Mission: helping youth with mental illness & their families get information, inspiration and community through online presence and offline events featuring education, refuge and connection.
History
Non-profit Anxiety In Teens, the leading online mental health magazine for teens and parents “from a teens’ perspective,” was founded in 2006 by a 16-year-old in Minneapolis, MN. Solome Tibebu dealt with a severe anxiety disorder herself throughout middle school and high school, feeling alone and frustrated. After realizing that there was no immediate resource for education on what she was going through, a refuge to uplift her wherever she was and whenever she needed it, nor a community of others who were going through similar struggles, she decided to start AnxietyInTeens.org. Today, Anxiety In Teens is the premiere resource for youth with anxiety and other mental health disorders and their families and friends. AiT hosts live events across the country including campus events and community fundraisers and awareness events such as the OutRun Anxiety 5k Race and Wellness Expo, contact us to get involved or launch your own!
Through the partnership with the Learning through Service programs at the University of St Thomas, in St. Paul, Minnesota, college students are developing empathy skills while actually making a difference in youths’ lives through Anxiety In Teens. The college service learners recognize that their own mental health histories and their knowledge of social media tools and project management skills merge to provide them a genuine opportunity to serve others.
For Teens, By Students
Additionally, there is finally a place where teens can connect and know that they are not alone in their struggle. The psycho-educational tools and the connections they gain from the Anxiety In Teens website may provide the extra push and support they need on their path to mental wellness.
As seen on the Stories of Hope & Help section, teens across the nation are seeking a place to be heard and get help for their often-times debilitating disorders and emotions. Anxiety In Teens is the first of its kind place where users can find information not written by professionals filled with medical jargon but rather by peers and college students who have experienced the their same challenges.
Our initiatives for preteens and teens, such as the Girls’ Overcome Anxiety Weekend, are special and much-needed events for youth and families today. These events, which are completed college-student run, give college students the opportunity to learn the skills needed to develop careers in both the for-profit and the non-profit sectors, in areas such as marketing, fundraising, and event promotion and programming. These events allow college students to realize the impact they are making in youths’ lives and reduce the stigma related to mental illness.
DISCLAIMER: This site is not intended to provide and does not constitute medical, legal, or other professional advice. The content on Anxiety In Teens is designed to support, not replace, medical or psychiatric treatment. If you believe you may have a condition, please seek qualified professional care.
What is Service Learning?
Adapted from the Center for Business Learning Through Service Partnerships, we view service learning as “an approach to teaching that brings students out of the classroom to perform meaningful community service, combined with instruction and reflection. By adding real-world service experience to students’ learning program, we hope to teach the value of civic responsibility and strengthen the communities around them”.
Service learning is rapidly becoming an important pedagogy in the college classrooms as indicated by such accrediting agencies as AACSB, that Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business; CSWE, the Council on Social Work Education; and HLC, the Higher Learning Council; among others.
Anxiety In Teens has a proven formula for engaging students in this out-of-classroom learning approach that significantly aid in the acquisition of the curricular learning objectives. The model created can be implemented repeatedly at colleges and universities across the nation for minimal costs. We utilize meticulous measurement tools to determine students’ development in several critical areas, including acceptance of differences, increased comfort with diversity, ambiguity and self-directed learning, enhanced communication, decision-making and leadership skills, etc.
For more information on sponsorship opportunities and participation in our Learning Through Service program, contact communications@anxietyinteens.com
Speaking
For the past five years, Solome Tibebu has been a regular speaker for students, educators, parents and clinicians offering thoughtful lessons and engaging storytelling. Prior to that, she was the Chairperson of the University Lectures Committee at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota and a National Speakers’ Association student member. For more information about, view mentalhealthspeaker.org for more information and bookings.