Mental Health Matters

Mental Health Matters

posted 6/8/2021
by Sam Ray

Haley is the most recently hired member of our team. She is originally from Linden, and graduated from Linden High School. 

She studied at Michigan State University, where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Family and Community Services. After her undergrad, she went on to receive a Master of Arts in Counseling from Spring Arbor University. We talked with Haley about some of the things she is most excited about in her new role. 

Hi Haley, what is your title here at BGC? 

I am the new Mental Health Specialist here. I have a wide variety of roles, which include giving individual and group therapy to the members, along with providing staff training to better serve youth and consultation.

What is the most exciting part of your job?

I am very excited about being able to start something new and something different. This is a brand new position here at the Club, and it is very exciting to be able to really make it my own. I have always been passionate about working with children and families, and this position is allowing me to really do that. 

So far, what do you like the most about working at BGC?

It is really nice to be able to get to know not only the kids but the staff as well. Everyone here is just so nice and it really does feel like a family here.

What are some of the activities that you plan to do with Club members? 

There are a vast number of  activities that I will do with the kids. When conducting individual and group sessions, we do activities to explore our different feelings and try and figure out where those feelings come from in our body, along with coping skill activities. It is very important to help kids find healthy and safe choices to cope with those negative emotions. These activities really focus on helping them understand and make them feel more in control of what they can do.