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Circle of Support: Counseling and Wellness Resources for the Menlo Community

Developing Human Wellness for Life

Crisis Support

  • 24/7 Suicide Hotline: 800-273-TALK (8255)
  • Crisis text line: Text HELLO to 741741
  • National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE (4673)
  • Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386:  the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer,  and questioning (LGBTQ) young people
  • Menlo Cares: Confidential meal support to members of the Menlo School Community in the event of a major illness, loss of an immediate family member, or change in family circumstance.
  • Additional crisis resources here.

In the spirit of connection and support, Menlo’s counseling team offers a robust collection of mental health and wellness resources.

Our hope is to provide a wide range of material to read, watch, and listen to so that you can engage with what resonates most with you and your family.

As we re-emerge into a new “normal” from the aftereffects of the pandemic, we continue to see resiliency and positivity as well as a new form of life management that is marked by ongoing re-entry challenges. More than ever, it is vital for us to positively connect with, support, and show up for one another. Life challenges bring the power and importance of genuine human connection and meaningful relationships into sharp focus and provide an opportunity for us to celebrate our shared humanity. Whether you’re seeking balance, insight, community, or support as you work to find your way through these unprecedented times or a difficulty that is more personal, we’re here and look forward to connecting.

Resources

BROAD MENTAL HEALTH & WELLNESS

• The Science of Human Connection and Wellness in a Digitally Connected World
•  Challenge Success Parenting Tips/Raising Well-Balanced Kids
•  Family Conflict is Normal; It’s the Repair That Matters
•  When Should You Come Between a Teenager and Her Phone?
•  Mental Health Disorders and Teen Substance Use
•  Mood, Anxiety, and Trauma-Related Disorders Fact Sheet
•  Teen Suicides: What Are the Risk Factors?
•  Bridging Differences
•  Good genes are nice, but joy is better: Harvard study, almost 80 years old, has proved that embracing community helps us live longer, and be happier
•  Panic Attacks and How to Treat Them
•  How to Help a Loved One With Disordered Eating
•  Coming Out: A Handbook for LGBTQ Young People
•  A Guide to Being an Ally to Transgender and Nonbinary Youth
•  Helping Teenagers Cope with Grief
•  Helping Students Through a Period of Grief
• 10 Strategies to Build Your Anxiety Toolkit

 

RACE & RACISM

• Antiracist Resources to use with 6th to 12th graders
• Supporting Kids Of Color in The Wake of Racialized Violence: Part One
•  Supporting Kids Of Color Amid Racialized Violence: Part Two
• “I [STILL] can’t breathe”: Supporting kids of color amid racialized violence
• Managing Racial Stress: Guidance For Parents
• 10 tips for teaching and talking to kids about race
• What is “The Talk” White parents should have with White children?
• “Rays of Hope”: Supporting the leadership & activism of our young people
• Unlocking the Potential of Parents to Work for Equity
• “Mommying While Muslim”: Raising Healthy Muslim Children in a Post-9/11 World
• Nurturing Resilience in a World of Racial Aggression and Violence

BOOKS ON PARENTING & WELLNESS

• The Scaffold Effect: Raising Resilient, Self-Reliant and Secure Kids in the Age of Anxiety, Harold Koplewicz, MD
• How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare  Your Kid for Success, Julie Lythcott-Haims  
• The Power of Showing Up: How Parental Presence Shapes Who Our Kids Become and How Their Brains Get Wired, Daniel J. Siegel MD and Tina Payne Bryson PhD 
•  When the World Feels Like a Scary Place: Essential Conversations for Anxious Parents and Worried Kids, Abigail Gewirtz 
• Ready or Not: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Uncertain and Rapidly Changing World, Madeline Levine PhD 
• Decoding Boys: New Science Behind the Subtle Art of Raising Sons, Cara Natterson 
• Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls, Lisa Damour PhD

TED TALKS

• How to Raise Successful Kids Without Over Parenting: Julie Lythcott Haims
• The Danger of a Single Story: Chimamanda Adichie

PODCASTS

Greater Good Science Center Podcasts: The Science of Happiness. What does it take to live a happier life? Learn research-tested strategies that you can put into practice today. Hosted by award-winning psychologist Dacher Keltner. Co-produced by PRX and UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. 
Sample Episodes include: How to Switch Off Your Critics; Helping Kids Think About the Good; Staying Close While Physical Distancing; From Othering to Belonging; A Cure for Loneliness; How to Reconnect with Your Partner; Do You Want to be More Patient? and more.

 Parent School with Polly Ely, MFT: With compassion and a judgment-free delivery, Polly Ely guides parents through the twists and turns of parenting at every age and stage, teaching them (often through stories of her own fumbles) HOW to be in charge and be relaxed at the same time. She writes and speaks as a supportive ally to parents and partners, naming and normalizing the sometimes harrowing journey of parenting and giving parents actual routes out of the places where they feel lost. 
Sample Episodes include: Hierarchy: Recognize When It’s Flipped, Learn To Get Back on Top; Worry Love: How Our Protective Instincts Can Make Children Chronically Anxious; The Power of 15: A Simple Tool for Family Connection; Lyin’ Cheatin’ & Stealin’: Looking at the Bigger Picture When Truth Goes Off Track; Prioritizing Partnerships: Who Comes First, and more.

Flusterclux With Lynn Lyons: For Parents Who Worry: Lynn Lyons, therapist, author, and speaker, is an expert on helping parents, kids, and teens manage anxiety. She advises parents on how to better manage their worry and big feelings so they are modeling healthy emotional awareness. In each episode, Lynn answers listener questions and gives parents strategies for developing the traits that are their kids’ best defenses against anxiety and depression later in life: flexibility, resilience, autonomy, and problem solving. 
Sample Episodes include: Holiday Grief From COVID Chaos: A Pep Talk; Social Anxiety, Teens, And A Pandemic; Unpacking your family’s baggage about anger, grief, and worry; Reassurance Traps: How to Know When Anxiety Is In Control; What I Wish Everyone Knew About Gratitude, and more.

 The Power of Showing Up: How Parental Presence Shapes Who Our Kids Become and How Their Brains Get Wired: One of the very best scientific predictors for how any child turns out—in terms of happiness, academic success, leadership skills, and meaningful relationships—is whether at least one adult in their life has consistently shown up for them. In an age of scheduling demands and digital distractions, showing up for your child might sound like a tall order. But as bestselling authors Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson reassuringly explain, it doesn’t take a lot of time, energy, or money. Instead, showing up means offering a quality of presence. And it’s simple to provide once you understand the four building blocks of a child’s healthy development.

ORGANIZATIONS

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: AACAP Resource Centers empower consumers through patient education. They contain consumer-friendly definitions, answers to frequently asked questions, clinical resources, expert videos, and abstracts from the JAACAP, scientific proceedings, and facts for families relevant to each disorder.

Challenge Success Parent Resources: Through parent education courses, workshops, and videos, parents benefit from hearing university-based research translated into practical, everyday strategies that they can use to help guide their parenting behavior and raise kids who will thrive.

Children’s Health Council: Wide range of psychological services and supports for families and young children through young adults.

Child Mind Institute: An independent, national nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders, Child Mind Institute works to deliver the highest standards of care, advance the science of the developing brain, and empower parents, professionals, and policymakers to support children when and where they need it most.

Embrace Race: As US racial divisions and inequities grow sharper and more painful, the work of envisioning and creating systems of authentic racial inclusion and belonging in the United States remains a work in progress. Embrace Race believes that reversing the trend must begin in our homes, schools, and communities with our children’s hearts and minds.

Caminar Mental Health: A nonprofit, community-based agency that has been empowering and supporting individuals and families to move toward resilience, wellness, and independence for more than 50 years, Caminar delivers high-quality prevention, treatment, and recovery services to those with complex mental health, substance use, and co-occurring needs. 

Greater Good Science Center: The Greater Good Science Center studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being and teaches skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society.

Common Sense Media: Common Sense Media is a leading source of entertainment, literature, and technology recommendations for families. Parents find guidance and comfort in the expert reviews and objective advice.

Facing History and Ourselves: Facing History and Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate.

The Counseling Team