Children’s Museum of Memphis Executive Director Dr. Stewart Burgess Launches Child-Centered Mental Health Minute Series for Mental Health Awareness Month
Dr. Stewart Burgess, Executive Director of Children’s Museum of Memphis, a nonprofit organization that focuses on children’s development through exhibits and programs designed to support early learning, is helping parents and guardians teach their children to develop mental health skills with the launch of Mental Health Minute, a weekly one-minute video series. In addition to his role as Executive Director, Dr. Burgess brings his expertise as a developmental psychologist specializing in early learning to the series.
“Good mental health in children is as important as their psychical health and essential to their development,” said. Dr. Stewart Burgess, Executive Director of Children’s Museum of Memphis. “We can help children now by equipping them with the skills to grapple with life’s harder moments from an early age so that we can set the stage for life-long mental health.”
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental health concerns in children have become more apparent due to the pandemic. Recent data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent fond 37% of youth have experienced poor mental health since March 2020.
Each week, a video focused on providing parents helpful information about mental health in children will be posted to CMOM’s social media channels. A common theme in the video series is to build resiliency, an adaptive response to hardship, in children.
“We all benefit from becoming more resilient and we can improve it at any point in our lifespans, but the greatest changes can be made with early interventions. If we are strong and nimble in difficult situations, we are using more adaptive behavior and showing resilience,” said Dr. Burgess. “Establishing supportive relationships, providing opportunities for skill building, and helping children develop daily habits of emotion regulation and stress reduction all help create resilience.
The first video can be watch here: https://www.facebook.com/CMOMemphis/videos/672530610491529/.