May is for Mental Health

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Gizmo 4 Mental Health

Gizmo's Early Childhood Suicide Prevention Program

Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health Guide (Copyright © 2017 All rights reserved.) takes an upstream approach to support the mental health and wellness of youth. It is data-driven and evidence-informed. The Guide seeks to introduce mental health and wellness, and how to care for one’s mental health in a nonthreatening way that encourages the self-identification of warning signs and when to apply the use of internal and external healthy coping strategies to help reduce risk. It introduces the characteristics of trusted adults, who may be one, how to practice talking with a trusted adult, and promotes proactive communication. It gives youth the opportunity to create a personal mental health plan (of action) that they can use daily, and in a time of need that can help them avert crisis.

The Guide’s message is child-friendly and is presented by Gizmo, a 3.5 Miki dog who lives in Manchester, CT. He is a K-9 First Responder and Therapy Dog who is the mascot for the Connecticut Suicide Prevention Campaign: 1 Word, 1 Voice, 1 Life…Be the One to Start the Conversation. Their website is http://www.preventsuicidect.org/.