Joshua Wayne, MA, has worked with students in just about every setting imaginable since 1996: drug and alcohol treatment, with at-risk foster youth, community mental health, private practice, and as a Director of Special Education at District of Columbia Public Schools.
A former struggling teen himself, Joshua deeply understands what they are going through. He inspires teens to courageously face the challenges in front of them, build their self-confidence, and look toward the future with a sense of possibility. He also teaches parents, teachers, and other caring adults how best to support them through the often rocky teenage years.
With students, he addresses topics such as mental health, risky behavior, and making healthy choices.
With educators, administrators, and paraprofessionals, he addresses topics such as maintaining strong relationships, helping them avoid risky behavior, and managing tech in a healthy, positive way.
Joshua holds a Master’s Degree in Counselor Education from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago and is a Nationally Certified Counselor. He has been featured as a Life Coach on the Style Network and is the co-creator with Josh Shipp of the One Caring Adult online community.
SPEAKING TOPICS:
Using the inner struggles of superheroes as a conversation starter, Joshua discusses student mental health in a direct, powerful, and often humorous way your students will deeply relate to, which will challenge them and keep them talking about days to come.
Learning Outcomes:
- Understanding they are not alone and there are solutions to every problem.
- Knowing when, how, and who to ask for help.
- Practical tools to handle stress and strengthen mental well-being.
- Managing tech & social media in a healthy, positive way.
- When appropriate, a frank discussion about suicide and self-harm.
- Graduating from Mental Health to Mental Strength
In 2014, suicide became the 2nd leading cause of death among adolescents. Not surprisingly, at the same time, there has been a dramatic increase in lethal drug use, often driven by the same despair.
Every week in America, 22 kids die of a drug overdose, the vast majority due to fentanyl poisoning. Meanwhile, insanely potent marijuana is more widely available than ever, and the marketing of highly addictive vaping products is targeted directly at them.
Using a mixture of real-world data, impactful stories, and helpful decision-making strategies, Joshua will empower your students to make smart, informed decisions as they navigate these challenges.
Learning Outcomes:
- Straight talk about the risk factors they are facing.
- Understanding patterns of addiction, who they affect, and how.
- Practical strategies to make healthy, empowered decisions.
- Knowing how to protect their mental and physical health.
- Knowing when, how, and who to ask for help – for both themselves and others.
Working with students can be extremely rewarding, but it can also be very demanding. Not only do we have to contend with their unprecedented anxiety and depression rates, tech addiction, and exposure to risk factors like vaping, weed, and fentanyl, but we must balance it with other personal and professional demands.
We may feel overwhelmed juggling various administrative tasks, meeting compliance deadlines, or adapting curricula for a wide range of students, all while trying to maintain the critical work/life balance needed to safeguard our own mental well-being.
This can become the perfect storm for burnout. It’s easy to overlook that sometimes the caretakers need caretaking, too!
In this presentation, Joshua will share resilience tools for educators and other youth-serving professionals to avoid burnout, build a positive organizational culture, and stay healthy and balanced as they continue to guide the next generation.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- Protocols to prioritize both mental and physical self-care.
- Tools to successfully meet students’ social and emotional needs without compromising their own.
- Strengthening positive organizational culture.
- Rekindling the passion and optimism that inspired them to work with students in the first place.
A former struggling teen himself who lacked self-confidence, purpose, and direction, Joshua overcame his challenges, in large part due to the support of One Caring Adult™, who came along at just the right time. Driven by a deep desire to pay it forward, Joshua pursued a Masters Degree in Counseling and has been working with youth from all backgrounds for the past 25+ years.
Using stories, practical advice, and wisdom gained from his decades of experience, Joshua will bring his trademark humourous yet authoritative style to share practical ways that your audience can truly be that One Caring Adult in a kid’s life.
Equal parts empathy, instruction, and inspiration, this unforgettable talk will move your audience to action.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- OWNERSHIP: Help students take ownership when they inevitably mess up.
- COMMUNICATION: Improve communication (on both sides) without nagging.
- TRUST: How to gain (or regain) the trust of even the most skeptical or oppositional students.
- CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS: Get the students you work with to open up about the challenges underneath their behavior.
Joshua Wayne is a certified presenter of the One Caring Adult™ message, a registered trademark of Josh Shipp.
