At Brebeuf, we talk a lot about Cura Personalis: care for the whole person. It is who we are and what we do and depending on who we are and what we do here at Brebeuf, our role in this looks a little bit different. For many of us here at Brebeuf – probably more than you think – this comes in the form of proactive mental health education and awareness, also known as Social Emotional Learning (SEL).
Of course, in my role it’s obvious. It’s what I do all day, every day. This month, I started Depression Education programming with the Class of 2027. Every year at the beginning of second semester, I go into each of the Freshman Social Studies classes and do an hour-long interactive presentation on teen mental health including the signs and symptoms of depression and other common teenage mental health conditions, how and where to find support for themselves or a friend—both in and outside of Brebeuf—and how to promote and support positive mental health.
In other departments, perhaps it’s not always as obvious because it is woven into what we do everyday:
In School Counseling, this looks like facilitated support groups and everyday teaching, modeling and reinforcing of positive coping skills both individually with students and in Freshman Seminars.
In College Counseling, this is discussion of stress management as a lifelong skill and using
iStartStrong and
YouScience to help students understand their “why”.
Mindfulness programming is teaching
DBT skills to students for everyday use and trainings for our faculty/staff and our parents and caregivers.
In the Library/Info Commons, in addition to books on mental health issues, you will see special displays for Mental Health Awareness Month, Suicide Prevention Month and more, in addition to QR coding to mental health resources in books containing potentially triggering content (coming soon).
In Athletics, this is educating all of our coaches on mental health issues impacting teenagers as well as mindfulness programming offered to all athletic teams.
The list and examples continue, reaching from one end of our building to the other. You can call it Cura Personalis. You can call it proactive mental health education. You can call it SEL. Whatever you call it, it is what I do, all day, every day, but I could not do it alone. As we know, it takes a village, and when it comes to caring for our students at Brebeuf, this village is pretty amazing.
Libby Pollak
Brebeuf Jesuit School Social Worker
