Rise Up!

Building skills and relationships to combat adverse childhood experiences.

The Rise Up! program is designed for children and youth, ages 4-17, whose adverse situations, attitudes and behaviors place them at elevated risk for current and future behavioral health problems.  We currently offer the program for teens.

Adverse childhood experiences include: substance abusing, addicted parents or siblings; parents or siblings engaged in crime or who are, or have been, incarcerated; family conflict and domestic violence; physical and emotional neglect; undiagnosed and untreated mental health problems in the home; homelessness or living in severe poverty; living in high crime and drug affected neighborhoods and other chronic stressors. Adverse childhood experiences can  affect the brain and results in the inability to manage stress and regulate emotions. This situation has a profound effects on the psychological development or well-being of children and adolescents. (definition of “traumatic stress”), and adults when left unchecked.

All children and youth need to learn about their brain and how it’s affected by chronic adversity. The great news is that by learning how our brain works we can also build essential skills to rise above the prolific traumatic stress we experience in our society today.  Anyone can “succeed in spite of adversity” (the definition of “resiliency”). Rise Up! increases protective factors by teaching coping and social skills and providing the emotional support needed to reduce anti-social attitudes and rebellious behaviors (correlated risk factors).