When your family member comes home from the hospital, many of their symptoms may be reduced or gone, but some may remain. You can help them recover by maintaining a calm, positive environment for them, and by educating yourself on their illness.

Join the ReachOut Psychosis team for a night of music and comedy, celebrating the 100,000th student reached by the program. Get an inside look at what the award-winning show is all about, with live demonstrations, prizes, and musical entertainment by the ReachOut band, Sneakers for Sneaking. Hosted by our accordion-wielding emcee, Barbara Adler, the 100,000 [...]

The ReachOut Program is proud and pleased to announce our new prize sponsor, Long and McQuade Musical Instruments, who provides prizes for youth who participate in our presentations.

“The ReachOut Psychosis tour is instrumental in promoting factual education about psychosis, decreasing stigma and increasing help seeking behaviours of our youth. The tour delivers the latest international research based information about psychosis, in youth-specific language and in a fun and interactive way. Its invaluable!”
Christina (Nina) Krack, RPN, Clinical Nurse Educator, Fraser Early Psychosis Intervention [...]

Contact:                                                              FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sophia Kelly, Program Manager 604-255-3450.
Email: reachoutmgr@bcss.org
Website: http://www.reachoutpsychosis.com
TEENS AND TEACHERS:  YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM SAVES LIVES PROVINCE WIDE
In-School Rock and Comedy Presentations. Works to educate highest risk group – 16-25 years -  on psychosis awareness and identification.  3% of youth directly affected by psychosis, a serious brain condition. Presenting in your community.
B.C.’s youth [...]

Congratulations Trevor! A prize package has been sent to your school with a clothing prize from Arson.

“British Columbia Schizophrenia Society’s ReachOut Psychosis is an integral partner, with the Fraser EarlyPsychosis Intervention Program’s community education initiative for youth, to provide education on psychosis, decrease stigma and to increase help-seeking behavior. The ReachOut Tour has implemented the resources required to engage with this targeted age group, to deliver the knowledge in a way [...]

Hey everybody! Check us out on Facebook to see photos of recent shows, get updates on our travel schedule and find out some really important information about psychosis and keeping yourself mentally healthy! Find our facebook link on the ReachOut Psychosis Homepage.

Guidelines document and other information on Early Psychosis Intervention programs.

Well, another school year is wrapping up.  We’ve had an amazing year!
We’ve met thousands of students in all areas of the province. We’ve travelled all the way to the Queen Charlotte Islands and across Northern BC, to the Okanagan, all areas of Vancouver Island, the Kootenays and Central BC. We’ve put a lot of kilometres [...]

Teachers find ReachOut to be professional, high quality, suitable. Teachers also believe that the program improved knowledge of symptoms and their own awareness of the importance of medical treatment for psychosis.
Why is all of this important? Youth with psychosis have their best chance of a full recovery if they receive medical attention as soon as [...]

Thanks to all the schools that have hosted the ReachOut Psychosis Program in the last few tours. We’re leaving in another few weeks for Prince George. Looking forward to seeing you again!

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

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 – 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 [...]

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 event of [...]

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.

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 [...]

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 [...]

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.