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January 24, 2018 By Sandra Schmahl, SAP

All of us will experience anxiety; learn how to cope.

We all experience anxiety, learn how to cope.

Managing the “Anx”

Everyone experiences some form of anxiety at some level in their life. It is even more common during adolescence, because so many changes are taking place in their mind, their body, and their emotions.

STARS Student Assistance Program Counselors work with adolescents, who are dealing with various forms of anxiety, to teach young adults coping skills to prevent and handle their anxiety. It is important to keep in mind that if your child is dealing with anxiety it is not a sign of poor parenting skills. One of the most helpful things to do is to build a support system for yourself and child.
Here are things you can do at home to help your child manage anxiety disorders:
• Pay attention to your child’s feelings.
• Stay calm when your child becomes anxious about a situation or event.
• Recognize and praise small accomplishments.
• Don’t punish mistakes or lack of progress.
• Be flexible, but try to maintain a normal routine.
• Modify expectations during stressful periods.
• Plan for transitions (For example, allow extra time in the morning if getting to school is difficult).

STARS Counselors help be a part of that support system across Middle Tennessee, hear from them how they are helping young adults learn coping skills to  prevent and manage their anxiety.

Looking for more resources?

Check out ADAA for more helpful ways to manage anxiety.

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Filed Under: Student Assistance Program

October 4, 2017 By Sandra Schmahl

The Emotional Wellness Checklist

How often do you do a self-check of your emotional well-being? Do you put as much emphasis on your emotional wellness as you do your physical wellness? For the majority of people, the answer is no. We all tend to put our emotional wellbeing on the back burner. If you cut yourself, you put a band-aid on, if you feel under the weather, you go to the doctor. However, so often, when we are feeling emotionally drained we do nothing. Your emotional well-being is just as important as your physical well-being, some would say even more. Being aware of what you are feeling can help you channel those emotions. Achieving emotional balance leads to all around better health.

Achieving Emotional Wellness Balance
Here are a few ways to become emotionally balanced:
1. Manage Stress. Stress can damage both your physical and emotional well-being. Find an outlet to manage your stress. For some, physical activity such as walking, biking, running are ways to alleviate daily stress. Others use mindfulness techniques, journaling, or reading to help manage their stress levels.
2. Seek balance. We are often pulled in many different directions every day. Maintain a healthy balance when setting goals and responsibilities. Don’t over commit. Being overwhelmed hinders focus and productivity, which leads to burn-out. Most importantly set aside time for yourself.
3. Get enough sleep. Sleep is the foundation for maintaining both physical and emotional health. It allows your body time to rejuvenate!

Why is it so important to be emotionally healthy?
People with good emotional health:
• Maintain a healthy balance between leisure time, family, and work
• Feel good about them
• Are able to accept change
• Enjoy life
• Have less stress, and are better equipped to deal with stress
• Maintain healthy relationships
• Are content with their lives

Filed Under: Student Assistance Program

September 29, 2017 By Jenna Monforte, LMSW

We need to talk about suicide.

 Did you know that Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24?

Source: 2015 CDC WISQARS

More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, COMBINED.

“Each day in our nation, there are over 5,000 suicide attempts by young people grades 7-12.”
Source: The Jason Foundation

These staggering statistics emphasize the importance of talking to your teenagers about suicide.
Know the warning signs and how to have conversations with your teens.

“Four out of Five teens who attempt suicide have given clear warning signs.”
Source: The Jason Foundation

Warning Signs:

  • Talking about wanting to die or to kill themselves
  • Looking for a way to kill themselves, like searching online or buying a gun
  • Talking about feeling hopeless or having no reason to live
  • Talking about feeling trapped or in unbearable pain
  • Talking about being a burden to others
  • Increased use of alcohol or drugs
  • Acting anxious or agitated
  • Behaving recklessly
  • Sleeping too little or too much
  • Withdrawing or isolating themselves
  • Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge
  • Extreme mood swings

Source: Suicide Prevention Lifeline 

If your child is exhibiting any of the warning signs, it is important to talk to them and point out the behaviors in a non-judgmental way. Do not be afraid to ask, “Are you thinking about killing yourself?”

If Suicidal Ideation is Present:

  • Options for getting a suicidal assessment:
    • Go to your nearest Emergency Room
    • Go to a mental health treatment center
    • Call Mobile Crisis Services:
      • Youth Villages (866-791-9222)

Important Information for the Home if suicide ideation is present or has been in the past:

  • Remove all sharp objects (knives, scissors, and razors etc.)
    • You may also lock them up instead of removing them if your teenager cannot access them.
  • The suicidal teenager should not be left alone for any reason.

If Suicidal Ideation is Not Present but has been in the Past:

  • Encourage your teenager to talk to a counselor.
  • To find a counselor:
    • The counselors at school, the school social worker, or your pediatrician can give you names of counselors that fit your teenager’s signs and symptoms.

Hotline Numbers to Keep in Mind:

    • Crisis CALL Lines:
      • National Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
      • TN Statewide Crisis Line: 855-274-7471
      • Vanderbilt Crisis Line: 615-327-7000
    • Crisis TEXT Lines:
      • Text START to 741-741
      • Centerstone Crisis Text Line: 844-899-TEXT (8398)

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Filed Under: Student Assistance Program

April 5, 2017 By Sandra Schmahl, SAP

Smoking is still an issue for our youth.

Smoking is still an issue for our youth.

Smoking: Yes, we’re still talking about it. 

Here’s why, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, “Approximately 4.7 million middle and high school students were current tobacco users in 2015″. That’s just far too many young people in our books.

Although tobacco use by adolescents has declined substantially in the past 40 years, nearly one in 17 high school seniors was a daily smoker in 2015 (www.hhs.gov).  Smoking damages nearly every organ in the body. Research also shows that adolescent smokers are more likely to engage in other unhealthy behaviors, such as physical violence, marijuana use, and binge drinking.

We want to make sure our young adults are starting their adult lives in health both physically and mentally. We believe the best way to help our young adults make the best choices is through education.

Sumner County STARS Student Assistance Program Counselors work with their Peer Leaders to facilitate sessions at TAATU, Teens Against Alcohol and Tobacco Use, for middle school students in Sumner County.  TAATU is a prevention program designed to give 6th-grade students information about the health risks and long-term consequences of alcohol and tobacco use. We hope giving youth all the information and tools they need it will help them make smart and healthy decisions.

Listen how our counselors across Middle Tennessee are helping educate our young people about the negative outcomes of smoking and alcohol use.

Parents: Tell us how you’re educating your kids about the risks associated with smoking.

Help STARS continue our vital work by becoming a monthly donor or making a one-time donation.

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Filed Under: Student Assistance Program

March 28, 2017 By Andrew Maraniss

Andrew Maraniss on Race

The other day I was scanning Twitter and ran across a provocative thread of posts from an attorney, librarian and writer named April Hathcock.

“Ok, friends,” she wrote, “We’re going to stop talking about “diversity & inclusion” when what we’re really talking about is race, racism, and whiteness … We’re going to stop talking about “diversity & inclusion” when what we’re really talking about is queer hate, trans hate, heteronormativity…We’re going to be intentional about the oppression and violence about which we speak. We’re going to be intersectional but also specific … We’ve been using intersectionality as an excuse to use feel good euphemisms. We’re going to stop doing that.”

I was intrigued by April’s reframing of the subject because not only does it appeal to the activists among us, in its specificity it can be used to disarm the cynic who dismisses diversity and inclusion efforts as unnecessary, liberal, PC mumbo jumbo. Let’s get real, April is saying.

In 2014, I published a book called STRONG INSIDE, a biography of Perry Wallace, the first African-American basketball player in the Southeastern Conference. Wallace played at Vanderbilt University in the late 1960s, and as he made history on the basketball courts of the Deep South, Wallace feared for his life. He’d ask himself what’s the worst that could happen, and in his mind, he imagined being shot and killed somewhere like Starkville, Mississippi or Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he was routinely harassed by fans with threats with lynching or castration. Back on his own campus in Nashville, Wallace was kicked out of a white church, his best friend was addressed by the N-word on his first day of English class.

A few months ago, I converted STRONG INSIDE into a young readers’ edition, aimed at kids 10 and older. With concern over the sensitivities of some readers (or more accurately, their parents), I debated how much of the derogatory language to keep in this condensed version of the book. In the end, I opted to keep all of it. The truly offensive thing, I decided, would be to whitewash history and let the racists off the hook by sanitizing their words, and in so doing minimizing the hostility and discrimination Wallace encountered and so courageously overcame.

So, I appreciate that this isn’t international diversity day. It’s the International Day for the Elimination of Racism and Discrimination. And this year’s theme isn’t “Celebrate (Insert Diverse Name Here) Culture Day.” Rather, the theme is “Racial profiling and incitement to hatred, including in the context of migration.”
This is the kind of real language April Hathcock was calling for. And a reminder that sometimes being careful about the language we use means telling it like it is, not cleaning it up.

About the Author

Andrew Maraniss Headshot Andrew Maraniss is the New York Times-bestselling author of STRONG INSIDE. The original, adult version of the book received the Lillian Smith Book Award for civil rights and the RFK Book Awards’ Special Recognition Prize for social justice. The Young Readers edition has been named one of the Top 10 Biographies for Youth by the American Library Association’s Booklist.

Follow Andrew on Twitter @trublu24, and visit his website at www.andrewmaraniss.com

Strong Inside Cover
Order his book!

Filed Under: Awareness, Kids on the Block, MOVE2STAND, Services for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Student Assistance Program, Youth Overcoming Drug Abuse (YODA)

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STARS does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, culture, religion or creed, socioeconomic status, language, age, sexual orientation, or national origin. No one shall be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any of STARS’ programs or activities. STARS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

This agency is funded, in part, by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, the Tennessee Department of Education and by the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. This project is funded under a grant contract with the State of Tennessee.
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