Mending Matters student leadership programs provide students with an opportunity to learn skills of responsive leadership and trauma-informed peer support. Students learn how to create and respond to a community-wide needs assessment with school-based mental health therapists.
Students’ mental health needs, engagement styles, risk factors and protective factors are rapidly changing across time, and are often specific to their school community. We are dedicated to keeping up with these changes using customizable, youth-centered, and peer-support-driven solutions.
L.I.F.E. Advisors
Mending Matters created Living Is For Everyone (L.I.F.E.) with a group of San Diego high school students in 2018 to reduce stigma around mental health conversations and resources among teens.
L.I.F.E. Advisors help us avoid one-size-fits all mental health programs by providing context to school-wide needs assessment data, and by uncovering school-site-specific needs across time.
L.I.F.E. Advisors use existing school platforms (i.e. social media pages, websites, mental health events) to share responsive mental health resources. They reflect their unique community’s identity, strengths, and engagement styles to inspire non-stigmatizing conversations about mental health.
All Mending Matters therapists are trained in L.I.F.E. facilitation, and all L.I.F.E. Advisors receive training and experience in responsive leadership practices, resource mapping and development, and mental health and civic engagement career pathways.
Peer Support & Prevention
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School-Wide Needs Assessment
The school-wide needs assessment generates a space for students to feel heard, learn ways to promote their mental wellness, and build resiliency through community. The response report reduces mental health stigma, and allows protective adults and peers to ask the right questions.
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L.I.F.E. Advisory
A group of diverse L.I.F.E. (youth) Advisors creates an engaging response report. They share important details about their community’s needs, protective factors, and cultural engagement styles.
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Mental Health Response
L.I.F.E. Advisors create mental health resources with Mending Matters to support their peers.
