First Ever Teen Wellness Conference Sept 30th

Under the direction of Bay Area teens, mental health and wellbeing advocates from Palo Alto, Stanford University and elsewhere are working together to plan the first-ever Teen Wellness Conference.

The free conference for teens ages 13 to 19 in September is unique in that it is being organized mainly under the direction of teenagers.

We want the majority of the room to be teens, said Nadia Ghaffari, founder of TeenzTalk.org. The idea is to bring together teens in a safe space to delve into these difficult topics and harness positive peer influence.

The sessions revolve around five themes: Yoga, Mindfulness and Creative Expression; Peer Support: How to Maintain Healthy Relationships; Healthy Habits: How to Be Well; Breaking Down Media Portrayals of Mental Illness; and Identity & Acceptance.

With TeenzTalk we're doing a good job sharing teen mental health experiences, but it is all online " online videos, online campaigns” and I feel like the next step would be to connect people together to explore mental health in person, Ghaffari said.

The conference is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Microsoft Silicon Valley campus, 1065 La Avenida in Mountain View. Registration is free.

Microsoft generously donated space and food for the conference, which is expected to draw 200 teens, Ghaffari said.

#erasingstigma #letsgetwell

Learn about Teenztalk - http://www.teenztalk.org/growth.html

Learn about the conference - http://www.teenztalk.org/conference.html

To read the full article written by Jacqueline Lee http://www.mercurynews.com/201...tive-peer-influence/