Teen Worry and Sadness Program 

Learning About Worry and Sadness – Learn how worry and sadness affect your thoughts, behaviours and physical symptoms, CBT and think about building your support network. 

Tackling Unhelpful Thoughts – Learn about the relationship between how you think and how you feel and practise thought challenging to help you think in more realistic and helpful ways. 

Boosting Mood and Facing Fears – Learn about activities you can do to feel brighter and how to confront anxiety-provoking situations in a step-by-step way. 

Assertiveness and Coping with Stressful Situations – Learn to communicate in a confident and respectful way and learn strategies for dealing with the physical symptoms of anxiety. 

Solving Problems and Dealing with Worries – Learn to reduce stress using problem-solving techniques and the different tools you can use when you are worried. 

My Toolbox of Skills and Continuing to Improve – Learn to know when to use different tools at different times and how to stay well and keep feeling better. 

Young people from 12-17 years old who have either: 
a) been diagnosed as having anxiety and/or depression and would benefit from treatment;

OR

b) started to experience worry and/or sadness to the degree that is troubling them or affecting their life and would benefit from learning strategies to feel better.

This program can benefit both young people who have never done CBT before, and young people who have done or are currently doing CBT and would like a refresher of the tools. 

Parents or carers of young people will also benefit from information about the CBT tools their child is learning throughout the program as well as practical suggestions for how they can support them. 

People aged 16 to 17 can follow the Teen Worry and Sadness Program and/or the Student Wellness Program. When they turn 18, they will also have access to the Mixed Anxiety and Depression Program, which is reserved for adults and can be followed without clinical supervision.

This program is self-paced but is designed to be completed within 3 months. It is best to do one lesson every week or two to allow time to practise between lessons. 

When you complete the program in 3 months, you will be given another 12 months of access to help you practice your new skills and progress further. 

Please note, there is a 5-day lockout period between lessons to encourage the revision of material and to give you enough time to practise the skills you have learned. 

This program is free to enroll into under the guidance of a clinician. 

This program is only available for enrolment under clinician supervision. This clinician would be someone who knows you, the young person, such as your GP or another mental health professional. 

We encourage young people, their parents/carers and clinician to discuss what kind of support will be most beneficial to the young person as they complete this program. Before starting the program, we recommend that you and your parent/carer discuss with your clinician how you can make contact if you have questions or concerns as you proceed through the lessons.  

The parent/carer will receive an information guide with each lesson the young person does. This guide will summarise the skills taught, along with ideas for how the parent/carer can support the young person. 

The young person will benefit more from this program with support from both their parent/carer and clinician. The clinician can help the young person to apply the skills covered in the program. 

You (the young person) can access this program if your clinician is registered with ēquilia and prescribes this program to your parent/carer by e-mailing your parent/carer a personalized registration link called a “Quickscript” using our secure online system. 

Here’s how to discuss this option with your health professional: 

Step 1. Make an appointment with your clinician (e.g., your GP, Medical Specialist, Psychologist or other Mental Health Professional).

Step 2. Download, print, and take the Clinician Letter (Quebec) to your appointment. This letter outlines some information about how your clinician can register with ēquilia and prescribe our program using our online system.

Step 3. Ask your clinician if they are familiar with ēquilia and tell them about the program you’d like to do.

If your clinician is new to ēquilia, they may need some time to register and get to know our system, so you may not be able to get a program prescription right away. 

If your clinician is able to prescribe and monitor you, the young person, throughout the program, they will send your parent/carer a ‘prescription’ e-mail called a “Quickscript” via our system with details on how to enroll. 

Please note, it is up to individual clinicians to decide whether it is appropriate for them to prescribe and monitor you through one of our programs. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that your clinician will be able to assist you.  

*Please note that with the Teen Worry and Sadness Program, the clinician must prescribe the program to the parent/carer’s email address. The parent/carer can begin the registration process by clicking the link included in the prescription email that they receive from ēquilia. Following Step 3 of parent/carer registration, the young person’s details will be requested to create an account for the young person.