“The TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students) program trains educators and school counselors to support students in grades K-12 by equipping them with coping skills to use when they feel anxious, stressed and depressed. That’s important because mental health crises have been rising for younger students, yet schools can’t find enough clinicians to help them.
TRAILS started as a program within the University of Michigan’s psychiatry department and the Eisenberg Family Depression Center. It grew so fast during Covid that in May it became an independent fiscally sponsored project of the Tides Center, a nonprofit that supports social change. TRAILS’ social and emotional learning curriculum focuses on teaching children how to recognize what they are feeling and strategies for coping.”