Stigma 101: Supporting Youth

Service Description

Many young people can tell us what doesn't feel safe, but have never experienced what safe relationships look and feel like. Parental mental health and substance use challenges, and the stigma that often surrounds them, shape what many young people come to expect from adults long before they enter our classrooms, offices, healthcare settings, or community programs. This interactive two-hour workshop explores how stress, stigma, attachment, and relational safety influence trust, behaviour, and help-seeking. Building on trauma-informed principles, participants will learn to recognize how stigma shows up in everyday interactions and develop practical strategies that foster connection, reduce barriers to support, and create opportunities for new relational experiences. What you'll explore -How stigma shapes stress, behaviour, and help-seeking. -The relationship between attachment, trust, and disclosure. -Understanding behaviour through a relational rather than behavioural lens. -Creating everyday interactions that strengthen psychological and relational safety. -Practical communication strategies that build trust, reduce shame, and encourage connection. Who should attend Professionals working with children, youth, young adults, and families in healthcare, education, child welfare, mental health, substance use, justice, and community settings. Learning outcomes Participants will leave with: -A deeper understanding of how stigma influences behaviour, relationships, and willingness to seek support. -Greater confidence recognizing stress and protective responses through a trauma-informed lens. -Practical tools to strengthen trust, reduce shame, and encourage help-seeking. -Strategies for creating psychologically and relationally safer interactions with youth and families.