The Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) Lunchtime Seminar Series will continue on Thursday, April 4, with, “Community Mental Health: A School-Wide Approach to Preventing Youth Depression” The program will run from 12:40 – 1:30p.m. at Cheever House, 828 Washington St.

Depression is a serious mental illness that commonly begins during adolescence. Most middle and high school teachers and school administrators would like to help students experiencing depression, but they often lack the knowledge to recognize the symptoms and direct students to available resources. Natick Public Schools and Holliston Public Schools have partnered with the Wellesley Centers for Women to change that with initiatives to educate school communities and offer help to students in need of support.

In both programs — Natick Depression Prevention Initiative and Mood Check: Holliston — clinicians from WCW provide mental health education to students, parents, and school staff while screening and identifying students in need of mental health support, providing recommendations and referrals for treatment when needed. In this presentation, Tracy Gladstone, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at WCW, will share data from the screenings and explore how these school-based depression prevention programs are able to reach teens in need of support while breaking down stigmas about mental health within school communities.

The Lunchtime Seminar Series is free and open to the public. Guests are invited to bring their lunches, and the Centers will provide tea and coffee. For more information about the series, visit wcwonline.org/calendar. For accessibility questions, contact Disability Services at Wellesley College at [email protected]edu or call 781.283.2434.

The Wellesley Centers for Women is the largest academic, women-and gender-focused, social-change-driven, research-and-action institute in the United States, located at Wellesley College. Scholars at the Centers advance gender equality, social justice, and human wellbeing through high-quality research, theory, and action programs. Areas of work include Education, Economic Security, Mental Health, Youth and Adolescent Development, and Gender-Based Violence.