JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022

January 2022 marks the eighteenth annual National Stalking Awareness Month (NSAM), an annual call to action to recognize and respond to the serious crime of stalking. To honor NSAM 2022, Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC) encourages you to Learn, Teach, Share, and Reflect with the resources below. Not sure where to begin? Check out their Action Guide, To Do List, and Community Pledge to get started!

In this interactive workshop, parents and caregivers will review ways to understand what your child is communicating through their behavior. Identifying and assessing the function of behavior is critical to finding the most effective strategies for interventions. Registration is required via this link; a link to the workshop will be sent on the day of the presentation.

The FORT is a place for teens to connect, make friends, be themselves without pressure, and participate in workshops that help them deal with the stresses of everyday life. This month you may select 2 out of 4 workshops (Vision Boards, Nutrition, Murals, and Signs of Stress with Canines). The January workshop will take place at InMed Partnership for Children (21630 Ridgetop Circle Suite 130, Sterling, VA 20166) from 1-4pm. The cost to participate is $25. Learn more and register here.

FORTitude for Parents is an online discussion series where mental health professionals and wellness experts provide parents with resources and guidance on how to better understand, support and improve their relationship with their teens. Every month, cover a topic relevant to our current environment and engage in a Q&A session with an expert panel. Questions can be submitted in advance through the registration process or real time during the program. Mental health experts and teens are also welcome to attend.

Teens today are under pressure from school, social media, parents. Parents are also feeling pressure. We want our kids to have more, do more, achieve more than we did. We’re constantly reminded on social media of how much other kids have achieved but is this an accurate representation? As parents, are we holding our kids to unachievable standards? Are we creating more pressure than necessary? Join Dr. Cam Caswell and Casey Sarafinas, LPC, to discuss the importance of setting realistic goals with (and for) our kids and how average may not be such a bad thing. Register here.

The LCPS Department of Student Services is pleased to host the 4th Annual Mental Health & Wellness Conference (Navigating the Path to Student Wellness). Sessions will focus on topics including: anxiety, suicide prevention, social media, LCPS and community programs and resources, and much more. All sessions will be virtual and this is a free event for parents and community members: register here.

Beloved Yoga in Reston is offering a four-week series of yoga sessions specifically for teens ages 13-18 who are ready to experience inner strength, calm, confidence, and compassion. Participants can choose between the online or in-person series. Class run from 4:30 to 5:30 PM on Sundays as noted. Cost is $40.

Every February, young people and their loved ones join together across the country for a national effort to raise awareness about the issue of teen dating violence through Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM). This annual, month-long push focuses on advocacy and education to stop dating abuse before it starts. The theme for TDVAM 2022 is Talk About It, a call to action to young people and those who support them to engage in meaningful conversations about healthy relationships and navigate what may be unhealthy or even abusive.

To learn more about healthy relationships and how to support someone who may be struggling with dating abuse, please visit Love is Respect and Teen Dating Violence for information and resources.

National School Counseling Week, sponsored by the American School Counseling Association (ASCA), highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. National School Counseling Week is always celebrated the first full week in February. This year's theme is: Better Together. Visit the ASCA website to see their lineup of events for the week, and be sure to check out NSCW events and activities here at DHS. Remember to thank your school counselor!

FORTitude teen workshops use evidence-led best practices in mindfulness and positive psychology to help teens ages 13-18 develop a positive sense of identity and well-being. This four-week series will focus on individual awareness, acceptance, and purpose. In order to fully benefit, it is recommended that participants complete all four workshops in a series. A fully refundable $40 deposit is requested, and there is limited capacity to ensure that participants to build meaningful connections with each other: register here!

Social media is an ever-present part of our daily lives, and today’s youth have grown up entirely in a digital world. One of the most pernicious challenges associated with social media is the presence of cyber bullying. Recent estimates suggest over a third of American teens have experienced cyber bullying, which has been associated with elevated rates of social anxiety, depression, and suicide.

Through this introductory to immediate-level interactive webinar lecture, participants will learn to differentiate cyber bullying from other types of online behavior as well as forms of in-person bullying. Participants will leave this workshop with the ability to assess cyber bullying in youth as well as practical resources and skills to address cyber bullying with their clients and their parents effectively.

Cost for professionals ranges from $25-35, with chance to earn 1.5 CE credits; cost for parents is $10. Learn more here.