Clay Center Goals
The Clay Center’s mission is to promote well-being by reducing, preventing, and de-stigmatizing youth mental health conditions through education.
We are a practical, online educational resource dedicated to promoting and supporting the mental, emotional, and behavioral well-being of all young people. We do so through a narrative, multimedia approach that delivers high-quality content in multiple formats, including original articles, a podcast, and short videos and films. Our information is presented in an easy-to-understand manner that is both engaging and entertaining, and is continually updated based on new research, current events, and user feedback.
One in 4 individuals will experience a mental or neurological disorder during the course of their lifetime. Moreover, a majority of disorders begin in childhood, adolescence, or young adulthood: an estimated 75% of mental health conditions develop before age 25, and 50% begin before age 14.
Despite such prevalence, stigma remains widespread. The public perception is further compounded by an extreme shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists in the U.S. today—approximately 8,000 to care for some 20 million young people who will require their services at some point in their lives.
This stark need fueled Dr. Gene Beresin’s belief in the power of public mental health education to make a difference. The Clay Center’s strength and credibility are derived from the expertise of our core team — Gene Beresin, MD, MA and Khadijah Booth Watkins, MD, MPH — as well as from our close affiliations with the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry (consistently ranked among the top hospitals in the United States by U.S. News & World Report) and Harvard Medical School. We also draw from an extensive community of local and global peer experts in all facets of youth development and emotional well-being, thereby delivering a range of topics spanning psychiatric disorders, general pediatric concerns, and learning differences.
Thank you for visiting The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds. We invite you to explore our content, and learn more about our mission and work and our team. Are there topics important to you that you would like to see covered in the future? If so, let us know!
Did you know? The Clay Center is funded by visitors like you. Your support of our work helps us to continue to produce content on mental health topics that support the emotional well-being of young people everywhere.
The Clay Center does not provide clinical services or referrals for treatment, but many other organizations do! Please visit our“Where To Turn” page for treatment and support resources.
