Growing the National Conversation on Child Mental Health

In the eight years since we started the Child Mind Institute, there has been a subtle but remarkable shift in public opinion about mental health. We saw this last May with our #MyYoungerSelf campaign, which brought prominent people together to talk about growing up with mental health and learning disorders. We see it every day as more families around the country and around the world open up and ask for help so their children can lead fuller lives.

While attitudes are changing, we are still at a tipping point. The national conversation is just getting started, and it is our purpose at the Child Mind Institute to bring open discussion of child and adolescent mental health to every corner of the country—from kitchen tables to the halls of Congress. That’s how we help the 17 million children who struggle with disorders like anxiety, ADHD, depression and traumatic stress.

I am so thrilled that you are a part of this community that is striving to make a better world for our kids. Whether we’re searching for the biological markers of mental health and learning disorders with breakthrough research programs like the Healthy Brain Network; informing the public through childmind.org, the Children’s Mental Health Report, or our recent Child Mind Institute Summit with Secretary Hillary Clinton; or expanding our clinical programs to reach more and more diverse families, our goal is the same: transforming children’s lives.