teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA)
From Fall 2023 to Spring 2025 IWES is offering free teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) workshops for local youth-serving organizations. tMHFA teaches teens how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among their friends and peers. tMHFA is funded by the United Way of Southeast Louisiana (UWSELA).
Experts agree that there is an urgent need to address an intensifying youth mental health crisis across the nation. Since 2017, suicide has been the leading cause of death for youth age 10-19, and as of 2019, suicide was the fifth-leading cause of death in pre-adolescents. It is alarming to note that:
Among Black children, the rate of suicide is highest among children ages 5-11;
Suicide has become the second leading cause of death among Black youth ages 10-14; and
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among Black adolescents ages 15-19. In Louisiana, suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24, and Black students had the highest rates of suicidal ideation and attempts found among Louisiana high school students.
This program seeks to equip teens with the tools to provide mental health peer support. With Black youth suicidality at a disproportionately high rate in Louisiana, this program aims to raise awareness of the signs of and resources for mental health challenges. Overall, the goal is to build a powerful community of teens ages 15-18 by teaching them how to support a friend or classmate with the evidence-based teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) course.
Teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) is a 4-hour workshop that can be broken up into shorter sessions. Workshops are co-led by IWES social workers along with Laila Terry, a local youth leader passionate about community wellness who has been chosen as a Mental Health Peer Support Fellow.
Participants will learn:
How to start the conversation about mental health and substance use challenges.
Common signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges.
The impact of school violence and bullying on mental wellbeing.
How to seek the help of a responsible and trusted adult.
Youth tMHFA participants will receive a $50 gift card.
Laila Terry | IWES Mental Health Peer Support Fellow - Xavier University of Louisiana, Neuroscience Major
Laila Terry joined IWES as a Mental Health Peer Support Fellow in December 2023. She is a sophomore at Xavier University of Louisiana, where she was drawn to the sense of community both on and off campus. In her short time living in New Orleans, she became aware of the systemic issues that impacted Black New Orleanians, which fueled her desire to fight against systemic racism in healthcare. Laila is studying Neuroscience on a Pre-Med track at Xavier and plans to attend medical school to become a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. Inspired by her mother, who provides mental health services as a licensed clinical social worker and therapist, she recognizes the importance of mental health education, and she is committed to reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness. She began her advocacy in high school in her hometown of Waldorf, MD, and continues her social activism in New Orleans. In Maryland, Laila became a peer mentor to young girls at a local middle school and was recognized by the Charles County Public Schools Superintendent for presenting a mental health workshop and contributing to their Mental Health Symposium. Currently, she volunteers for her school's Mentors on the Move program, where she is a peer mentor to New Orleans high schoolers. She is also a licensed Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) in Maryland, where at Charles Regional Medical Center, she provided care to patients in the postoperative care and stroke units. Laila is grateful to have been offered a position at IWES and looks forward to utilizing both her previous and acquired knowledge to educate the New Orleans community about mental health and wellness.
Gabriella Wicker | IWES Mental Health Peer Support Fellow (Served Spring 2024) - Xavier University of Louisiana, Psychological Sciences major, with double minors in Sociology and Education
Gabriella Wicker is a rising Junior at Xavier University of Louisiana, majoring in Psychological Sciences with double minors in Sociology and Education. Hailing from the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania, she experienced firsthand the impacts of the over-stigmatization of mental health in urban Black communities and how a lack of mental health resources impacts the well-being of Black Americans. Inspired to take action, Gabriella set her eyes on a career as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). She aspires to open a private practice that offers psychotherapy, counseling, life coaching, and esthetics. Gabriella also hopes to start a non-profit organization to continuously destigmatize mental health in low-income neighborhoods and schools by providing free mental health support services and workshops to students and their families. She hopes that her work in the mental health field will help heal traumas within the Black community and inspire other young Black women to pursue careers in mental health. Gabriella was selected in February 2024 as an IWES Mental Health Peer Support Fellow and is ecstatic to work within the New Orleans community to destigmatize mental health amongst Black youth. Gabriella is excited to see where her time with IWES will take her and is ready to serve the New Orleans community to the best of her ability.
