Safe practices for the disposal of prescription medication
Safe Disposal of Prescription Medication
Leadership Fall 2019 Graduation Slideshow
We are so proud of our High School Leadership graduates. Here is their slideshow highlighting their experiences with the program.
Continue readingParents and High School Teens: Mental Health TEDx Speaker
October 21, 6:30PM
NC Library, Lamb Room
Speaker: Emily Torchiana
Emily shatters the mental health stigma by sharing her personal story: being victim to cyberbullying, struggling with mental health and surviving a suicide attempt during her adolescent years. Now a young adult, Emily shares a message of hope and awareness.
Creating Balance Emotionally and Socially During Re-Entry
June 11, 1-2 PM
Zoom Videoconference
Speaker: Christopher Bogart, PhD
As we slowly re-enter after quarantine, learn how to create balance within your family, community and the emotions that come with it.
This program is co-sponsored with New Canaan Library.
Brave Conversations: Understanding Racism
Mara Gottlieb, PhD, LMSW
President of Talking Changes, LLC
talkingchanges.com
June 8th, 7-8:30 PM
Zoom Videoconference
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing will change until it is faced.” – James Baldwin
“If not now, when?” Hillel the Elder
There is no better time than the present to understand racism and its toxic effects on all of us,
regardless of our skin color. But we cannot confront what we don’t know how to discuss, or
educate with information we don’t have. This honest, informative training provides the
knowledge, language, and tools to boldly and productively address issues of race, racism,
and skin color privilege. In a respectful, safe environment, we will have brave conversations
about the socially-constructed meanings of skin color and race, and the resulting impact of
racism in the United States. Finally, and most importantly, we will work together to find
solutions that will empower us to debunk and dismantle structural and individual racism in our
communities and within ourselves.
This Zoom session is open to all community members ages 14 and older. You are welcome to
attend as a family or individually.
*Trainer’s note: I am a white-European woman who cannot and does not speak for people of color. This
training is targeted (but not limited) to other white-Europeans who want a deeper understanding of race and
racism without asking our friends or colleagues of color to educate us.
This program is co-sponsored with New Canaan Library.
Alcohol & Drug Resources
ALCOHOL & DRUG RESOURCES
CARES Programs & Resources
CARES Program, Kevin A, Sabet, PhD
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) promotes an evidence based approach to marijuana policy that prioritizes public health.
CARES Program
Explore the physiology of addiction with Ruth A. Potee, MD. A recording of this program can be viewed here.
Women and Alcohol: A Community Conversation
CARES Program
You think about what you eat. Do you think about what you drink? Join local experts as they discuss alcohol and women’s social drinking, role modeling, and the rise of alcohol use among women. A recording of this program can be viewed here.
Additional Resources
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Fentanyl is being pressed into fake pills made to look like OxyContin®, Xanax®, Adderall®, and other pharmaceuticals. These fake pills contain no legitimate medicine.
International Overdose Awareness Day
An overdose means having more of a drug (or combination of drugs) than your body can cope with. There are a number of signs and symptoms that show someone has overdosed, and these differ with the type of drug used. All drugs can cause an overdose, including prescription medication prescribed by a doctor. It is important to know the right amount and the right time to take your medication. It is also vital to know what drugs should not be mixed, and to seek help if you feel you are not in control of your drug use
International Overdose Awareness Day
North America continues to experience the highest drug-related mortality rate in the world, accounting for one in four drug-related deaths globally, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reports. In April 2021, the Centre for Disease Control has estimated that the number of people in the USA who had died from overdose in the 12-month period to the end of September 2020 was 90,237.
Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility
Parents: navigating the teenage years with our children can prove overwhelming. From academics and sports, to social media and technology, kids are faced with countless pressures and often times, risky situations. It’s important for parents to guide their teens, and their developing brains, through a healthy lifestyle. As kids become adults and go through changes and transitions, it’s important to keep having conversations.
Pediatric emergency room doctor Katie Friedman discusses how parents should talk to their kids about alcohol and other risky behaviors, such as underage cannabis use. She opens up about brain science and how conversations with kids should be seen as teachable moments in the ongoing effort to keep kids substance-free.
Get Smart About Drugs: A DEA Resource for Parents, Educators & Caregivers
Parenting can be the greatest job on earth—and the toughest. You want your children to be healthy, but you worry about what they will do when faced with the decision to try drugs or alcohol.
The Washington Post
Most parents don’t want their teens to binge drink. But parents who attempt to provide safe parameters — like having teens drink in the basement with friends — increase the likelihood that their offspring will become binge drinkers.
Partnership to End Addiction
Parents often find themselves between a rock and a hard place when raising teens. It’s a delicate balance respecting your child’s growing independence while still needing to set rules and boundaries. Finding the right balance requires effective communication, making constant adjustments and staying in touch with what’s going on in their life.
New Canaan Police Department
There is a drop box located in the New Canaan Police Station lobby for household disposal of any unwanted medications, including pet medications. Residents are encouraged to dispose of their unwanted medications on a regular basis to prevent their misuse or abuse.
Sports Illustrated
A special report from L. Jon Wertheim and Ken Rodriguez on the rising use and abuse of heroin among young athletes across the U.S. and the connection between sports, painkillers and heroin addiciton.
TheDarienite.com
The widespread abuse of painkillers derived, like heroin, from opium, and falling prices for heroin in recent years and months, the problem has grown. After trying heroin or abusing painkillers, addiction can start in less than a week and be extremely difficult to break.
Stress & Anxiety
STRESS & ANXIETY
CARES Programs & Resources
CARES Program: November 2021
Mental health is just as important as physical health. Examine the impact emotions have on our lives and learn strategies to manage them. Dr. Bogart’s slides can be accessed here.
CARES Program, Barbara McLaughlin
This workshop will help you get through the holidays! Handling tantrums, prioritize activities during the holidays – what is important to you and your family? Re-focus on the giving aspect of the season, whittle down those lengthy gift lists, and more.
New Canaan CARES
Stress is contagious – children can sense when their parents are overwhelmed – so try to manage your own stress (self-care) and don’t start a discussion when you are feeling anxious
New Canaan CARES
We have compiled a list of books about stress and anxiety in children.
Additional Resources
Southwest Regional Mental Health Board
Mental health help is just a click away. HealthyMindsCT has compiled a list of mobile apps and websites to help manage anxiety and depression.
Child Mind Institute
Fears are part of being a kid. Monsters in the closet. Dogs who come too close. Loud thunder. But experts say parents can’t — and shouldn’t — always be there to help kids calm down. Teaching kids how to manage childhood fears on their own builds confidence and independence
Community Mindfulness Project in New Canaan
The Community Mindfulness Project’s mission is to offer a variety of mindfulness and heart-opening practices to help people support their physical, psychological, emotional and social well-being.
Frank Bartolomeo, Ph.D - Director of Behavioral Health Services
Resilience has been variously defined as: normal development under difficult circumstances, or the human capacity to face, overcome and ultimately be strengthened by life’s adversities and challenges.
Child Mind Institute
Teens aren’t usually enthusiastic about talking to their parents — particularly about uncomfortable topics. And it can be really, really hard for them to admit they’re having difficulty with their feelings. But it’s so important to let them know how to tell when garden-variety worries have morphed into an anxiety disorder,
and when they should ask for help.
Mental Health America
Instead of acting on feelings right away, use PATH to find the path to calm.
Mental Health America
The rst rule of caring for your child’s emotional or behavior struggles is that there are no rules. Parenthood doesn’t come with a manual and there will be a lot of trial and error as you gure out what works best to help your child.
Mental Health America
Negative emotions like fear, sadness, and anger are a basic part of life and sometimes we struggle with how to deal with them effectively. It can be tempting to act on what you’re feeling right away, but that often doesn’t fix the situation that caused the emotions. In fact, it may lead to more problems to deal with down the road.
Tracey Masella, LCSW - Silver Hill Hospital
How to have a productive conversation with your child regarding their stress.
GoZen.com - Anxiety Relief Programs for Kids
Worry is protection. Worry is a survival mechanism that still plays a role in modern times.
with Lost Got Found's Emily Torchiana
Talking About It Host Cindy Graziano talks with Emily Torchiana, Founder of Lost Got Found, about the personal journey she undertook nationwide to shatter the stigma surrounding mental health. Rather than suffer in silence as many do, Emily seeks to help others who also struggle with mental illnesses by sharing her personal experience of suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, social anxiety, and overcoming a suicide attempt.
Resilience & Self Esteem
RESILIENCE & SELF ESTEEM
CARES Programs & Resources
CARES Program with Dr. Chris Bogart, Ph.D
Learn about two critical life skills for wellness, parenting styles, and tips for promoting wellness in your home.
Additional Resources
HealthyChildren.org from the American Academy of Pediatrics
It’s not possible to protect our children from the ups and downs of life. Raising resilient children, however, is possible and can provide them with the tools they need to respond to the challenges of adolescence and young adulthood and to navigate successfully in adulthood.
Big Life Journal
Positive thinking is important because it broadens your sense of possibility and opens your mind, allowing you to build new skills. Positive thinking broadens and builds. It also makes children (and adults) more resilient.
Today's Parent
There are better ways to build self-esteem than heaping on praise for everything kids do—starting with helping them become competent in the world.
A Fine Parent
On their journey to self-discovery and learning to be comfortable in their own skin, our children actively seek our acceptance and validation.
Silver Hill Hospital
Why Mindfulness? Mindfulness mitigates the effects of bullying, enhances focus in children with ADHD, reduces attention problems, improves mental health and well-being, and improves social skills.
Silver Hill Hospital
Building resilience — the ability to adapt well to adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress — can help our children manage stress and feelings of anxiety and uncertainty.
Silver Hill Hospital
Learned early, social-emotional skills can help children overcome challenges, avoid unhealthy behavior, improving a variety of outcomes for adulthood. Studies show that social-emotional skills can lead to better education, employment, physical and mental health, and fewer problems with substance abuse, antisocial behavior, or relationships.
Services
SERVICES
We are the designated Behavioral Health Action Organization (RBHAO) for Southwestern Connecticut. We support & coordinate behavioral health initiatives (mental health, suicide, substance misuse, and problem gambling) in Bridgeport, Darien, Easton, Fairfield, Greenwich, Monroe, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, Stratford, Trumbull, Weston, Westport, and Wilton. We are the bridge between the region and state.
www.rtor.org is a free online service that helps people with mental health concerns connect with expert treatment and services. Through the website, families and individuals can contact a Resource Specialist by phone or email for free personalized help with a problem, obtain information about best practices, or consult the Directory of Family-Endorsed Providers for recommendations on vetted programs and practitioners.
The mission of the Department of Human Services is to help all New Canaan residents function optimally by developing programs and activities that address developmental needs, as well, by helping residents obtain appropriate social services and resources.
Silver Hill is an independent, not-for-profit psychiatric hospital that is nationally accredited by the independent Joint Commission. Silver Hill has been a standout among the top psychiatric hospitals in Connecticut and beyond, for adults and adolescents, since it’s founding in 1931.
The mission of The Child & Family Guidance Center is to provide culturally informed mental health services and complementary supports to children, teenagers, and their families, regardless of their ability to pay.
Our goal is for all Fairfield County children to be emotionally and psychologically healthy so that they can reach their maximum potential at home, at school and in life.
Kids In Crisis is here to serve any kids who are experiencing a crisis. This does not mean that a child is a “problem child” or a “troubled kid,” but rather a child who is in the midst of a family crisis or personal crisis. Kids In Crisis provides individualized care to each child, including, as appropriate and needed, working with the family.
TurningPointCT.org was developed by young people in Connecticut who are in recovery from mental health and substance use issues. While we’re not clinicians, we know what it’s like to feel alone, stressed, worried, sad, and angry. We’ve lived through the ups and downs of self-harm, drugs and alcohol, and the struggle to find help. Fortunately, we found what worked for us. Our goal is to provide information and support to help you choose your path so that you don’t have to struggle the way we did.
NAMI Connecticut plays an active role providing support, education, and advocacy at the community level. We operate support groups to let people know they are not alone and to be there with information and support when needed. Our affiliates speak publicly to educate others about mental health conditions and provide educational programs, free of cost, to youth and young adults, parents, individuals, and families affected by mental illness. They advocate for effective and timely services from their local service providers, and they offer hope to those experiencing the impact of mental illness.
Self-Care
