Resilience Academy
The Resilience Academy offers programmes for secondary school students aimed at equipping them with emotional resilience tools.
Skills training programmes aim to increase protective factors such as coping skills, problem-solving, decision-making, and cognitive skills. While these programmes don’t directly target suicide, by targeting risk factors and giving youth important skills, the goal is to prevent the development of suicidal behaviour. We aim to equip young people with the skills and knowledge to support themselves not just now but long into the future.
Key Aims
-
Enhancing protective factors,
-
Developing coping skills,
-
Increasing self-efficacy,
-
Increase awareness of support,
-
Encouraging help-seeking behaviour,
-
Reducing Stigma.
Background
The National Suicide Research Foundation (2017) has declared that the roll-out of evidence-based mental health awareness programmes in Irish schools should be undertaken as a matter of priority in order to develop mental health literacy, promote positive mental health, and prevent suicide in adolescents.
The Resilience Academy offers such programmes.
The Resilience Academy was originally developed in response to a 163% increase in people under the age of 18 presenting due to suicide or self-harm between 2011 and 2016 (Pieta House, 2016).
Resilience Academy programmes are in line with recommendations in relation to the development of school-based suicide prevention programmes (Surgenor, Quinn, & Hughes, 2016). In addition, the content was informed by in-house psychotherapists, interviews with school staff, focus groups with students, and input from industry experts in areas such as body image, cyberbullying, occupational stress, and LGBTQIA+ issues.
Service Demands
This is a demand-led service, meaning that schools request our Resilience Academy programmes. Schools are the experts in issues that affect their students – they understand the importance of mental health education for young people – however, many are not in the position to facilitate this type of education in-house.
How are we funding the Resilience Academy?
The roll-out of the Resilience Academy is reliant on donations and contributions from voluntary sources. We are asking schools that are receiving the Resilience Academy to consider supporting us with a fundraiser or donation. This will allow us to sustain the Resilience Academy and reach more students.
