The need for mental health services in schools continues to grow, as administrators and teachers recognize that physical and emotional health impact a student's ability to learn.
The Psychological Trauma Center (PTC), affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, addresses the needs of the schools through a variety of specialized programs for crisis intervention, consultation and prevention.
The center provides free crisis intervention and consultations to public and private school communities that have been affected by a traumatic event. It also offers prevention programs in nine schools throughout the Greater Los Angeles area. For students whose academic achievement is diminished by emotional stress and such traumatic events as natural disasters, divorce, domestic or community violence, gang activity, suicide and death, the center offers Violence Response: Helping Children Learn, also known as the Share and Care Program.
The program is available in schools one to three days a week and provides a series of 12-week art therapy-focused group sessions called Share and Care. The Psychological Trauma Center provides additional services in times of unusual stress. After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, for instance, the PTC mailed information to school principals to help their students understand and cope. The PTC and the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health also presented a community program.
As many as one-third of adolescents between the ages of 13 and 15 experience mental health problems, but only a few get help. Cedars-Sinai's Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health is making it easier for students at Fairfax High and the West Hollywood Opportunity Center to find help when they need it.
In addition to these two high schools, three elementary schools (Broadway, Melrose and Figueroa) receive counseling services in an attempt to reach children at an early age who are experiencing problems.
The department provides licensed mental health professionals, including clinical social workers who meet with troubled students. Teachers and school counselors refer students for help if personal or family problems appear to be impacting school performance.
