Holistic Care & Wellbeing at Crescent
We all have mental health. We can’t see it, but it lives on a spectrum that impacts our thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
There are times in our lives when mental health can feel really hard to manage on our own. It is during these times that we must lean into our relationships and support systems. At Crescent School, social workers Jessica Furman and Alicia Versteegh support a robust wellbeing program in aid of students, families, and staff. During Mental Health Awareness Month, we try to normalize mental health conversations to reduce stigma and feelings of shame that can sometimes get in the way of reaching out for help when we need it.
To underpin Crescent School’s focus on holistic care and wellbeing, social workers collaborate with the Crescent Student Services team and practice “warm transfers” between the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools so that no child or family falls through the cracks during these transitions. We take a scaffolded approach to mental health care and education by incorporating wellness projects into classrooms, Mentor Group sessions, and co-curricular programming in each division. While Ms. Furman spends much time working with Lower and Middle School families and delivering programming in classrooms in addition to one-on-one time with students, Upper School Social Worker Ms. Versteegh spends the bulk of her day providing individual counselling and case management to students.
Across divisions, but in the Lower School in particular, social workers teach strategies to name, tame and accept feelings. By labeling and tolerating uncomfortable feelings, children learn to independently manage the highs and lows that they will inevitably face in a budding academic career and in their lives ahead.
Three common struggles we see throughout the student population are struggles with perfectionism, loneliness and low self-esteem. How we manage supporting the individuals, families and school community impacted by these issues varies depending on the severity of the problem. Social workers offer support to Mentors, staff and faculty so that important information can be disseminated on a school-wide level and trickle down to the student body during Mentor Groups and in Home Forms. We connect with individual students impacted and their families where appropriate. We make community connections and work with community mental health supports to wrap around our students and families. We offer psychoeducational information in our individual work with students and offer emotional support.
As children and youth advance into the Middle and Upper Schools, social workers model self-acceptance and courage as students navigate the development of their own identity. We typically manage struggles related to anxiety, maladaptive perfectionism, low mood and depression, and relationship issues. In addressing these concerns, we use strategies to teach introspection, mindfulness, and acceptance of life’s disappointments and painful thoughts and feelings. Our ultimate goal is to encourage students to build autonomy and commit to their values system or “life compass” to guide their behaviour and build a life that is full and meaningful both at Crescent School and beyond.
