Yukon launches FRIENDS mental health program for rural communities

The government of Yukon, Bell Let's Talk and Northwestelarespending $500,000 to introduce a new mental health program aimed at preventingand managing childhood anxiety and depression.

The FRIENDS program was developed in Australia and uses cognitive behavioural principles to give young people social and emotional skillsor"emotionalresilience."

Marie Fast from Yukon'shealth department says community-based facilitators will be trained to deliver FRIENDS programs across Yukon.

"A good program, especially one that targets anxieties, will give kids strategies to relax, to lessen their anxiety, and it will tackle some of the distorted thinking and worrisome thoughts that happen for young people," Fast said.

Yukon education minister Doug Graham said the program could help fill in some gaps for young Yukonersneeding help especially those in rural communities.

"Things are so different now than when we went to school, and nobody's really sure of how they should be workingwith some of these kids that are troubled," Graham said.

The goal is to havetwo 10-week facilitator training programs completed by the end of June.

The Yukon government is contributing $250,000 to the initiative, with another $250,000 coming from the Bell Let's Talk program and Northwestel. The funding was first announced in 2014.