PresenceLearning, the leading provider of live online behavioral and mental health services for K-12 schools, has partnered with iOpening Enterprises to develop Finding Your Power in Uncertain Times, a 6-week trauma-informed group therapy program designed to help students who are struggling with life’s current stressors including social, emotional, and economic impacts from COVID-19 and civil unrest in their communities. iOpening Enterprises is a professional development and media company that delivers groundbreaking, science-based mental wellness solutions to schools. The Finding Your Power in Uncertain Times program is exclusively available online from PresenceLearning and provides school districts a solution that can be used in any learning model to serve more students than is possible when limited to in-person, onsite therapy.
“Given the COVID-19 crisis and the recent racial injustice headlines, many school districts are grappling with how to support faculty, teachers, and students as they navigate the trauma faced during the lockdown. It’s critical that schools are equipped with the right culturally-responsive tools and trauma-informed approaches to support students,” said Dr. Isaiah Pickens, CEO of iOpening Enterprises.
A licensed school psychologist or social worker will lead live, interactive small group sessions designed to support middle and high school students. Students will acquire tools to help them manage unhealthy responses to current events, techniques to help them navigate challenges, and skills to better understand themselves.
“It is incredibly stressful to be a middle or high school student right now. They have been isolated from their friends, they are coping with ever-changing schedules and structures, their families are coping with health and job changes, and their communities are processing the challenges of racial inequity. Schools want to, and need to, help them cope with all of this, and we felt the best way to do that was to offer a program that will empower students to find their own strength to get through these times,” said PresenceLearning CEO Kate Eberle Walker.
In addition to Finding Your Power in Uncertain Times, PresenceLearning is launching Behavior Intervention Groups. These 12-week programs are designed to help students meet the growing need for behavioral skill building in school settings.
Each group includes three students at the same grade level or stage of learning and development. Students do not need to attend the same school to be grouped together. Six different group topics include:
- Anxiety: Curriculum by Strong Kids and Learning to BREATHE
- Emotional Regulation: Curriculum by The Zones of Regulation
- Coping Skills: Curriculum by DBT STEPS-A and Think Good-Feel Good
- 21st Century Stress Management: Curriculum by Owning Up
- Social Skills: Curriculum by Strong Kids and Skillstreaming
- Prevention & Active Depression: Curriculum by Gregory Clarke, Ph.D.
PresenceLearning works closely with onsite school counselors, social workers, and/or school psychologists to assign students to the appropriate group, each of which is led by a highly trained school psychologist or licensed clinical social worker from PresenceLearning’s network of licensed clinicians. Or, PresenceLearning offers training to school-based teams to conduct these groups themselves.
For more information on the new live online group therapy programs, visit https://www.presencelearning.com/big/.
About PresenceLearning
PresenceLearning, Inc. is the leading provider of live online special education-related services to K-12 schools. The company connects speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and behavioral and mental health professionals with students through its proprietary online platform, and has delivered more than 2.5 million teletherapy sessions to hundreds of K-12 schools and districts across the U.S. through its network of more than 1,000 certified clinicians. Investors in the company include Bain Capital Double Impact, Catalyst Investors, Catamount Ventures, and New Markets Venture Partners. For more information, visit www.presencelearning.com.
About iOpening Enterprises
iOpening Enterprises is a professional development and media company that unlocks individual potential and ignites organization-wide improvement with a unique set of professional development programs. Our programs translate psychological science into tailored wellness strategies for organizations, schools, and justice professionals to solve their most pressing challenges. For more information, visit www.iopeningenterprises.com.
