Grand Mental Health Tulsa Offers Support For Children Facing Mental Health Issues

With many students back in school, families are beginning new routines and trying to manage changing schedules.

Kimberly Hill-Crowell, a licensed clinical social worker and the Chief Clinical Officer for Grand Mental Health Tulsa, joined LeAnne Taylor on News On 6 Thursday morning to answer how to help kids start school on a good note.

LeAnne: Talk to us a little bit about what the clinic does. And it started in January, right? And it's been pretty busy?

Crowell: Oh, yeah, absolutely. So, we have actually been open. We have a Addiction Recovery Center, but we were primarily serving adults. We did start serving children earlier this year, so we have been extremely busy. We have services with Tulsa Public Schools. We will be serving Broken Arrow schools this fall, so we're really excited. It is extremely busy.

LeAnne: Talk to us about some of the challenges. What are the issues that young people are facing today?

Crowell: Absolutely. So, I think we're just seeing an increase in mental health issues just across the board. You know, with the pandemic, I think It's just not that they weren't always there, because they absolutely were, but I think we absolutely saw an increased rise across the nation. More isolation, depression, anxiety, and we were seeing that in our kids as well.

LeAnne: A lot of times, now with social media, there's a lot more opportunity, if you will, for interaction between kids, not always good stuff, bullying, that kind of behavior. How much more challenging is it today to help our young students versus maybe years gone by?

Crowell: I think that because of social media and because I think that as parents, that is something that sometimes our kids can hide from us more easily, it's harder to recognize, and so as parents, we need to keep an eye on those things and have more open conversations about those things. Sometimes it can be scary to do that, and so I think that it's harder to recognize, and so we have to be more open about having those conversations.

LeAnne: Let's talk a little bit about some of the signs of bullying, what a parent or grandparent or a caregiver, because there are so many. We're all raising kids together, kind of now, and so what are some of the signs that parents should be on the lookout for?

Crowell: So, there are several signs. So there are behavioral signs. And so you want to look for, you know, if your child's doing anything different at all. So if they're normally outgoing and they're starting to isolate, if they are normally quiet but they're starting to do things that are out of the ordinary, being kind of manic and overly hyperactive. That's something different and out of the ordinary. If there are physical changes, if their social media presence changes, if they're no longer interacting with their friends like they normally would. So, that's why it's important, like I said, to keep an eye on social media, if their grades change. You know, if they are a straight-A student, they're starting to get zeros, right? You know, that's something to definitely keep an eye out as well.

LeAnne: Well, the challenge, too, part of all of that is just adolescents just learning about who they are, but a lot of it, can you see, it's really a fine line for parents and grandparents to be following.

Crowell: Absolutely, and I think that's why it's so important just to have those conversations. I think for so long, people were scared to talk about mental health. The more you have those conversations, the easier it is for your children to come to you, to talk to you about it when you're when they're having those issues.

LeAnne: Well, and that leads perfectly into talking about what can parents and grandparents do. So what is the of role of that caregiver? What should they be? How should they interact?

Crowell: Absolutely. So, the more you have those conversations, the easier it is for your child to come to you. If you aren't having those conversations, then they're worried about having those with you. So try to have it in, in a calm situation. You know, I think it's scary. If you know a child's being bullied, they're worried. They're worried to tell, and so if you're having those mental health conversations on a frequent basis, then it's, it's commonplace in your home, right? Right? And so then it's easier to bring it up if something like that's happening. And so don't spring it on them. I think adolescents, you know, they hate that. They hate when parents bring things on them, especially hard conversations, right? So if you can have a casual conversation in the car and do that on a regular basis, then it's like a check-in.

LeAnne: Yeah, right. It's not out of the ordinary. OK, so listen, communicate, also documenting the any kind of bullying. What would that entail?

Crowell: Absolutely. So if your child is being bullied, you want to document that. You want to write those things down when it's happening, how often it's happening, and you want to bring it to the school's attention immediately, as soon as you can, so that they know what's going on and get them involved.

LeAnne: And oftentimes, that is part of the ingredient. You need to be engaged with the school, with their teacher, with the counselor at the school, so that it's not just a surprise. Who do I need to contact? How do I get a hold of people?

Crowell: Right. Absolutely, you don't want your student to feel alone. You don't want your child to feel alone. There are other supports, and you as a parent don't have to do it alone either. You know the phrase, it takes a village. It truly does. It takes our community to be able to help our children.

LeAnne: If anyone does need help, what should they do?

Crowell: They can call 988, that is, you know, a hotline that can used. Grand has a crisis line as well ll 1-800-722-3611. There is a website grandmh.com that you can go to make a referral. Schools, the school counselor. If you go to your school counselor, they will have access to mental health referrals as well.

Grand Mental Health is also having a job fair on Friday at 6111 Skelly Drive from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.