Welcome to Mrs. Saenz's Virtual Office

School Resources

Need help with anxiety, anger, depression, substance abuse, or any other problem affecting how you feel? Complete an intervention and supports referral on North High's website. There are many staff on campus to help. You can also talk with your counselor. Reach out today!!

Mrs. Saenz's Virtual Office

This Virtual Calming Room is a place for students, parents/guardians, and staff to find tools, skills, and techniques for managing anxiety, stress, anger, and any other troubling emotion or feeling you may be experiencing. Your North High Support Staff are here for you during this unique time we are in!


Crisis Resources

Suicide Prevention & Crisis Hotline Information

"Know the Signs" of suicide. Click on the link to learn more about the suicide prevention initiative of Each Mind Matters.

Learn more about mental health by checking out out Each Mind Matters' "Walk in Our Shoes" mental health initiative. "Learning about other people can help you understand that they’re still a lot like you — they’re just on a journey in different shoes."

Dealing with thoughts of self-harm? Please know that you are not alone, and there is help when you need it.

The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning youth.

Coping Resources

Kids' Mental Health Tech Tools for Suicide Help, Coping Skills, and Professional Support

Mindful Self-Compassion combines the skills of mindfulness and self-compassion, providing a powerful tool for emotional resilience. Click on the link to explore some self-compassion exercises.

Take a moment and let this guided meditation relieve your anxiety.

Try this very simple breathing technique to help with relaxation and managing stress. It's a great and simple way to combat stress and anxiety.

Color breathing is a simple stress reducing activity that may be quickly learned. In short, involves mentally picturing/meditating on a color that represents how you want to feel or and what you want to let go in your life (stressor). Click the picture to practice!
Lazy 8 breathing is a really common strategy in which you trace a number 8 while controlling your breathing. As you drag your finger around the smaller loop of the 8, you inhale, and as you trace the larger loop of the 8, you exhale. It’s a really effective strategy for practicing deep inhales and elongated exhales for controlled breathing to slow respiratory and heart rate. Clink the picture to see it in action!
Grounding techniques are a set of tools used to assist you to stay in the present moment during episodes of intense stress and anxiety or other overwhelming emotions. Staying in the present moment allows people to feel safe and in-control by focusing on the physical world and how they experience it. Grounding techniques are useful when we feel distressed, overwhelmed emotionally, triggered or mentally removed from the present moment. Follow the picture for a demonstration.

Five Ways to Help Teens Build a Sense of Self-Worth

Teens are experiencing increased levels of anxiety and perfectionism. Check out this link by clicking the image above to help with developing strengths and boosting self-esteem to buffer against stress and anxiety.

Mindful Coloring asks us to focus on how we choose and apply color in a design to bring our awareness to the present moment. This process is similar to meditation- we let go of any thoughts about tomorrow or yesterday or what we are going to do when we finish. Click the image above to mindfully color.

You may feel like you are stuck wherever you are, but with virtual travel, you can escape and explore the world! Check out this site (by clicking on the image above) and all the amazing places you can explore virtually.

When you’re depressed, you can’t just will yourself to “snap out of it.” But this guide to depression help can put you on the road to recovery (click the image to access).

MINDFULNESS FOR TEENS

Click on the link for an array of mindful guided meditations just for teens (and adults, too) from Dr. Dzung Vo. Videos range from a short body scan and mindful eating to mindful movement and everything in between. You can incorporate mindfulness into your daily life in just about any way, so check out these videos as a guide to get started.

And just in case you are wondering what mindfulness is, "Jon Kabat-Zinn’s definition of mindfulness as 'paying attention in a particular way on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally' (1994, 4) is simple and to the point. Mindfulness is all about paying attention to the present moment. Mindfulness is about shifting out of autopilot and awakening to the here and now. Mindfulness is about freeing yourself from regrets about the past and worries about the future. Living life more mindfully can help you to handle stress when it arises, and also experience life more fully, with more joy and gratitude."

Sometimes we might feel emotionally unsafe which leads to high levels of distress. This is a guided meditation to help us create a place of safety within our minds to ease the anxiety and distressing emotions we feel. Click on the picture to try it out.
When depression and anxiety hit, it can feel like you’ve been transported to another world or dimension and you just feel "disconnected." You may feel numb, overwhelmed, checked out, or like you’re just floating through life with little sense of what is going on around you. Check out this resource to help with a few helpful techniques to help you reconnect and cope.
Showing gratitude has wonderful mental health benefits. Expressing gratitude can improve your mood, increase feelings of happiness, and leads to lower rates of stress and depression. Check out this resource to learn ways to practice gratitude.

In this video we travel over beautiful tropical Islands. We also visit the colorful Tropical reefs around the island full of beautiful sea life. From Sea Turtles, Dolphins tropical fish and more. Fun of sunshine, light and peace all while listening to beautiful peaceful music.

The yards at Shenshuping Gengda Panda Center in China's Wolong Valley are filled with bamboo--making for some very happy panda residents. Watch live and learn more about pandas

Meditate with the calm sea waves sound

Test Anxiety Resources

TestTakingTips.pdf

Need some help with your test taking skills/strategies?

Here are some test taking tips to help you strategize on your exams.

dealingwithtestanxiety.pdf

Dealing with some test anxiety?

Check out this informational resource to learn more about test anxiety and how to cope with it.

study-tips.pdf

Create a study plan to reduce test anxiety

Here are some study tips to help you prepare as way to manage your test anxiety.

An animated video about test anxiety that highlights the importance of mindfulness and writing practices to loosen worries from your mind to help boost your grade!

Dealing with test anxiety or just stressed out about the demands of school? Check out these stress management techniques.

Not retaining all that information you're cramming to prepare for finals? Chances are you are not getting enough sleep. Check out this resource for teens about sleep.

RelaxationTech.pdf

Feeling stressed out and on edge before a test affects your ability to think and recall information. Practicing relaxation techniques before a test or study session can help by triggering your body's relaxation response to help you feel calmer, more focused, and better able to understand and retain information. Check out these relaxation techniques to get you started.

Community Resources

Kern County Community Resource Guide PDF

Interactive Kern County Resource Guide and Referral System

Create and manage your C4 account to access benefits such as CalFresh, CalWorks, Medi-Cal, and more.

Behavioral Health (Counseling) Resources

Behavioral Health services for youth and adults

Behavioral Health services for youth and adults

Behavioral health services for youth and adults

Behavioral health services for youth and adults

Aspire Counseling Services for Youth and Adults

Bereavement and Grief Resources

“Grief is not an illness or a mental health problem. Grief is a natural part of life.” - Julie Kaplow

You don't have to suffer alone in silence. Here are some resources to help you through the grieving process.

NAMI Club at North High

NAMI On Campus High School (NCHS) Clubs are student-led clubs that raise mental health awareness and reduce stigma on campus through peer-led activities and education. The Club is open to all students – those with mental health conditions, those with family members with a condition, or students who are interested in the field or in advocacy. It is not a support or therapy group.

The purpose of NCHS Clubs is to:

  • Be supportive of students who are living with mental illness

  • Provide information on school and community resources

  • Encourage people to recognize early signs of mental illness

  • Encourage students who are having mental health issues to get help

  • Work to end the stigma that surrounds mental illness

  • Create an inclusive, safe, and supportive school environment

  • Let students know there is help available if they need it


Interested in joining? Fill out the Google form and join the Remind thread to stay in the loop with club meetings, events, and more!