Each year during the month of May, organizations like and , raise awareness and highlight the importance of mental health through local events, media, and health screenings. The unfortunate reality is there is a growing number of Americans who are living with mental illness or have been impacted by trauma. This, in turn, can significantly affect their physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Mental health organizations, like NAMI, work to support, educate, and advocate for policies that assist children, families, and communities.

As an organization, 优蜜视频 is also dedicated to serving the holistic development and needs of gifted youth by recognizing that they have important aspects of themselves, including intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, and physical. These unique facets of gifted youth must be met for them to find balance in their lives and actualize their full potential. We know that some of these young people are more vulnerable to facing social and emotional challenges that stem from being gifted and trying to navigate a world that doesn鈥檛 readily accept or understand them.

In support of National Mental Health Month and to acknowledge the importance of mental well-being among our gifted youth, we鈥檝e compiled a list of mental health professionals and organizations who understand and have experience working with gifted families and communities.

Licensed and SENG-certified psychologist, Dr. Vula Baliotis, is based out of the Los Angeles area and specializes in working with gifted, creative, and highly sensitive youth and their parents. She offers psychotherapy and consultation for children and parents and assessment for twice exceptionality, learning disabilities, and emotional, social, or behavioral difficulties.

CFC utilizes a connection-based model that provides more comprehensive services for families, with independent professionals ranging from psychotherapy to parent education to neuropsychological assessments, from physical health and educational therapy to occupational therapy, and more.

The Center for the Gifted, located in Philadelphia and led by Dr. Suzanne Schneider, was established in 1983 to meet the needs of gifted people of all ages. Services include counseling and psychotherapy, gifted identification, vocational interest testing and guidance, and workshops and publications focusing on the needs of the gifted population.

The Child Mind Institute is an independent, national nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders. They work to deliver the highest standard of care, advance the science of the developing brain, and empower parents, professionals, and policymakers to support children when and where they need it most.

Gloria Sandford MA, LMHC specializes in Marriage and Family Therapy and has worked with a variety of issues concerning adults, children, marital issues, families, and support groups. She is a professional member and trained Parent Facilitator of and a Certified Lifespan Integration therapist.

The Daimon Institute for the Highly Gifted provides psychotherapy and educational consulting to support the overall development of exceptionally and profoundly gifted people. Located in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, their practice implements the Integral Practice for the Gifted model which addresses all aspects of the gifted individual: intellectual, emotional, moral, spiritual, social and physical.

Gunn Psychological Services is a group of professionals dedicated to providing the highest quality psychological services and referrals, including developmental, psychoeducational, and intellectual giftedness assessments, as well as individual, family, couples and group therapy.

Linda Powers-Leviton is a licensed Marriage, Family and Child therapist who specializes in counseling for the gifted. Since 1974, she has developed and taught programs to help parents and educators best reach children with learning and emotional challenges. Her expertise with the gifted population, particularly twice-exceptional youth, has prepared her to offer a unique specialized program to address the needs of this community.

As a clinical psychologist in practice for over 30 years, Dr. Post specializes in gifted adults and adolescents. Through private practice, she offers individual, couples, family and group therapy for adults and adolescents; consultation and supervision for treatment professionals; and educational consultation services for gifted children and adolescents.

SENG is a national organization which seeks to inform gifted individuals, their families, and the professionals who work with them, about the unique social and emotional needs of gifted persons. SENG supports programs that foster in gifted individuals the mental health and social competence necessary for them to be free to choose ways to develop and express their abilities and talents fully.

Summit Center provides educational and psychological assessments, consultation, and treatment for children, their parents, and families. Summit works with all kids 鈥� including those who are gifted, those with learning challenges, and those who are twice-exceptional.

Terry Bradley is a gifted education consultant specializing in the social and emotional aspects of giftedness. Her services include a full-day workshop training for school personnel and mental health professionals on facilitating discussion groups for gifted K-12 students; a professional development training on the affective needs of the gifted; and a presentation for parents on what to know when raising gifted youth.

Tyler Institute provides high-quality mental health services by qualified professionals to children, adolescents, adults and families. Anne Tyler, its founder, is devoted to helping children, adolescents, families and adults work through mental health challenges in order to live up to their potential and manifest their talents and strengths in a more vibrant way in everyday life.

Over the past 30 years, Dr. Patty has provided individual, couple, family, and group counseling to gifted and profoundly gifted individuals across the life span, from very young children to people in their elder years. Her therapeutic orientation is holistic with a relationship focus.

For additional resources, visit our online (GRC) which contains an ever-growing and robust listing of over 800 resources appropriate for gifted learners from pre-k through high school.

Want to share a resource? Email GRC@educationaladvancement.org or comment below!

Do you remember your elementary school report cards? They were more than just a column of letters with all of your hard work reduced down to a number 鈥� a number to be judged against that perfect 4.0. In those early years, you and your parents received feedback through grades and written commentary. Your parents also attended conferences with your teachers to help them truly understand how you were doing.

As you got older, though, chances are that feedback diminished. The really good teachers gave you open-ended assignments that were returned with constructive criticism along with your grade. However, there were a lot of teachers who just gave you a test; things were right or wrong, black or white, and the only thing you got back was a grade.

When I was looking at colleges, I found a handful didn鈥檛 give grades; they provided detailed feedback instead. I remember thinking, 鈥淗ow can a graduate school or employer judge an applicant on that?鈥� But I also knew that there was value in that detailed, constructive feedback, and I wanted it.

I ended up at a college where I received both grades on my transcript at the end of the semester and constructive feedback throughout the year on analytical, hands-on, thought-provoking, and practical coursework. That, I believed, was the best of both worlds. On my resume, I could include my GPA, that number that my entire college career was supposed to be reduced to, so my academic performance could be judged against that of others. Importantly, though, I could also note my volunteer work and practical assignments such as communications work for local nonprofits. Additionally, in other parts of the job-seeking process, I could communicate with confidence that I had been adequately (or better) prepared for a career in the field of my choice 鈥� not because of the little number that was very close to a 4.0 鈥� but because I had learned from extraordinary professors and received their feedback, support, and guidance the entire way.

Today, the field of education is so focused on raising standardized test scores that we are missing the point. There is so much more to education than a number telling us if we are right or wrong. How are we supposed to learn from a low score if we don鈥檛 know or understand what we got wrong? How does a multiple choice test allow me to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills? How is a test preparing us for life?

I see two major problems (among many others) with standardized test-driven education:

1. Helpful feedback beyond the test score is often not provided.
2. Tests don鈥檛 measure some of the most important things 鈥� a student鈥檚 ability to reason, depth of knowledge, thought processes, innovation, or passion, for example.

Tests are important evaluative tools, and they do serve a purpose. But education should not be reduced to simply filling in the bubbles on a multiple choice test. There is so much more to every student than a GPA or a percentile. We must find better ways to evaluate without stifling creativity, to give constructive feedback, and to make learning an engaging, productive process. We are asking a lot of teachers today, and hard as they try, they can鈥檛 do it all; they need help.

Even in the field of gifted education 鈥� where we appreciate and understand the gifted student鈥檚 ability and need to delve deeper, think more creatively, and express their knowledge differently 鈥� many programs identify gifted students based on a single test score. But a test score does not give us the full picture of a student, which is why 优蜜视频 uses for identification and program qualification.

All kids are more than a test score, and all students deserve to learn. Let鈥檚 make that happen.

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