Both of these facilitator guides are based on podcast episodes about teenage mental health. The purpose of these guides is to extend the conversation beyond just the podcast episode, and to give listeners a hands-on way to interact with the episode content. 

My first step in designing these facilitator guides was to listen to each podcast episode and do subsequent research about each topic. I investigated current trends in overthinking and stress management and collected resources that would later form the “Additional Resources” section of the guides.

One of the common obstacles to mental wellness that I observed in my research was the continued stigma of talking about mental health. Although many teenagers discuss mental illness amongst themselves, their teachers and parents are less likely to be as open to those discussions. 

Therefore, I made sure to include an explanation of why discussing mental wellness topics is important, which intends to help facilitators recognize the purpose and benefit of hosting these discussions. Preemptively addressing potential concerns about the usefulness of mental wellness discussions helps create a supportive atmosphere for adolescents participating in the activities provided in the guides.