You’ve given your child the supplies they need as they head back to school — book bags, notebooks, pens and pencils — but have you given them the coping skills they need to handle things like anxiety, bullying, depression or suicidal thoughts?
“We want our young people to start the school year in the most healthy way they can,” said therapist Brendalan Jackson, Chief Mental Health Officer at the Greater Washington Urban League (GWUL).
Jackson said when a child is dealing with anxiety or depression, they may not have the language to describe it.
All they may know is, “something is going on in my body, but I don’t know how to talk about it,” Jackson told WTOP.
That’s why the GWUL said it is offering 15-minute “Ask-A-Therapist” counseling services to families this year at its “12th Annual Health & Wellness Back 2 School Festival,” on Saturday, Aug. 24, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Jackson said licensed counseling professionals will be on hand to work with children, helping them develop good coping skills, understand what’s going on and why they’re going through what they’re going through.
The GWUL is also working with parents, in an aim to connect them with the appropriate counseling services after their session.
“We make sure that our families feel comfortable,” she said. “We make sure that they understand whatever you’re going through, we’re here to take that journey with you.”
In addition to the “Ask-A-Therapist” services, the organization will be easing the burden of back-to-school costs for parents by providing backpacks filled with essential supplies, a health and wellness pavilion offering vaccinations courtesy of Giant Food, a book fair in partnership with Sankofa Books and a Black Brilliance Marketplace showcasing D.C.-area Black-owned businesses.
The organization said it is also partnering with Second Baptist Church Southwest in District Heights, Maryland, located at at 5501 Silver Hill Road, where the fair will take place, to service the roughly 1,000 students expected to attend the event.
Participants interested in an “Ask-A-Therapist” session must sign up ahead of time at GWUL.org.
