By Khadijah Booth Watkins, Associate Director and Gene Beresin, Executive Director

Posted in: Multimedia, Podcast

Topics: Anxiety, Culture + Society, Depression, Digital Media

We all know that parents and other adults tend to be the last people teenagers want to talk to about their problems. At this stage of life teens are more likely to reach out to friends in times of need. With this in mind, Valerie Grison-Alsop, founded Give Us the Floor, a nonprofit organization that promotes peer support for teens, by teens. Give Us the Floor launched an app that provides a safe, anonymous space for teens to reach out to each other for support, with guidance from trained teen advisors as well as adult advisors.

This week, Gene and Khadijah are very pleased to welcome Valerie as a special guest, as well as Julia Esposito, a Junior Adult Advisor and former participant of Give Us the Floor. They talk about the benefits of peer-to-peer support and why their app has been so successful in helping teens improve their mental health and overall well-being.

 

Media List

Follow along with the conversation.

• Give Us the Floor (Give Us the Floor)
• Being an Emotional Sponge: Supporting Young People Who Are Supporting Friends (MGH Clay Center)
• Give Us the Floor FAQs (Give Us the Floor)
• Helping Others Shows Differential Benefits on Health and Well-being for Male and Female Teens (Springer)
• There Are All Sorts of Ways of Making Things Better (MGH Clay Center)
• Massachusetts Actually Has 12 Seasons (americasbestpics.com)

 

Episode produced by Bianca Dempsey and Will Capriola 

Edited by Sara Rattigan

Music by Gene Beresin