.
Feedback

MHA Westchester Offers Reliable Resources for Talking With Children About School Violence

As parents, we feel a profound responsibility to reassure and comfort our children. The Mental Health Association of Westchester guides you to the most credible, reliable resources.

Since our community became aware of another instance of mass violence on Friday, our emotions have ricocheted among shock, grief, anger, and helplessness.  Those of us who are parents also feel a profound responsibility for reassuring our own children through this very difficult time.  We struggle to find the right message and the right words to comfort them.

 
Media coverage has inundated us with advice.  Numerous experts have been interviewed and resources posted.  To help, The Mental Health Association of Westchester (MHA) offers suggestions for identifying credible resources.  Most children are resilient, and for most, time spent with family along with reassurance about their own safety will be sufficient.  However, for some families and children, additional support is warranted. 

 
Identifying Reliable Information
While our personal digital worlds are filled with articles and links,  we need just one or two we can rely on.  Credible resources draw on a body of information from the field of disaster mental health response.  The most useful advice can be distilled into a few key points, such as in the article written by Dr. Lloyd Sederer, Medical Director of the New York State Office of Mental Health and Dr. Eva Alisic, Ph.D.  The full article is published on the Huffington Post online at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eva-alisic-phd/children-mental-health-newtown_b_2311875.html 


For additional resources, MHA suggests relying on information posted by national organizations and government resources that routinely address mental health concerns.  Among these are:


MHA is a community-based mental health agency that has been helping Westchester County residents for 66 years through direct services, professional and community education and advocacy. MHA supports 20,000 individuals annually through a comprehensive array of mental health services striving to help each individual to achieve their personal goals and to lead independent, healthy and successful lives. For information, visit www.mhawestchester.org

Newsletter & Alerts

Get the best stories each day and important breaking news

Subscribe

Not from Yorktown-Somers Patch? Find your Local Patch »

Note Article
Just a short thought to get the word out quickly about anything in your neighborhood.
Share something with your neighbors. Write a new post... What's up? Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something
Jarid proudly displaying his graduation diploma and "Altruistic Act of the Year" Award
Carolyn DePaolo June 18, 2013 at 08:20 pm
Jarid is an exceptionally giving person. We are so very proud of him, today and every day. WeRead More certainly can all learn a life lesson from Jarid. Love you and we are so proud of you Jarid!
Lisa Buchman (Editor) June 17, 2013 at 01:45 pm
Thanks for sharing this photo. We'd love to hear more from these groups; if you'd like to startRead More blogs on Patch, which archive your posts all together and give you a great landing page on the site, please email me at LisaB@Patch.com.
Joey Cirone June 11, 2013 at 01:45 pm
Correction: The Yorktown Leo's Club raised and is giving away $12,600 this year!!
Lisa Buchman (Editor) June 13, 2013 at 09:13 am
That is fantastic! These are really nice photos - terrific young leaders at work. If you'd like toRead More set the Leo's up with a blog, they can document their service through brief write ups or photos throughout the year. Email me LisaB@Patch.com if you are interested.