28th Annual Child & Adolescent Mental Health Conference At The DECC

DULUTH, Minn. — An event focusing on the mental health of children is taking place at the DECC.

The 28th Annual Child & Adolescent Mental Health Conference is a 3-day event. It is one of the largest conferences of its kind in the country with over 1,700 participants. It’s designed for anyone who works with or cares for infants, children, adolescents, and their families. Each day includes workshops and speaker sessions.

“Pulling people together so they have a shared common language, common understanding is really the key because we want to make sure that people have an opportunity to take these you know ideas and concepts back to their communities, so healing does take place. And that takes many different disciplines and many different types of people thinking in a particular way around healing,” said Brandon Jones, Executive Director of the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health.

One of the featured keynote speakers was Patty Wetterling, the co-founder of the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center. She spoke about hope and healing. She says listening to children is huge.

“I think a lot of parents are afraid to talk about it’s a scary topic but it’s what you won’t talk about that scares kids the most. So, have conversations and find out what they know and what they’re hearing, maybe they know some friends who also need help or assistance. So, it’s just shining a light on a dark topic and together we can find some solutions,” said Wetterling.

Other topics people learned more about included suicide prevention, addiction, coping, social and emotional skills. The conference is put on by the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health.