Despite real concerns with access, we have more therapeutic professionals than ever before. We also have more empirically supported therapies, mental illness diagnoses, and pharmaceutical interventions. The described rates of mental illness and youth distress, however, continue to cause alarm and indicate something many have referred to as a youth mental health crisis. With rising concerns about youth mental health comes universalist approaches to improving mental health.
In late 2025, the federal government enacted social media bans for individuals under 16 years of age. Significant expansions to the national youth mental health services have improved access, and millions of dollars have been spent on improving awareness. However, there remains an increasing number of young people who require and do not receive adequate care. It remains a fair question whether these universal approaches are moving the needle in the right direction.
This presentation examines the environment adults have created for children and adolescents, the impact of the changing world on mental health, and what is essential to the adventure of adolescence: identity formation. Avoiding sensationalism or calls for increased intervention, this presentation offers a hopeful frame for how we can protect the spirit of youth and create a world conducive to fostering improved well-being, engagement, and participation.

Three Key Learnings:
1. When it comes to working therapeutically with youth, we have an engagement problem. The most common number of sessions with a therapeutic professional attended is one.

2. Youth should be treated as crew, not passengers, when we hope to work with them towards improving mental health outcomes.

3. Social connectedness is far and away one of the most critical protective factors to one’s sense of self and well-being. Connection before correction should be applied to youth mental health services as an essential consideration beyond intake models of care.