Benson Mental Health Support

Our Benson Mental Health Team is here to support all students and their people. We will reach out through this newsletter throughout the year with ideas and reminders to promote mental health. We hope this is a helpful resource.

Every few weeks our BHS Student Support Specialists (counselors, social workers, school psychologists, & therapists) include mental health awareness in this newsletter format. It will be included in the principal newsletter and also emailed to your home.

• BHS archived mental health topics (newsletters) are here.
• BHS Counseling Website here.
• BHS Wellness Center here.
• Ways to be a trusted and safe adult + resources for youth: Supporting young minds | Mental Health America (mhanational.org)

• Benson A/B Day Calendar
• PPS 2026-27 Calendar
• Trivory (where you can see all the things!)

• Principal Weekly Newsletter - week of OCT 5: https://app.smore.com/n/wr1x6/preview
• Benson Mental Health - Benson Mental Health Archive of Newsletters

Our School Social Worker, Caroline Bleckmann, is able to help with MANY things, including finding an outside therapist.

• Here is an overview of her work, including: basic needs, applying to OHP, advocacy, connecting individuals/families to outside supports, crisis support, and more.
• Here is the list of resources she provides, along with a link for finding mental health services for teens in Portland.

Sankofa is culturally-specific therapy available for students. Clinicians come to Benson during the school day. Talk with your school counselor or our social worker, Caroline Bleckmann.

Or, if you are a BIPOC or QTBIPOC student or parent seeking support, follow the steps linked below to connect with school-based counseling services.

Here: https://www.sankofacounseling.org/school-based-counseling.

Connection Opportunity. (Club Fair in 10/8 and there will be MANY ways students can connect!)

This resource is FULL of the good stuff from the Healing Story Alliance. Their work might offer insight for those dealing with the pain and tragedy of turbulent current events in the personal, social, and global realms. Examples:

• Healing Treasures: Stories intended to precipitate conversation, and guide teaching and healing with participants.
• Stories We Live: Personal stories and methods for gathering and applying life experiences as healing references.
• Stories for Children in Crisis: Compiled by Laura Simms, includes stories, articles, and links, drawn from years of research and professional work with children.
• Stories for Peace: storytelling in pursuit of peace and understanding.
• Healing the Earth: featuring stories contributed by storytellers working in environmental settings or on educational projects with an environmental theme.

This Saturday 10/10 in Oregon City, there is a celebration of Indigenous People for Indigenous People's Day, Monday 10/12.

Join the 5th annual Indigenous Peoples Day celebration at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City.

• Honor Indigenous contributions and culture
• Listen, share, and strengthen community bonds
• Enjoy Indigenous artists, entertainers, and food

Contact Event Organizer

CCC's Cougar Leadership, Education, and Advocacy for Progress (LEAP) Office

(503) 594-3008

diversity@clackamas.edu

Here are the details/registration:

https://www.travelportland.com/event/6a90b139062e4c8dd69ea0e2/

The Y’ALL Summit is a joyful, affirming gathering for LGBTQIA2S+ youth and allies (K–12), featuring workshops, creative activities, connection, and community care. Centering QTBIPOC youth leadership, the summit will feature gender-affirming garments, a student-organized clothing swap, Queens, and breakout sessions for students and families, along with many other celebratory and educational activities throughout the day.

• Saturday, October 17, 2026
• 10:00 AM–3:00 PM
• Portland Metro Area — location will be shared with registered participants for safety reasons
• Register here

For students who identify as Black, African American, or African. December 11 @ PCC Sylvania.

• Sources, Diversity Resources - PPS Resource on heritage/history months; Monthly Posters (NAMI); Monthly Celebrations with a Mental Health Focus

The overall objective of World Mental Health Day is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health.

World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to meaningfully engage with people with lived experience (PWLE) of mental health conditions and to recognize their knowledge as a vital form of expertise. This year’s campaign calls for their voices to shape the policies, services and decisions that affect their lives.

Lived experience is what someone has experienced themselves, especially when it gives the individual knowledge or understanding that people who have only heard or learnt about such experiences do not have.

Too often, PWLE are asked to share their stories but excluded from decisions. Meaningful engagement extends beyond simply being heard.

It means creating opportunities for people to influence decisions, co-design services, strengthen peer-led approaches, challenge stigma and strengthen accountability. When PWLE are meaningfully engaged, mental health systems are likely to become more person-centered, rights-based and responsive to people's needs and concerns.

One important priority for PWLE is the shift away from long-stay psychiatric institutions towards community-based, person-centered mental health care. Institutions tend to be isolating and are too often associated with poor-quality care, coercion and human rights abuses. Deinstitutionalization requires a carefully planned shift in funding, services and support so that people can live in their communities. Reflecting this priority, WHO will launch practical guidance on deinstitutionalization.

On this World Mental Health Day, let us move from listening to action – and build mental health systems with PWLE, not merely for them.

Source: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2026

More Information on each of these:

• Anxiety disorders
• Mental health
• Bipolar disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Depressive disorder (depression); October is Depression Awareness Month - LINK
• Suicide

Source: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2026

More videos of lived experience at this link: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2026#

Many people care and understand that domestic violence is a serious problem. They may want to help, but aren’t sure where to begin.

Here are some current statistics around Domestic Violence:

NISVS: National Intimate Partner & Sexual Violence Survey

• In the 12 months preceding the most recent NISVS survey, approximately 6.7 million women and 2.8 million men experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking from an intimate partner in the U.S.
• In just one day in 2025, the 20 Annual Domestic Violence Counts Report found that domestic violence programs served more than 84,000 victims of domestic violence across the United States.
• More than 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men in the U.S. experience contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
• According to the latest NISVS data, women are more likely to experience at least one IPV-related impact in their lifetime, such as being physically injured, missing work or school, being concerned for their safety, needing medical care, or filing a police report.

Source (2nd page)

But where to begin? The magnitude of our struggle can feel overwhelming. At National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV), we believe that everyone has a role to play in addressing domestic violence and standing with survivors. If you’re unsure where to begin, think about:

• Sharing your story
• Donating your time, goods, or funds to your local domestic violence program
• Talking to your loved ones, especially any children and young people in your life, about healthy relationships and red flags
• Participating in mutual aid networks and opportunities for direct cash assistance to survivors, as survivors often identify cash as their #1 most urgent need to get and stay safe
• Advocating for policies that support families (and since this is an election year in the U.S. – vote!)

Source: https://nrcdv.org/

• As is always the case, it is OK to not be OK: here are resources that can help.
  

  • 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 24/7, free and confidential support - call or text

  • Local Resources: Multnomah County Crisis Line - 503-988-4888 including mobile outreach (interpretation available; open 24/7); Lines for Life General Line: Call 800-273-8255; Oregon Youth Line: Text Teen to Teen 839863 - Texting trained teen mental health responders
  • Sankofa-provided List: community resource list, including those with a BIPOC lens

  
  

  Benson Wellness Resources - Benson Wellness Center with mental health supports, BHS Counseling Center with school counselors (by alphabetical order); Benson Community Resources

  
  

  FREE Naloxone for overdose prevention - Opioid Certification | END OVERDOSE
  

  PPS Prevention Strategies; The New Drug Talk Oregon | The New Drug Talk

  
  

  PPS Healthy Choices Bulletin - curated list of substance use resources and also highlights student and family accessible services and activities.

  • Substance Abuse Prevention Resources; link to archived Healthy Choices Bulletins. Substance Use/Community Resources

Here is an interactive calming slide in case that would be helpful (school appropriate and can be utilized by a chromebook) - check it out!

Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vRI3wZNsfQY5KCFAU45fXazb8iNV1c5aDVHWEcK20eGr9rVn_XgZ78gQOIxOwEljuLNcItbwReNo12W/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000

Neurodivergent Umbrella!

• Explanations here.

Understanding Differences Outside Diagnosis Labels

• The Neurodiversity Smorgasbord: An Alternative Framework for Understanding Differences Outside of Diagnostic Labels — Lived Experience Educator

Terminology

• NEURODIVERSITY: SOME BASIC TERMS & DEFINITIONS • NEUROQUEER

Parent/Caregiver support

• How to support a neurodivergent teen | Neurodiversity in teens
• Neurodivergent Teens Need Words of Encouragement for Self-Esteem with ADHD
• Stress levels sky high for families of neurodiverse kids - Research | Curtin University, Perth, Australia
• Addressing Mental Health Challenges for Neurodivergent Youth - Autism Spectrum News
• How to Understand Your Neurodivergent and LGBTQ+Teen's Point Of View - Tanya Valentin
• Navigating Conflict With Your Neurodivergent Teen - Tanya Valentin
• Welcome to the Family Acceptance Project® | Family Acceptance Project ®

Great Instagram lived experience individuals to follow: @livedexperienceeducator @neurowild_ @worry__lines @thrivingmindseducation

Want to learn more about: Vocational Rehabilitation, Portland Community College, Disability Rights Oregon, Autism Society, Albertina Kerr, PPS Community Transition Program, and so much more!

• Here is a document for all organizations with links - GREAT resource!
• Local organizations: Local Disability Organizations and Resources

Source: https://www.nami.org/nami-helpline/teen-young-adult-helpline/

Get outside. It's magic.