Critical Youth Work
For those who wish to engage in critical dialogue about the political, social, and economic realities that... View more
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How can we re-imagine our work with young people and their communities to provide a healing-centered practice that fosters possibility and advances holistic and collective wellbeing?
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How can we re-imagine our work with young people and their communities to provide a healing-centered practice that fosters possibility and advances holistic and collective wellbeing?
How can we re-imagine our work with young people and their communities from a trauma-informed approach that only focuses on individual harm and injury to a healing-centered practice that fosters possibility and advances holistic and collective wellbeing?
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16 Replies
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Establishing safe environments that foster a sense of validation, respect, and belonging for young individuals is imperative. Trust forms the bedrock of any transformative endeavour. Additionally, acknowledging and addressing the repercussions of trauma on both individuals and communities is crucial. This involves implementing strategies prioritizing safety, reliability, autonomy, collaborative decision-making, and empowerment. Moreover, shifting the focus from deficits and challenges towards recognizing and amplifying the inherent strengths and assets within both young individuals and their communities is essential. Understanding and appreciating the community’s diverse cultural backgrounds, experiences, and identities must underpin this approach. This encompasses the acknowledgment of historical traumas and systemic injustices, underscoring the need for a culturally sensitive and inclusive approach.
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The Pathways for Engaging Men and Boys in Gender Justice project (funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada) strives to create a Canada where men and boys are actively engaged in the promotion of gender equality and violence prevention. They are bringing together practitioners and emerging leaders through an online community for the sharing of practical knowledge, tips and tricks, and vital supports in collectively building a movement. You can express your interest in joining through the Pathways website. If you have strategies for engaging in this work, we encourage you to share through this platform, too!
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I think we have to invite more youth to the table and pass the mic. I have found that prescriptive measures in approaching critical youth work end up perpetuating harm rather than planting seeds for healing. I’ve conducted focus groups with Black youth who have openly shared experiences navigating the education system, and I was blown away by how much they were able to empower one another and foster healing amongst themselves as a community of students when they were given the opportunity to be heard. Their voices are so powerful and we have to be intentional about removing the barriers that have historically made them feel as though they cannot be apart of their own healing.
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That is a great point! Too often programs and services are created for youth without their input or genuine consideration.
There is a TED Talk by Jakhini Bisselink that speaks to that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOpqMWj25AE&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
There is also a Youth Engagement Strategy Report by the Family Navigation Project that looks at ways to empower youth: https://youthrex.com/report/youth-engagement-strategy/
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We can reimagine or work with young people and their communities from a trauma informed approach that focuses on individual arm and injury to a healing centered practice that Fosters possibility and advances holistic and Collective well-being by promoting services and being inclusive. Services need to be centered to the need of the community and its members the need of the members being the driving force to care. Additionally, services need to be promoted Within communities as too often Youth and their families are not aware of available resources. Finally, once administering care it is imperative that the intersectionality of the individual being cared for be the driving force to the services provided.
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Yes, I agree Tracey-Ann! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
We strive to connect youth workers and young people to a variety of resources and supports. If you know of any that we can share here, or on our Community Board, or even through our Knowledge Hub, please let us know so that we can further these opportunities for networking and support. ❤
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I think an important factor when it comes to re-imagining our work with young people and their communities to provide a healing-centred practice would be more promotion of resources within the community. Not a lot of communities know or fully understand the resources that are in their neighbourhoods or what funding is available for them to access resources. These resources and or community resources need to go into schools, workplaces, etc. to speak about their services and how to use them. What I found in my family was that there is generational trauma that is passed down and nobody likes to acknowledge and talk about mental health and how to get help. I was hesitant about going to therapy at school, but after finding a good therapist, I found it to be an amazing tool to use and to work through my traumas. Sometimes the stigmatization of things can be a barrier for people until they try them themselves. Circling back to promotion in schools, I think this would give young people the opportunity to ask questions without a family/caregiver’s influence and allow privacy for them to explore resources in a non-judgmental way.
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Thank you so much for sharing. Youth workers often become resource navigators for young people and their families, and I agree that educators, counsellors, and others within school settings can be supported to connect students to the resources they need to thrive (in and outside of the classroom).
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December 1st is World AIDS Day.
Last month, YouthREX’s Princess Asiedu examined the effects of stigma on the mental health of youth living with and affected by HIV. She also explored themes shared by activist Mercy Shibemba during her keynote at our youth work teach-in on Black youth mental health; Mercy is an award-winning youth activist from the UK who uses her story of growing up with HIV to educate, challenge stigma, and inspire.
Read Princess’s reflections on REX Blog and be sure to watch Mercy’s presentation on our Knowledge Hub.
I also encourage you to revisit our webinar from February 2019, Supporting Youth Living With & Affected by HIV, and the practices we shared in our Research to Practice Report of the same name, in partnership with The Teresa Group.
We honour the work of young people living with HIV and those who work alongside them, today and everyday. ❤
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We’re so excited to host Dr. Byron McClure and Dr. Kelsie Reed for our upcoming teach-in, Hacking Deficit Thinking! Join us on November 30th from 12PM to 2PM ET.
Dr. McClure and Dr. Reed are US-based school psychologists and authors of Hacking Deficit Thinking: 8 Reframes That Will Change The Way You Think About Strength-Based Practices and Equity in Schools.
Deficit thinking has created a powerful narrative within education that prioritizes mental illness instead of mental wellness. This engaging event will help you understand the historical implications of a deficit-based approach, identify the key elements of a strength-based approach, and understand how to support youth mental health from a strength-based lens.
Live interpretation will be available in French.
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On November 2, 2022, the Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health is hosting a virtual conference: Building New Worlds.
This conference is designed for stakeholders in post-secondary mental health across Ontario and Canada, and will feature best, promising, and emerging practices in the sector through an online platform, including keynote speakers, concurrent sessions, poster presentations, wellness activities, networking opportunities, and more.
Learn more on their website, and don’t miss Dr. Jennifer Mullan‘s opening keynote, A Call to Action: Politicizing Our Educational Practices With Healing Engagement (9:00AM to 10:00AM).
This presentation will seek to sew together the intersections of student life, Historical and Ancestral Trauma, structural oppression, mental health, and the importance of reigniting and re-educating “where are our students are” amidst a global pandemic and intense violence for People of the Global Majority. Dr. Mullan will invite participants IN, allowing space for reflection and humanization within all systems, especially the education system. The keynote will highlight the deep need for the collective acknowledgement to “heal, feel, and deal” with the grief, rage, and disconnect present in our current realities, and how that is impacted by our lineages, and personal/cultural trauma histories. Dr. Mullan will draw from the intersections of psychology/mental health & wellness, the political/social justice, and ancestral honouring.
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Watch two of our most recent webinars to expand how you approach engaging with youth and advancing wellbeing. 🤝💻
ICYMI, we co-presented an engaging, youth-led conversation on advancing the possibilities of youth-led organizing this summer with Leading in Colour, exploring why and how young people get involved in organizing, the issues driving their current activism, the benefits for youth, limitations and possibilities, and how adults can become allies. Watch the recording on our Knowledge Hub.
You can also revisit our webinar from April, presented with LGBT YouthLine, on how to ask youth about their gender identities to confront assumptions and challenge transphobia. This conversation, which you can also watch on our Knowledge Hub, unpacked Asking About Gender: A Toolkit for Youth Workers. The following month, @KhadijahKanji and I co-hosted a workshop on similar themes for the Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario‘s annual gathering, looking at strategies for inclusion and innovation for youth arts programs. Check it out!
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You may be interested in our upcoming webinar on advancing the possibilities of youth-led organizing! Dr. Ginwright has written about the ways that youth organizing “embraces both individual development and social change,” but how can we become adult allies and meaningfully support youth-led movements?
Join YouthREX and Leading in Colour for an engaging, youth-led conversation on Wednesday, August 17th, from 4:30PM to 6:30PM.
Our confirmed guests to date include:
- Habon Ali, Leader & Advocate
- Peter Cohen, Organizer, Climate Justice Durham
- Serisha Iyar, Founder & Executive Director, Leading in Colour
- Sarah Jama, Co-Founder, Disability Justice Network of Ontario
- Fae Johnstone, Executive Director, Wisdom2Action
- Caleb Yohannes, Founder & Director, 1919 Magazine
You can learn more about all of our guests on our website.
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Hi everyone!
Here is the 📹recording of the February “Teach-in” by Dr. Shawn Ginwright on Healing-Centered Youth Engagement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxTSIlWUeg8
This was a great event with insightful information and artistic performances.
For more information visit the YouthREX Knowledge Hub link below. 🙂
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WOW ! Dr Shawn Ginwright’s session of “From Trauma-informed Care to Healing Centered Engagement ” was a totally excellent, dynamic and informative session !The life affirming approach of focusing on an individual’s assets, …what’s right with me rather than what’s wrong with me, is refreshingly forward thinking. I believe it’s a more self inclusive healing approach. I love the words from one of the imprisoned individuals…paraphrased, ‘ I am more than my worst thing ‘. Thank you for this well prepared ,tool- building “teach -In ” session !
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Thank you for sharing, Jane — that reframing really resonated for me, too!
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