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Abstract
Mental health challenges are on the rise among today’s youth. Recent reports have noted an acute and significant need for school-based mental health education and supportive interventions for children and adolescents. Among these approaches, a growing focus has centered on improving students’ mental health literacy (MHL) as a foundational component in addressing overall mental health needs. While schools offer an ideal venue for access and implementation, there exist a variety of limitations to integrating MHL content, particularly within the middle school classroom. In this manuscript, we offer recommendations for educators, school social support workers, and administrators who are interested in teaming together to develop and embed a literature-based MHL curriculum into the middle school English Language Arts (ELA) classroom. Our suggestions offer a framework for planning, developing, and implementing such a curriculum within the confines of current school structures and processes while maintaining the teacher’s role as educator.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Brooke B. Eisenbach
Brooke B. Eienbach, is an Associate Professor of Middle and Secondary Education at Lesley University. She is co-editor of Fostering Mental Health Literacy Through Adolescent Literature. She is a former middle level ELA teacher and a former recipient of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Outstanding Middle Level Educator Award. E-mail: [email protected].
Jason S. Frydman
Jason S. Frydman, is an Associate Professor of Expressive Therapies at Lesley University, licensed psychologist, and nationally certified school psychologist. He is the co-editor of Fostering Mental Health Literacy Through Adolescent Literature.