If you’re hurt or sick, your first instinct is to seek out help via a nurse, doctor or other health professionals. Why wouldn’t you do the same to maintain your mental health?
In an ever-changing world, mental health awareness has become a crucial part of everyday life. This applies to adults as well as students, who have to juggle the stresses of growing up along with their daily responsibilities at school and at home.
But mental health hasn’t always been a priority for many people, either because of the stigma behind pursuing help or because they lack those resources altogether. Both of these challenges are at the top of mind for the many health professionals at Henrico County Public Schools who are trying to keep students mentally and emotionally strong as they grow and learn.
“The message needs to be that mental health is just as important as physical health, and the two are so closely related that we can’t focus on physical health and neglect mental health,” said Jessica Fisher, a school counselor at Gayton Elementary School.
Counselors like Fisher are among the growing network of mental health resources available to students at HCPS. Based on a state program, HCPS utilizes a multitiered system of support that aims to address any wellness needs of a student, whether those needs are mental, emotional or behavioral.
The multitiered system creates an infrastructure that allows students to pursue help at their schools and allows specialists at these schools to collaborate with other professionals to work together toward a solution – leaving no student seeking care with a dead end for treatment.
“I think being able to provide mental health support in our schools has really helped our students not be so scared to get that counseling support,” said Rebekah Goehler, a social worker at Varina Elementary, Mehfoud Elementary and the Virginia Randolph Education Center.
Understanding the problem
School nurses can often be the first to see and treat students when they are undergoing mental health challenges because of how it impacts their physical health. Intense anxiety and stress can lead to stomach pain, dizziness and shortness of breath – as well as other serious physical ailments – and nurses are vital in diagnosing those problems and how to address them.
Sometimes it can be working with others in the building to try to address the greater scope of a student’s problems. But other times the solution can be as simple as giving a student the space to breathe or the comfort to calm down. Highland Springs High School nurse Cathy Rosenbaum has experienced the value of a personal connection when students are in crisis.
“I had a student come in … I made eye contact with her, and she was just distant. And I literally just grabbed her and hugged her. And she just sobbed on my shoulder for 5 or 10 minutes,” Rosenbaum said. “I gave her all the time she needed just to stand there and cry.”
Current students face many obstacles growing up that their parents or family members might not have experienced during their own upbringings. In 2023, many students have been engaged on various social media platforms for years and years – some of them for nearly their entire lives.
According to a 2016 survey by the nonprofit organization Common Sense Media, the average child signs up for a social media account for the first time at age 12.6, despite the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act making 13 the minimum age to sign up. More recent data from Common Sense Media suggests students continue to use social media platforms more every year, with teens and tweens increasing daily screen time by 17% from 2019 to 2021.
While the positive use of social media connects students to friends and family, it can also exacerbate the daily pressures of life and schooling. Students can be dramatically impacted by things said or seen online, whether it’s a form of cyberbullying or just gauging their self-worth based on what others are doing.
The pandemic has also made a significant impact on many students, especially those who returned to a new environment or school after a period of virtual learning and minimal peer interaction.
“We have a bunch of kids who haven’t consistently been in school up until this year,” said Fisher, “so they don’t really know how to get along, they don’t know how to communicate effectively, then all of these issues are heightening their anxiety.”
Collaborative support
At Varina Elementary, Goehler has built a space that serves her mission of promoting mental health and wellness. She has a full classroom filled with open space and calming activities, such as a sandbox or giant teddy bear, for the elementary school students who need time to decompress.
You can also find calming kits in classrooms across Varina Elementary, each containing trinkets and activities, as well as an outdoor space that was recently renovated to be another calming space. As a school social worker, she loves using these types of hands-on techniques for managing stress and discomfort.
Also in her classroom is a table where she meets with a handful of other school-based mental health professionals every week to go over strategies for certain students who are looking for help. This group includes VREC counselor Katherine Villacorta, Varina Elementary psychologist Arayana Harris and Katelyn Preas, a school-based mental health clinician with Henrico County’s Mental Health and Developmental Services – among others.
“It’s not just one person,” Goehler said. “When we work in that team approach, families get all the support they need.”
This group is a microcosm of the tiered structure of support: Goehler can work with others within HCPS to address a problem and even refer to a specialist, such as Preas, working with the school system.
Preas’ presence with HCPS is funded by a three-year grant through the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. It allows her to consult with Goehler and the others at HCPS and also work directly with students within the school, while giving them and their families options for care that aren’t limited by the schools’ walls.
“Now I have somebody I can personally consult with and say, you know, the family’s not necessarily looking for individual mental health treatment in the school setting, however, maybe the parents are looking for things,” Villacorta said. “Having that consultation lens has been instrumental, and I feel more confident when I’m able to communicate with parents. …
”That’s a beautiful bridge to services.”
Students seek care for many, many reasons – ranging from minor hurdles to life-altering issues – meaning a one-size-fits-all approach is going to fall short of meeting their needs. Having extra professionals with different specialties, training and experiences around makes problems significantly easier to solve.
“Our students have very diverse backgrounds, so having a diverse team helps us support them,” Harris said.
Breaking the stigma
Henrico County Public Schools continues to build up its resources and connections in order to meet the growing needs for mental health care, but as important as having resources is making sure they are utilized.
The first piece of that puzzle is making sure students and families know these resources and people exist in their schools. During Mental Health Awareness Month in May, HCPS teamed up with local organizations to host a series of workshops that addressed topics such as gender identity, grief, depression and anxiety. Staff members across HCPS also reach out within schools so that students and families know they’re there to help.
“You can’t utilize a resource unless you know it’s there,” Rosenbaum said. “If you don’t know what resources are available to you, think of what you’re missing.”
But the other piece of that puzzle is getting students to use these resources, even if they know they are there. The stigma of mental health has always been a barrier to pursuing help – this extends to parents as well.
Some may not understand what their children are experiencing or feel threatened by the possibility of talking to a social worker or mental health specialist.
What’s the ultimate key to breaking the stigma? Trust.
“It’s helping students and families to understand you’re not weak if you ask for help,” Goehler said.
Said Fisher: “If the parents don’t trust you, you’re not going to get very far. … So it’s really important that the parents know we have their child’s best interests at heart and that we’re doing it in a non-judgmental way because when they feel judged, they’re less likely to work with you.”
If a student is in need of counseling or care, HCPS has online resources that can help provide support or point them in the right direction, both in and out of school. It also contains contact information for all of the staff members who are ready to lend a helping hand when students need it the most.
Said Preas: “When you get to celebrate the joy of a kid being a kid and just seeing them have fun and be themselves, there’s such joy in that.”
For more:
- HCPS Student Support and Wellness
- Community Mental Heath Resources
- Bridge Builders Academy: "Beyond the Classroom" sessions
- Henrico HEROES mentoring program
- Family & Educator Resource Center
- Henrico County Mental Health & Developmental Services
Dylan Garner is a communications specialist with Henrico County Public Schools. He can be reached by email at cdgarner@henrico.k12.va.us.