We gathered at the University of Guelph for an interactive and engaging workshop centred around the psychology behind fear, why we experience it and healthy coping mechanisms that challenge fear. Our event discussed the importance of not waiting for comfort to act but how doing the opposite can have a positive effect on our neuropaths. We witnessed an amazing presentation from social psychologist Meagan Yarmey who encouraged attendees to think about the route cause of their fears and anxiety and provided everyone with some healthy tools to reframe these thoughts.

Co-hosts Holly Williams and Jessica Franey invited PhD candidate and author Bita Baradaranhezaveh to the stage to engage in a workshop session with the youth where Bita shared her knowledge and expertise on the subject and then encouraged attendees to discuss the topics amongst themselves, giving them the opportunity to share their own views after.

Furthermore, the youth had the opportunity to win multiple prizes playing a game of Kahoot Trivia as well as participating in an icebreaker activity. We enjoyed amazing live music from KO3 a Hamilton based trio consisting of Kate Yang on piano, Kevin Tian on drums, and Owen Scott on bass. This band brings a genre-blending mix of jazz, funk and rock. We were also honoured to have a video sent in from Charity Founder Srinivas Arka weighing in on the topic.

Arka addressed the following question:

How can we make high-risk decisions when faced with the fear of making the wrong decision?

Here is a quote from Arka’s video:

“You have to go with your deeper intuition. You may not understand now why you are making that decision, but the future will tell you.”

We closed out our youth event with a delicious vegan pasta primavera and received great feedback from our youth attendees. We had an eventful and engaging day where community members socialized, enjoyed some meaningful dialogue and ultimately came together with the shared goal of growing in their mental wellness journey.