Guiding principles for working with young women around depression

CrossCurrents

Service providers involved in the VALIDITY project offer various lessons they have learned along the way to guide their interactions with young women:

• Validate the social and political context of young women's lives.
• Work with the reality that most young women have many intersecting identities and that issues of diversity impact how they see themselves and how the world sees them.
• Involve young women as much as possible in any programming for treatment or prevention. Recognize young women's expertise and include them in any decision-making, planning or evaluating.
• Emphasize choice and self-determination in your interactions with young women.
• Do not be afraid to ask young women about their life experiences (e.g., bullying, homophobia, racism, misogyny or any other forms of violence), but use fairly open-ended questions so they can define their own issues and experiences.
• Create a youth-friendly environment - keep it casual, accessible and fun.
• Encourage and accept young women's forms of expression including painting, drawing, poetry.
• Encourage young women to use their own "youth-speak" to express themselves freely.
• As much as possible, keep planning (whether it's a project or treatment plan) processes open and flexible.
  Encourage young women to ask questions when they want to know more information, need clarification or disagree with someone. It is important that young women feel empowered to speak up and offer their opinion or question situations.
• Work with young women on the issues that young women identify as important.
  

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