Teens learning to navigate emotions through partnership with Colorado State University

Teenagers in the Poudre School District are learning to better handle and process their emotions thanks to a new partnership with Colorado State University. CSU is assigning students studying mental health to PSD, while helping PSD fill their shortage of mental health experts within their school district.

PSD, which predominantly serves Fort Collins, is one of many districts that has seen a shortage of mental health experts. However, the demand for those professionals was only underscored during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Studies conducted by PSD showed a spike in students reporting higher levels of stress and depression during the pandemic, as well as a spike in students saying they had contemplated suicide. Because of that, PSD partnered with CSU to give college students more real-world experience while also helping students address their feelings.

At Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, a group of teenage boys have joined an after-school club that helps them connect with their vulnerability

"It helps me share my emotions. It helps me be a better man," said Jeremiah Hernandez, a senior at Rocky. "It is a good reset. I have people around me that can relate to me."

The club includes around a dozen boys and is guided by Eric Benson and Blake McLaughlin. The two are both mental health specialist interns studying behavioral health at CSU.

Benson told CBS News Colorado's Dillon Thomas he was working as a school bus driver during the pandemic. He said he got to know some of the students and felt called to switch his profession to studying how to help them work through their emotions.

"Generationally, they face some things I didn't face as a kid," Benson said.

"I think it is important to meet students where they're at," McLaughlin said.

The students gather every Tuesday after school. The group vocally shares a rating of how good or bad they are feeling that day. Then, they spend time talking about the things that are bringing them either joy or stress in life.

"They can learn to tolerate stuff that hurts, stuff that is tender, and they can charge forward to become the people they want to be," Benson said.

"The pandemic is something that has caused a lot of disruption that students face today," McLaughlin said.

More recent studies from PSD showed the percentage of students reporting heightened levels of stress or thoughts of self-harm have slightly declined in the last year.

The hope is that the partnership with PSD and CSU will provide a greater outlet for students to address their concerns while gaining confidence in their connections with their peers.

"(The interns) provide an opportunity to really get to students at a deeper level," said Ian Wallace, assistant principal at Rocky. "I think this is just the beginning of a long relationship that we can continue to grow and develop."

Students, like Hernandez, said they were grateful to have built relationships with the interns and their own classmates. Those relationships have helped them build confidence in themselves.

"I used to push everything off. But now, I take my time to understand what I'm feeling," Hernandez said.

Most interns working with PSD will graduate and enter the workforce with jobs at PSD.

"Every hour we spend with a kid, we increase the likelihood of them thriving, graduating and becoming the people they want to be," Benson said.