The Family Action Network (FAN) invited Compass Health Center's Melissa Blitz, LCPC (she/her), Associate Director of Center of Excellence, and Joe Serio, LCPC (he/his), Chief Clinical Quality Officier, to create a presentation and discussion addressing the complex issues that LGBTQ+ youth face. In this webinar, Blitz and Serio delve into specific risk factors affecting this demographic and offer insights into personal, communal, and societal hurdles. They explore pathways to active allyship, shedding light on opportunities for advocacy. Additionally, they emphasize the importance of increasing awareness of personal and societal biases and addressing overt, subconscious, and implicit prejudices. This webinar provides practical strategies to empower and build resilience in LGBTQ+ youth, spanning various crucial settings such as home, intrapersonal relationships, school, work, social environments, and broader political and societal contexts.
It is crucial to provide valuable insights into existing and potential opportunities for advocacy efforts for LGBTQ+ youth. Melissa is the Associate Director of Compass Health Center’s Center of Excellence for Adult Mood & Anxiety Programming, and Joe is the Chief Clinical Quality Officer. The conversation was moderated by Tiffany Myers, LCSW (she/her), the Social Work Department Chair at New Trier High School in Winnetka, IL. Tiffany has 30 years of experience working in mental health and has spent the last 27 years counseling and learning from her students in a high school setting.
Watch the webinar above. If you or someone you care about needs support, contact us to learn more or schedule a mental health assessment.
About Compass Health Center:
Compass Health Center provides immediate access to comprehensive, specialized mental health services, empowering individuals and families to receive the care they need when they need it. Children, adolescents, young adults, and adults are able to schedule a mental health assessment within 24 hours after the first phone call and begin treatment as soon as the next day. Our age-based approach to mental health treatment centers on three core principles: immediate access, comprehensive care, and specialization in areas such as trauma, OCD, school refusal, anxiety, depression, and co-occurring substance use and mental health.
