Working closely with the Board’s mental health clinicians and the Network of Educators for Jewish Learners and the Alliance of Educators for Muslim Students, the Board is providing sessions of support from identity-specific practitioners to support the well-being of staff, students and families. These sessions are free of charge and anyone in YRDSB may attend.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Location: Virtual. Families and caregivers can access the meeting using this link.
To ensure safety and protect the privacy of attendees, participants will not be able to see who else is on the call or access a public chat. Questions can be submitted directly to the event hosts.
The evolving situation in the Middle East is incredibly distressing, and top of mind for us all. Many of us on this side of the ocean are struggling with how to speak to our children and youth about these events, and how to answer their questions in a way that is truthful but also mindful of the mental health of those we love. To help respond to the many inquiries we have received about how to talk to our kids about the situation, we have organized an opportunity to listen to and learn from Leanne Matlow, a cognitive behaviour therapy counsellor from Toronto who deals with anxious children and teens.
Leanne is a cognitive behavioural therapy counsellor with a private practice specializing in anxiety for children and adolescents and with significant experience supporting the Jewish community in the Greater Toronto Area. She is trained as a teacher and guidance counsellor, with a Masters from Toronto’s Institute of Child Study, OISE and certificates in CBT from the Beck Institute in Philadelphia. Discovering the prevalence of anxiety issues in the classroom setting, and their regular misdiagnosis as academic concerns, Leanne has become a mental health advocate who has a private practice and speaks regularly to groups about anxiety. To help build community, end stigma and share best educational practices, Leanne founded the annual Mental Health Empowerment Day symposium which had its 8th event this October.