhancing help-seeking efficacy (knowing when and where to get help and having the skills necessary to promote self-care and how to obtain good care)
Should time for teaching mental health literacy be limited, each module could be taught within a fifty-minute class period. However, the rich resources are more than adequate to use over a longer period of time. Although no training is required to use the curriculum, our Managing Director, Shelley Seslar, is able to provide training for educators who desire it.
Mental Health Literacy Pyramid Explained
In addition to explaining the depiction of mental health using a pyramid, this video also assures us that working through ordinary stressors helps us to develop resilience.
Another option is to enroll in TEACH Mental Health Literacy – Free Online Course from the University of British Columbia. Those who exercise this option will notice minor differences between the (original) Canadian implementation and the Washington State adaptation.
Anyone may download the Mental Health & High School Curriculum Guide: Understanding Mental Health and Mental Illness, Version 3 (USA Edition: Washington State). The password needed to access the modules is located on the title page (PDF page 2). All of the videos can be accessed at MHLiteracy YouTube Channel.
The Elementary Mental Health Literacy Curriculum is currently in a piloting phase and is expected to be ready for widespread use by the end of June 2023.
For students in Grade 12 and those who support them, a wonderful curriculum called Know Before You Go, a Know Before You Go Teacher’s Guide and Companion Slides for introducing the first chapter are all available.