Kids’ Behavioral Health And Addiction Focus Of Forum To Be Held March 20 At Wequassett Inn

Tony Guthrie has some idea of what it’s like for teens growing up today. 

 “I knew I was different,” he said, but he had no one to talk to and ended up lapsing into destructive behavior. He survived, “thanks to many people,” he said, but at the time, several decades ago, there weren’t the support services available that can help kids today.

 Even so, many teens today end up with mental health or substance abuse challenges, and it has become a crisis, especially on the Cape, where young people face more challenges than elsewhere, including the regional seasonality and the wide disparity in incomes.

 The non-profit Behavioral Health Innovators, Inc. is working to do something about the issues, sponsoring prevention, intervention and treatment and recovery programs for the Cape’s youth. A “Real Talk” panel and forum to help shine a spotlight on the pressures facing young people and highlight BHI’s programs will be held March 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Wequassett Resort and Golf Club in Harwich. The event is being sponsored by the Guthrie Schofield Group at Berkshire Hathaway Robert Paul Properties.

 BHI started 10 years ago, co-founder and CEO Stephanie Briody said, during the height of the fentanyl crisis. 

 “That changed everything,” she said. People began to see the toll addiction was taking on teenagers. Anxiety, depression and loneliness were also contributing and were themselves becoming serious issues plaguing young people. The organization filled a gap in services on the Cape, she said.

 Today BHI provides a continuum of services for Cape residents between 13 and 24 years old. A toolkit available online and in area schools tackles prevention by providing resources for at-risk students. The Positive Alternatives for Student Support (PASS) was initially designed as an alternative to school suspensions and provides early intervention that aims to destigmatize mental health challenges and substance abuse disorder. Many participants continue on to BHI’s treatment and recovery program, Alternative Peer Group (APG), a six-month after-school treatment and recovery program in partnership with Duffy Health Center.

 The March 20 event is especially important for parents to attend, Briody said.

 “The biggest problem still is denial,” she said. Parents will learn about problems kids face as well as the BHI’s programs. “What they really need in my experience is courage,” she said of parents. “It’s really frightening to face that as a parent.”

 She added, “It really is to spark the conversation, give people the opportunity to take the mask off and know they’re not alone. Because they’re not.”

 “We need to come to terms and grow up and not be ashamed,” Guthrie said of mental health issues and addiction. “It’s part of life.”

 More events around the Cape are being planned to highlight BHI and its work. On April 10, the documentary "Lift The Mask: Portraits of Life With Mental Illness,” focusing on mental health, will be shown at the Chatham Orpheum Theater.

 Kids are also invited to the March 20 community panel and forum, which Guthrie noted is not a fundraiser.

 “We’re not looking for money,” he said. “We’re just looking for people to come and learn about what BHI does and all the resources they have.” 

 Guthrie’s message to parents: “If you love your kids, turn off the TV, get off the couch and come.”

 “They’re our future,” Briody added.