Helping Adolescents 2: ReachOut
The tag line for the ReachOut site “Help with tough times, sex, friends and drugs” gives a clear indication of its expected user population. It sits firmly in the adolescent’s world.
ReachOut provides young people with heaps of useful information about:
- party drugs,
- sex and relationships,
- friends and family,
- personal and sexual identity,
- bullying, cyberbullying,
- abuse and violence and
- mental health issues.
There’s a skills building section focussing on well-being and a toolbox containing a list of “the best apps for your brain and body” all reviewed by people under 25. (My only reservation about this is that the apps have not necessarily been professionally reviewed and it’s probably worth reviewing them yourself if you are going to recommend them or if your patients are using them).
There are also moderated online forums for young people to join to get involved in the well-being conversation. It’s not all misery that gets discussed there either – take a look at the thread entitled “Three positives of today” to get a sense of positive psychology in cyber action!
This year ReachOut launched ReachOut Parents. Again this contains lots of useful information written especially for parents and a parents’ forum as well.
As a GP or mental health professional, it’s probably best to refer a young person to a particular feature of the site (e.g information about something specific or the section on relaxation and coping) then invite them back to talk to you about how they found the site. It will give you the opportunity to learn about what works for young people and a focus for your follow up appointment – a necessary part of referring to eMH.
The ReachOut site also has a professional section specifically for GPs, mental health professionals and teachers – anyone, in fact, whose professional life involves helping and interacting with young people. Check out the section on working with young people to improve your skill and confidence in dealing with this age group. Amongst other things it includes a fact sheet called the “3 things activity” which will give you some clues about how to use the website in your clinical work.
Gerhard is a full professor of Clinical Psychology at Linköping University, Sweden since 2003, an
d affiliated researcher at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. Professor Andersson is an internationally recognized researcher in the field of CBT delivered through information and communication technology, as well as the author of the book “The Internet and CBT: a clinical guide”.
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