Summer Support at YES
At YES, we understand that recovery does not end at the close of the school year. Youth often need ongoing support throughout the summer months. Other summer camps and activities may be insufficient to support a teen struggling with mental health issues, and lack the clinical expertise teens need to continue making positive progress in their recovery. YES is the expert mental health solution a youth struggling with mental health or substance use issues needs, and offers summer support programs facilitated by licensed therapists:
Highland Middle School-Based Health Center Summer Camp
In partnership, YES and International Community Health Services will host the first Highland Health Center Summer Camp, a free three-week summer day camp for students who are clients at the Highland Middle School Health Center. With funding from the King County Best Starts for Kids Initiative, the camp will provide students with opportunities to have fun, learn new skills, and move their bodies. The camp will consist of two three-week sessions, one in July and another in August, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Staff will include YES and ICHS clinicians, YES interns, and graduating eighth graders who will be “junior counselors.” Activities consist of art projects, conversational cafes, nutritional food menu-building and food prep, adventure days to Nintendo, Mariners Games, and other interesting sites, and nature walks.
Summer Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Skills Groups
This summer YES will run three eight-week (usually sixteen weeks) DBT Skills Groups for YES teen clients, at our locations in Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond. The two-hour group sessions will emphasize experiential learning, and focus on three DBT skills modules: core mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation. DBT Skills Group participants will be required to meet weekly with their therapists to discuss the skills they learned in-group sessions. To participate in this program, clients should talk with their therapists.
UPROADS Summer Sober Activities
Over the summer, UPROADS, YES’ sober activities program offering cost-free activities for teens, will meet weekly on Wednesdays, July 10 through August 28. The program is open to all YES clients ages 13 to 18 who could benefit from pro-social activities and peer sober support. Two YES licensed therapists will facilitate the program. Activities will include trips to escape rooms, Cinerama Theater in Seattle, Seafair Fleet Week, arcades, Seattle Woodland Park Zoo, the Family Fun Center, and more. Lunch and snacks and transportation will be available. To participate, clients can pick up a registration packet at the YES Bellevue office front desk, or contact Andrea Frost at 425-747-4937
With your generous support, we are able to provide discounted and free programs to support youth during the summer months. Please donate today and support East King County children, youth and families.