The mental health education component of the ACCESS program curriculum is based on six-modules found in the Mental Health & High School curriculum: Understanding Mental Health and Mental Illness version 3 (USA Edition: Washington State), which was substantially modified and enriched with culturally relevant material.

ACCESS was designed under the premise that it is not only important to expose adolescents to mental health careers and the steps necessary to be successful in those careers, but to be exposed through other students and professionals of color that are further along in the professional pipeline. ​ Due to stigma and other cultural, economic, academic and social factors, mental health careers may not be a readily explored option for many in the communities of color. ACCESS does not assume youth participants come in with interests in mental health careers. Rather, by exposing youth to mental health professionals of similar multicultural backgrounds, ACCESS hopes to reduce stigma and ignite a passion to address mental health disparities. For information on becoming a career exposure site or presenter, email info@thementalhealthaccess.org

The 2019 Summer Pilot cohort focused its efforts on engaging youth with African ancestry (African, Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, African American) who identify as Black. Future cohorts will include youth of ALL multicultural backgrounds that are underrepresented in the field. Youth were exposed to the following Black professionals across several mental health occupations: ​ Psychologists Psychiatrists Social Workers Licensed Mental Health Counselors Mindfulness Coaches Crisis Management and Conflict Resolution Specialists Expressive Arts Therapists Academics and Authors Human Service Professionals Trauma Behavioral Specialists Undergraduate, Masters-level, and Doctoral students College Admissions Staff ​ ​ Youth participated in workshops and discussions at: ​ Brandeis University Counseling Center William James College – Center for Multicultural and Global Mental Health Boston Medical Center – Department of Psychology Riverside Community Care Massachusetts Mental Health Center – Center for Early Detection, Assessment & Response to Risk for psychosis (CEDAR) clinic ​ ​ Youth created, presented, and facilitated: ​ Mindfulness workshops Public Service Announcement Projects Public Expressive Art projects Provider Trainings on how to engage youth of color Conflict Resolution workshops with teens from The Hip Hop Transformation program

We are committed to delivering high quality and enjoyable services to our youth. To assure and improve our program quality, we frequently assess our youths knowledge and perceptions of mental health literacy and careers, changes in attitudes toward mental illness and treatment, overall program satisfaction through psychometrically tested and sound self-report measures, feedback and reflection activities, and daily individual and group wellness check-ins.

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The mental health education component of the ACCESS program curriculum is based on six-modules found in the Mental Health & High School curriculum: Understanding Mental Health and Mental Illness version 3 (USA Edition: Washington State), which was substantially modified and enriched with culturally relevant material.

ACCESS was designed under the premise that it is not only important to expose adolescents to mental health careers and the steps necessary to be successful in those careers, but to be exposed through other students and professionals of color that are further along in the professional pipeline. ​ Due to stigma and other cultural, economic, academic and social factors, mental health careers may not be a readily explored option for many in the communities of color. ACCESS does not assume youth participants come in with interests in mental health careers. Rather, by exposing youth to mental health professionals of similar multicultural backgrounds, ACCESS hopes to reduce stigma and ignite a passion to address mental health disparities. For information on becoming a career exposure site or presenter, email info@thementalhealthaccess.org

The 2019 Summer Pilot cohort focused its efforts on engaging youth with African ancestry (African, Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, African American) who identify as Black. Future cohorts will include youth of ALL multicultural backgrounds that are underrepresented in the field. Youth were exposed to the following Black professionals across several mental health occupations: ​ Psychologists Psychiatrists Social Workers Licensed Mental Health Counselors Mindfulness Coaches Crisis Management and Conflict Resolution Specialists Expressive Arts Therapists Academics and Authors Human Service Professionals Trauma Behavioral Specialists Undergraduate, Masters-level, and Doctoral students College Admissions Staff ​ ​ Youth participated in workshops and discussions at: ​ Brandeis University Counseling Center William James College – Center for Multicultural and Global Mental Health Boston Medical Center – Department of Psychology Riverside Community Care Massachusetts Mental Health Center – Center for Early Detection, Assessment & Response to Risk for psychosis (CEDAR) clinic ​ ​ Youth created, presented, and facilitated: ​ Mindfulness workshops Public Service Announcement Projects Public Expressive Art projects Provider Trainings on how to engage youth of color Conflict Resolution workshops with teens from The Hip Hop Transformation program

We are committed to delivering high quality and enjoyable services to our youth. To assure and improve our program quality, we frequently assess our youths knowledge and perceptions of mental health literacy and careers, changes in attitudes toward mental illness and treatment, overall program satisfaction through psychometrically tested and sound self-report measures, feedback and reflection activities, and daily individual and group wellness check-ins.

Innopsych.com Pyschology.com Contact Us