Londono's Wise Mind School teaches students emotional resilience

Alicia Londono, MD, said schools do a wonderful job teaching academic subjects, but often they do not help students learn how to be emotionally resilient and happy.

The second-year resident in the Yale Department of Psychiatry created the web-based curriculum Wise Mind School to fill that void. The 12-session online program teaches early adolescents -- specifically middle schoolers -- essential cognitive, emotional, and social skills to minimize disruptive behaviors.

Londono developed the curriculum last summer during her three-month CASE rotation at Yale. She reviewed similar programs, but said most are very costly for school districts to purchase. Wise Mind School can be used by anyone with access to the web.

“The idea was to make it free and accessible,” she said. “They can use it and incorporate it into their curriculum.”

After conceiving the project, Londono ran the idea past her advisor, Zheala Qayyum, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry. Qayyum recommended the program be developed for middle schoolers, and helped Londono create age-appropriate concepts for the students

“This is a time when kids are building their confidence and competence, and their disruptive behaviors get in the way of positive peer relationships and positive self esteem,” said Qayyum, who credited Londono for her hard work and creativity. “The schools are now implementing these things in order to address emotional intelligence and conflict resolution.”

The interactive program is broken up into three sections that help students assess their thoughts, feelings, and interpersonal skills. Each section has four activities that address different topics, and each includes an introductory video and worksheets.

Among the topics are positive thinking, delayed gratification, identifying and mastering feelings, mindfulness, being a good listener, being assertive, and negative consequences of using drugs and alcohol.

Londono said she wanted to provide children with tools to become stronger emotionally before problem behaviors develop. She wanted to help them learn how to evaluate their own thoughts, recognize their feelings, and shift their behaviors.

Qayyum said schools are where the program will be most effective.

“That’s where kids live,” she said. “If we can start delivering these services from the school rather than use the reactive model that we have where they come to mental health when things are terrible … we can have a much better outcome.”

She said Wise Mind School is available for free to school districts nationwide.