The words you see in the background were written by actual students during several social skills lessons and behavior conferencing meetings I conducted.  I call it the "Board of Contribution."  There are some powerful statements on this board, but believe it or not these statements were not written in a day, or in a week, or not even in a month.  As a matter of fact, this board speaks to a whole semester of several students.  

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Why did you need to know that?  

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Emotional health is the discipline of a person's expression of feelings and recognizing one's disposition in the wake of internal and external changes.  The emotion seeks to guard or promote the person who expresses it.  In contrast, unrestrained and or isolated emotions can and will produce disconnection with the reality of what is and what could be.  People especially youth (children and adolescents) are challenged with the ideas of self identity and self preservation.  Daily, choices are made to accept or deny these ideas.  The level of emotional health can be found here...Choices.  Youth may find it challenging to make emotionally healthy decisions when they have not been informed how to express certain feelings.  Just like we go to the doctor for a physical exam, we become informed of our level of health and the doctor contributes treatment options to help us heal and gain strength.  So it is with our emotional health.  

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Emotional health happens from the inside out.  The treatment options to bring forth healing and the managing of youth's emotions should be established from the approach of living a life of certainty about one's self.  This is a difficult concept for adults albeit the youth.  Nonetheless, youth need the intervention of revelation where someone pulls situational and circumstantial covers back to present to them a strength - all their own - which establishes certainty - trust in more than what they have externally, but in who they are internally - as a human being.  Herein lies the beauty of it all.  We are all DIFFERENT!  When youth recognize and embrace their differences, this initiates the healing/strengthening process and then they are able to discipline themselves in their expression of feelings and disposition: intrapersonal and interpersonal.

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To end, the board of contribution was not only for the one who wrote it, but more so for the youth who would read it.  For at the time when these students wrote these uplifting and inspiring statements they had been through the process of revelation, recognition, embracing, and now as you continue to read the board, you can witness the students having committed to serving others through BEING DIFFERENT and making a DIFFERENCE.

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Shun G. Doughty, M. PSY