May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and conversations about mental health have gained traction in recent years. While there have been discussions about how to address it, there is still a pressing need to shine a spotlight on this issue—especially when it comes to our children.
Have you ever wondered how some youth who experience overwhelming trauma and adversity end up achieving positive outcomes as adults? More often than not, these outcomes can be attributed to protective factors in the child’s life. Specifically, protective factors are characteristics of individuals, families, schools, communities, and/or broader society that help to mitigate the harmful effects of risk factors. Risk factors include poverty, child abuse, interpersonal violence and family dysfunction.
