Healthy Minds Forum

Over 100 teenagers from three schools attended a Young Healthy Minds Forum on March 9th at the Pioneer Theatre Castle Hill.

It was the 6th annual Young Healthy Minds Forum held by the Positive Vibes Foundation.

The forum for high school students focused on where and how students could seek help, empowering them to make a difference, meet new people and have fun at the same time. Speaker, Mitch Farrell, gave a heartfelt talk on his own mental health journey.

A Q&A panel comprising Mitch, student counsellor Lachlan Gage, psychologist Ashley Ramirez and Dr Tanveer Ahmed answered the students’ questions on mental health.

Each school group then presented to the forum the initiatives they would take back to their school communities to change attitudes to mental health and promote positive mental wellbeing.

Positive Vibes Director Mario Rodrigues said: “In the past year, the community has found itself in the midst of COVID, with QR code check-ins, PCR and Rapid Antigen Tests, followed by lockdowns and uncertainty around everchanging COVID rules.

“And for students, the added challenges from home study and perhaps family pressures due to isolation have not helped. All this makes the Young Healthy Minds Forum paramount in helping them focus on improving their positive mental wellbeing.

Feedback from staff and students alike was extremely positive and the initiatives they plan to take back to their school communities showed they had learned much at the Forum.”

The forum was facilitated by Burn Bright and supported by The Hills Clinic, the Hills Shire Council and the Australian International Academy.