We’re so excited to be gearing up for another ReachOut tour to Vancouver Island during the week of March 21st-26th. We’re going to be visiting Victoria, Chemainus, Sidney, Courtenay and more! For a complete listing of the schools we’ll be presenting at in March, click on our ‘Tour Dates’ link at the top of this [...]

Thanks so much to Kalamalka Secondary for donating to the ReachOut Psychosis program. Although ReachOut is presented free of charge to Secondary Schools and Colleges around B.C., there is a cost involved for each presentation, and donations are always greatly appreciated! For information on how to donate to the ReachOut Psychosis Program, please email reachout@bcss.org

“The ReachOut program has been very valuable to our students.  The most poignant example  I can give you is this:  we have had a student that has been on counsellors and administrator’s “radar” for her behaviour.  The past several years have been challenging for her, and her family.
After sitting in on your presentation, and working [...]

Congratulations to Jeslyn S. of Pleasant Valley Secondary School in Armstrong BC! You are our ReachOut Psychosis Grand Prize Winner! You have won a HUGE gift basket from one of our great sponsors, LUSH bath & beauty products! Your name was chosen randomly from all of our contest entries, and you answered all of the [...]

BC Schizophrenia Society - BCSS Kamloops Branch:
The current BC Schizophrenia Society Regional Coordianator for Kamloops is Debbie Thom who can be reached at dthom@bcss.org Tel: 250-319-7667
Other Local Resources:

Canadian Mental Health Assn

857 Seymour St , Kamloops, BC, V2C2H6

Phone (250) 828-2642
857 Seymour St , Kamloops, BC, V2C2H6

Park View Child & Adolescence Mental Health Center

Phone (250) 376-7855
Early [...]

Hey! I’ve mentioned it at our ReachOut shows, but in case you missed it, we are accepting submissions for our student corner here on the ReachOut website! Email excerpts of writing, 150 words or less, reviewing our show, sharing a story, highlighting what you’ve learned or just expressing yourself, and we’ll showcase your talent! We’ll accept poems, [...]

BC Schizophrenia Society - BCSS Kelowna Branch:
347 Leon Ave, 201
Kelowna, BC V1Y 8C7
250.868.3119 email BCSS Kelowna
M-F Hours: 10:00 – 2:00
Other Local Resources:

• Kelowna Child and Youth Mental Health 250.763.7608
• Kelowna General Hospital 250.862.4000
Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI): www.psychosissucks.ca (This resource only serves the Fraser Health Region, but the information on the website is good. )
In the [...]

BC Schizophrenia Society – BCSS Penticton Branch:
205 Martin Street
Penticton, BC
Smithers BC
V2A 5K2
Phone 250.493.7338
Fax 250.493.0690
Email: BCSS Penticton
Other Local Resources:
• Oliver Alcohol & Drug Services 250.498.2538
• Oliver/Osoyoos Child and Youth Mental Health 250.495.6543
• Southern Okanagan General Hospital 250.847.2611
Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI): www.psychosissucks.ca (This resource only serves the Fraser Health Region, but the information on the website is good. [...]

Are you under 25?  Than we need your help!
The Child and Youth Advisory Committee of the Mental Health Commission of Canada is creating a child and youth mental health framework for Canada to make sure that the mental health needs of young people are recognized.
This framework, called Evergreen, will be used to build policies, programs and services for mental health [...]

mindyourmind.ca is an award winning site for youth by youth. This is a place where you can get info, resources and the tools to help you manage stress, crisis and mental health problems. Share what you live and what you know with your friends. http://www.mindyourmind.ca

This resource for teachers helps provide information for teachers to assist them in recognizing and dealing with mood, thinking and behaviour problems in young people. Created by the Canadian Psychiatric Research Foundation http://www.cprf.ca/publication/handbook_pdf.html

Clippings from the Yukon News from our 2008 tour.

North Shore Child & Youth mental Health & Addictions Network: 604-984-3770
F.O.R.C.E. Society for Kids Mental Health: 604-878-3406
24 hour Crisis/Suicide Line: 604-872-3311
Vancouver EPI (Early Psychosis Intervention): 604-225-2211  www.psychosissucks.ca
In the event of an emergency: 911

We’ve arrived home from a great tour up to Northern BC. The scenery was breathtaking – BC truly is beautiful! Thanks to all of the amazing staff and students who hosted the ReachOut Psychosis Program. We had such a great time and felt very welcome at each and every school. I’d also like to thank all of [...]

Well, the end of the 2008/2009 school year is here, and ReachOut is done touring until September! We just completed another two weeks of tour through the Prince George area and throughout the Kootenay Region. Take a look at our latest pictures to see how much fun we had travelling around the province!
Thanks so much [...]

We’re home from a great ReachOut tour in the Okanagan! We visited 9 secondary schools in Kelowna, Kamloops, Vernon and Princeton. Thanks to all of the amazing staff and students for making this tour such a great success. This was our first tour with our new ReachOut band ‘Marble Rye’, and our fourth tour to [...]

Congratulations to Shannon B. of Mountain Secondary School for becoming our latest ReachOut Grand Prize winner! Shannon completed and submitted a contest entry form and answered 100% of the questions on Psychosis correctly. Thanks for paying attention during the presentation, Shannon! You have now won a ReachOut prize package and a Lotus Wear Gift Certificate!

Family Doctor/Local Walk In Clinic/Hospital
See your Mental Health Worker if you have one
Crisis Line: 250-763-9191
Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-784-2433
BC Nurse Hotline: 1-866-245-4700
Aboriginal Services: 250-763-4905
Emergency Services: 911

The results are in!
Yukon College, who the ReachOut team visited on October 21st, 2008, scored the highest on our most important quiz question: Where would you go for help if you or someone else had psychosis?
The correct answer is to get medical help immediately, iether from a doctor, hospital, mental health team, mental health worker [...]

At the end of the presentation, may of our audience members filled out a short quiz to test their knowledge of the information on how to spot and stop psychosis early.
Here are the results.
74% got the answer right on how many people experience psychosis in their lifetime (some of you told us statistically how many [...]

“I think the ReachOut Psychosis tour is doing fabulous work, both for promoting early treatment and for reducing stigma.”
Rene Corbett
Mental Health Educator/Clinician
Early Psychosis Intervention Program
http://www.hopevancouver.com/
Rene is one of the members of our medical advisory committee.

This short video, made by and for youth and persons with psychosis gives an excellent summary of what to watch out for in this brain illness.

The role of our ‘Medical Advisory Commitee’ is to provide accurate and up to date medical information and feedback surrounding Psychosis, including its definition, symptoms, triggers, and treatment options as presented in the ReachOut Psychosis Program. Their medical knowledge and support of the ReachOut Program is greatly appreciated!
Our Medical Advisory Committee is comprised of the [...]

What an amazing week we’ve had! Thanks so much to all of the schools and the amazing students who welcomed us with open arms last week. The Matinee had some great jam sessions with the students at Parkland Secondary, and we recieved glowing comments from all of the schools! It’s so great to see that [...]

What is Youth In BC?
*A chance to have a live, one-on-one chat with a trained volunteer, or to get support via email.
*A unique and confidential outlet to share your issues, get information and feel “heard”.
*A more anonymous, sometimes more comfortable option than traditional crisis telephone line services.
*A place to learn about different issues, and find [...]

The ReachOut Psychosis program won the Schizophrenia Society of Canada Initiatives/Programs of Excellence Award for 2008, competing against programs nominated from across Canada.
The ReachOut Psychosis presentation Video shown on our site also at www.reachoutpsychosis.com has been selected by and was featured at the 6th International Conference on Early Psychosis October 22-24, 2008 in Melbourne, Australia.

 
Yukon Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI)
www.realityrules.ca
 
Mental health Services in Whitehorse                                      
867-667-8346                                                                         
                                                                                                 
Whitehorse General Hospital
867-393-8700
 
Mental Health Services in Communities
867-993-7897
1-800-661-0408 extension 8346
 
Community Health Centres
Beaver Creek 862-4444
Carcross 821-4444
Carmacks 863-4444
Dawson City 993-4444
Destruction Bay 841-44444
Watson Lake 536-7483
 
You can also contact:

Your family doctor or walk-in clinic
School or other Counsellor
Social Worker
Youth Worker

Thanks to all of the staff and students we visited while touring throughout the Cariboo last week! We had nine fantastic shows and presented to over 2,000 students! Check out some of our photos in the gallery and email us with any comments or thoughts you might have! A special thanks to Correlieu Secondary in [...]

What a fantastic year the ReachOut Psychosis Program has had in 2007/2008! Thanks to all of the youth, teachers and administration who hosted this important presentation. Diminishing the negative stigma and increasing awareness and understanding surrounding Psychosis and Mental Illness is absolutely necessary in the education of today’s youth. Through the efforts of fantastic school and [...]

The ReachOut Psychosis Team wrapped up the 2007/2008 school year with a successful tour through the Kootenay region of BC. We visited 7 schools throughout the area and had a blast while we were there! Thanks to all of the teachers, students and administration at each of the schools we visited for their warm reception and [...]

Thanks to Shayla from KSS and her mom Tonya for their support of the ReachOut Program!
 
I went to ReachOut for Psychosis Performance, and it was rocking, radical, righteous! I loved it so much! It taught me how to learn to help my friends that were going through tough times. One of them has recovered from Anorexia, [...]

The ReachOut team just completed another great week in the Okanagan. We visited nine high schools in five days and had a great time at all! Thanks to all of the teachers and students who made us feel so welcome while there. We’ll definitely be back!

“Thanks to Tracy, Barbara and The Matinee Band. Our students and staff really enjoyed ReachOut’s upbeat approach to informing us about Psychosis. Who would have thought that talking about mental illness could be so fun!” – Vikki Dash – Cariboo Hill Secondary School, April, 2008

While on the Island, the ReachOut team was fortunate enough to visit beautiful Gold River where four schools came together for a presentation.

The ReachOut team is heading off for another tour to the Okanagan the week of April 14th-18th! With so much success during our December tour, we’ve been asked back…We’ll be making stops in Kamloops, Kelowna and Vernon. Check out our tour schedule to see which schools we’ll be visiting!!

Well..the ReachOut Psychosis team has arrived back home after a successful week long tour on Vancouver Island. We had a great time and reached over 2500 students! We visited 8 different schools and one Naked Bungy Jumping Fundraiser for the BC Schizophrenia Society!!
Thanks to all of those students who participated in the shows and congratulations to [...]

–Excerpts from The Brain Brief Vol. 5, No. 1 January 2008“Canadian Idol is for Sissies!”
First Canadian National Brain Bee Competition http://schools.ibro.info/Pub/Pub_Main_Display.asp?LC_Docs_ID=2832
 
The Brain Bee is a competition for high school students, grades 9 through 12. It is fashioned after a traditional Spelling Bee, except that students answer questions about the brain and neuroscience research.
 
The Brain Bee is [...]

Highlights from the Okanagan Tour: Reaching Out to a classroom where a student is recovering from psychosis

A successful show is always satisfying, however, at OSS, our time spent with some students in the Alternate classroom with teacher Ardie, after the show, was particularly rewarding. Our band’s bass player, Mike Young, discusses his experience with psychosis related to depression in high school during our show, and students always find his story fascinating. As we sat in a circle in the Alternate classroom, students asked Mike and me, (the show Coordinator & Emcee), various heartfelt and touching questions surrounding psychosis and its impact on one of their students.