Healthy Minds, Healthy Youth

You might remember hearing about Matt Got. He interned with BYTE in fall of 2013 and helped us out by researching and developing our Climate Change workshop, our MOVE! Anti-Violence workshop series, and our new Digital Citizenship workshop. Matt stayed with BYTE from September until December, and before he left, we tried to convince him to come back and continue working for BYTE.

 

“We’ll see,” was all Matt would say.

 

After teasing us for months with the possibility of returning, Matt finally revealed that he’d been hoping to come back for the summer all along. His job this time was to research and develop a new Healthy Minds workshop for BYTE. As a Global Health student at the McMaster University who was recently accepted to medical school at the University of Toronto, Matt found the Healthy Minds project to be a great fit.

 

“The Healthy Minds project was an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills I had gained at school to something real and with lots of potential to make a difference,” says Matt. “I’ve spent some summers doing clinic research which is intellectually fascinating….however, there are lengthy procedures and protocols to be followed and not a lot of room for creativity.”

 

Matt’s project allowed him to turn mental health research into fun experiential learning activities for youth. The goal, Matt explains, is to help create a healthy mindfulness toolkit for youth.

 

“The essence of the project was to create a workshop that would allow participants to explore safe, healthy ways to feel good about themselves and to hopefully leave the workshop feeling confident,” says Matt. “I hope those who have the chance to participate in my workshop are able to have fun, learn some interesting facts about the teenage brain and behaviour, and leave feeling good.”

 

The workshop allows youth to learn more about the adolescent brain and the meaning of mental wellness. It gives youth the chance to explore strategies to deal with stress, such as building positive support networks, recognizing and expressing emotions, and developing resiliency through strengthening the self.

 

At the end of his project, Matt hosted a training session for BYTE staff, where he passed along the knowledge he’s gained over the past few months. We’re excited to add this workshop to our repertoire and we’re looking forward to piloting the workshop in Yukon communities in the coming months.

 

As for Matt? We tried to convince him not to leave, but the BYTE office has a hard time competing with medical school. Matt’s back in Toronto already, but we’re glad he returned to the Yukon to develop this project and to experience some of the Yukon summer. Ask him about his favourite part of the summer, and he names music festivals, spotting wildlife along the side of the road, and the midnight sun.

 

Thanks again, Matt, for all your hard work! We can’t wait to bring the Healthy Minds workshop to youth around the Yukon.