Why We Must Shift From “Fixing” Young People to Helping Them Flourish
Young people deserve more than support when they reach a breaking point. They deserve opportunities to build confidence, discover purpose, develop meaningful relationships, and experience belonging long before a crisis emerges.
Yet too often, our response to youth mental health struggles begins only when distress becomes impossible to ignore.
We ask, “What is wrong?” without giving equal attention to another essential question: “What does this young person need to thrive?”
Crisis intervention and accessible mental health treatment are essential. But a comprehensive approach must also include prevention: nurturing the strengths, relationships, and everyday conditions that support lasting wellbeing.
This is the vision behind Abriendo Caminos - Opening Pathways to Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Understanding the Struggles Beneath the Surface
Young people’s mental health is shaped by interacting biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors. No single explanation captures every young person’s experience. Still, when we listen closely, we often hear experiences that deserve greater attention: feeling lost, alone, misunderstood, or invisible.
Feeling lost. Young people face pressure to make decisions about their futures, often without enough space or guidance to explore their strengths, values, and interests. Connecting those discoveries to meaningful possibilities can help them develop a sense of direction.
Feeling disconnected. Digital connection does not always provide the safety and understanding that meaningful relationships offer. Young people need opportunities to speak honestly, recognize their needs, ask for support, and practice listening to one another.
Feeling invisible. For some immigrant youth, navigating unfamiliar cultural expectations, language barriers, discrimination, and unequal access to resources can add to these challenges. Their cultural knowledge, family relationships, and lived experiences are also sources of strength that deserve recognition.
When young people feel seen, valued, and connected, they have a stronger foundation from which to navigate life’s challenges.
Abriendo Caminos: Building Wellbeing Before a Crisis
Abriendo Caminos brings together positive psychology, neuroscience, the arts, and youth development to support young people’s mental health and personal wellbeing.
Positive psychology contributes an essential perspective: alongside addressing distress, we can cultivate strengths, meaning, connection, and the capacity to flourish. This does not mean overlooking hardship or expecting young people to “think positively” through difficult circumstances. It means acknowledging their experiences while helping them recognize their resources and expand their possibilities, essential to maintain their mental health and wellbeing.
At the heart of Abriendo Caminos is a different starting point:
“What is strong in you? What matters to you? What support will help you move forward?”
Through reflection, creative expression, and shared learning, the program creates space for young people, especially those who have experienced marginalization, to:
Discover strengths and purpose. Recognize their abilities, explore what matters to them, and identify meaningful steps toward a future they can envision.
Build meaningful relationships. Practice honest conversation, express their feelings and needs, listen with empathy, and seek support.
Strengthen belonging and confidence. Participate in a community that values their identities, cultural heritage, and contributions.
Develop tools for everyday wellbeing. Build emotional awareness, practice nervous system regulation, and explore ways to respond to stress and setbacks.
Prevention is an ongoing investment in these capacities and in the communities that help sustain them. The impact the youth experience creates a ripple effect in schools, families, and communities.
Expanding the Circle of Care
Abriendo Caminos is designed to complement therapy, medical care, and other mental health services. It does not replace clinical assessment or treatment.
For young people who are not in crisis, it offers opportunities to strengthen relationships, develop self-understanding, and practice skills that support wellbeing. For those receiving treatment, it can offer an additional setting in which to explore strengths, build connections, and pursue meaningful goals.
Responsibility also belongs to the adults, institutions, and communities around them. Supporting youth wellbeing requires welcoming environments, culturally responsive opportunities, accessible services, and adults who listen and follow through.
An Invitation to Invest in Possibility
We do not have to wait for young people to reach a breaking point before we act.
By investing in preventive approaches such as Abriendo Caminos, we can help create communities where young people feel recognized, supported, and able to shape their futures.
Our goal must reach beyond helping youth survive a crisis. It must include helping them build lives with purpose, connection, belonging, and possibility.
Let’s work together to make that vision possible.
To explore partnerships or learn more about Abriendo Caminos, I invite you to schedule time with me here or reach out at talma.shultz@nationimagined.org for us to explore partnership and collaboration opportunities.
Let’s connect.
Dr. Talma Shultz, Executive Director
