Module: 4.5.2 Exploring Protective Factors for Children and Youth Mental Health Wellness
During module, participants will understand the importance of protective factors and how their practices in program support the mental health and wellness of youth by building protective factors.
This module was developed as a part of the OST Wellness Network.
In this training, participants will:
- Explore how OST programs and staff can strengthen protective factors for children and youth impacted by trauma
- Understand how positive child and youth development principles connect to successful trauma-informed and healing centered practices
- Identify connection between practices in program and supporting mental health for children and youth
Content Overview:
Challenging My Thinking
Participants will practice using their interpretation skills and understand people can interpret one thing in different ways.
Building Protective Factors
Participants will learn what protective factors are, engage in some self-reflection around how they model and support social-emotional learning skills of young people in their program. Social-emotion learning skills are protective factors that support a young person’s well-being and mental health.
What Makes a Protective Factor
Participants will learn different components to building protective factors and connect them to the practices they implement in their program.
Protective Factor Continuum
Using the Protective Factor Continuum, participants review the strategies that build protective factors, give examples, and provide instances when they have used various strategies. Participants use scenarios to think through situations and their response. This activity gets participants thinking about how they can use these strategies alone or in tandem to support protective factors.
Training Length: 2 hours