Picture from Catholic Charaties Diocese of Sioux City Facebook page
Catholic Charities Diocese of Sioux City and St. Anthony Regional Hospital are partnering to offer a new educational support group to help teens regarding their mental health. Teen Talk will be a free group session for 9-12 grade students in Carroll and surrounding areas to help reduce the stigma and develop skills to improve mental well-being. Alex Gilland, the emergency department social worker at St. Anthony, will help facilitate the support group, saying this program aims to address common trends in the community involving teens’ mental health.
Whitney Cue, tLMHC, CADC, and Tina Zanders, LMSW from Catholic Charities will be the main facilitators for the sessions. They will provide educational resources and allow teens to discuss topics and challenges they are facing openly. Cue says that with the increasing statistics of more teens being diagnosed or reporting struggles with mental health, the sessions can be used as a prevention tool to assist teens through some difficult times.
This six-week series will be held on Wednesdays at St. Anthony Regional Hospital, in the St. Rose room on the main floor by the cafeteria. Cue says the sessions will be from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and the grant will cover a bonus for those who attend.
Those interested in registering a 9-12 grade student for the free Teen Talk sessions can do so by emailing info@cathchar.com or calling 712-252-4547. Again, Teen Talk will start this Wednesday, June 19, with sessions every Wednesday for six weeks. Catholic Charities and St. Anthony Regional Hospital hope to be able to offer more free services like this, with additional programs already in the works for later this year.
