Students at Palo Alto High School this school year have access to a new virtual mental health service that claims to “reinvent mental health for the new generation.”
TBH, the organization behind this motto is spearheading efforts to tackle student mental health.
Dawn Yoshinaga, director of mental health and wellness, said that the decision to employ TBH stemmed from the rise in mental health issues among students. She said that the district’s counselors attended a TBH info session last school year and worked with the organization to tailor their service to meet the needs of PAUSD students.
“We recognize that students need diverse options for mental health care,” Yoshinaga said. “TBH’s innovative approach and comprehensive online mental health services made them a great choice. With TBH, we can offer mental health support outside of school hours, including weekends and school breaks.”
According to Drew Englander, head of student and partner success of TBH, he hopes to give all PAUSD students easy access to mental health support.
“We hope, throughout the course of this year and years to come, that we can help students build their mental health toolkit and feel supported through a one stop app, easily accessible via your student ID portal,” Englander said.
Although Paly already has a Wellness Center with therapists that students can talk to, TBH offers a wider variety of services like virtual one-on-one therapy sessions with licensed therapists, group support, and a library of resources — such as anonymized pre-recorded therapy sessions — designed specifically for students at no cost.
“Studies show the effectiveness of both one-on-one coaching and group support, which help lower barriers to care and support those students who may not need the higher level care and structure that comes with therapy,” Englander said. “No more waitlists, people who don’t get you, rigid structures with confusing portals and apps — we’ve removed all of that to give students what they need to access mental health support.”
A Paly student whose name has been withheld to protect her identity said she appreciates the district offering this new resource, and she plans to use it in the future.
“Especially since I’ve dealt with a lot of mental health problems, it can be really expensive,” the student said. “And I know it took me months to find [help] outside of school, so having something so close and so accessible is great.”