Wallingford organizations partner to provide bilingual support for mental health

Mar. 12—WALLINGFORD — The Spanish Community of Wallingford and the town's Youth and Social Services department are teaming up this month to address mental health needs in the community by hosting a bilingual stress support group for youth and a bilingual workshop on understanding addiction for adults.

Youth and Social Services Director Amanda Miranda said both workshops stem from a growing need to address mental health. She said her office is taking calls from people looking for help with addiction and mental health counseling. Because of this, she described the programs at SCOW as a way to "go where the people are" and provide effective programs.

"It's a stressful time for anybody and there's ways of coping and some ways of coping aren't necessarily the most healthy way," she said. "Mental health is a big, big topic right now. And we want to get our resources out there."

The mental health toll of the past years on both adults and youth is well documented. In Connecticut, about 19 percent of adults experienced a mental illness in 2023, according to a data analysis report from Mental Health America. The report also found that about 17 percent of Connecticut adults reported having a substance use disorder in the past year and about 16 percent of Connecticut youth suffered from at least one major depressive episode in the past year.

SCOW Executive Director Adriana Rodríguez said that the workshops are part of a longstanding collaboration with Youth & Social Services. She added that while SCOW is able to provide interpretation and translation services, transportation, childcare and wraparound services during each session, Youth & Social Services brings their highly qualified staff who are trained to provide education in these topics.

"By offering these workshops in English and Spanish at SCOW, we hope to address the increasing need for mental health education and information," Rodríguez said in an email. "This is also done in an effort to lower the cultural stigmas and social taboos associated with mental health care within our Latina/o/e community."

Bilingual Youth Stress Support Group

The Bilingual Youth Stress Support Group started on Wednesday afternoon at SCOW. Intervention Coordinator Talisha Jones from Youth and Social Services runs the group and described it as an outlet for students to share their ideas and thoughts about stress.

The group is open to 6th-8th graders and is designed to teach students skills on how to manage the stressors in their lives and integrate healthy habits into their lifestyles.

"Students such as them have been experiencing more symptoms and anxiety and stress, but also have not been able to find outlets for it and to communicate it," Jones said. "With the rise in anxiety in teens, they sometimes don't recognize or understand those symptoms or those that might be related to the anxiety or stress."

Jones said the group talks about the different emotions that surround stress and anxiety in a way that's more approachable for teens. For example, she said students take a stress screener, which lets them see what level of stress they are on for that week. The students can discuss their score if they want and then participate in a hands-on activity, like making DIY stress balls.

The support group is usually a month-long program. Jones said she piloted the group last month at the Wallingford Public Library and is talking to other local organizations to bring the workshop to them in coming months.

Bilingual Understanding Addiction Workshop

The bilingual Understanding Addiction Workshop series offers adults information and education about addiction, its causes, as well as available local resources. The workshop starts Tuesday, March 12, and runs weekly for a month.

Miranda explained that it was designed to include anyone who wanted more information, including anyone who is curious about the topic, families who are supporting someone struggling with addiction, or anyone who is struggling with addiction themselves.

"It really is for anybody who's looking for more information. We're trying to keep it pretty broad," she said. "The part of the program that talks about resources, where to reach out for help, that would be a little more targeted to a family member, a close relationship that you're concerned about. We'll have information for that and where to go."

For more information on these programs, SCOW can be reached by calling (203) 265-5866 and Youth and Social Services can be reached by calling (203) 294-2175.

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