Teen mental health
What young people are actually dealing with - identity, peer support, help-seeking and the research behind it.
Let's Be Real - Mental Health for Young Minds
Resources
Articles and guides for the three groups who shape a young person's mental health: young people themselves, the parents at home and the adults at school.
Everything here is free to read and free to share with your community.
Parent guides
Practical guidance on noticing early signs, holding hard conversations and supporting a teenager without taking over.
School wellbeing articles
For educators and leaders: strategy that changes behaviour, staff wellbeing, and mental health first aid in school settings.
Workshops and training
When reading is not enough, our workshops and training programmes turn these ideas into practised skills.
About Let's Be Real
Let's Be Real - Mental Health for Young Minds is a European mental health education provider specialising in whole-community mental health literacy and Youth Mental Health Response training for international schools. The organisation delivers workshops, parent programmes, educator training in English and German to help schools create a shared language for recognising, responding to, and talking about mental health.
Let's Be Real
How our programmes fit together
Everything we offer sits under three levels. Terms like school wellbeing, student wellbeing or MHFA-informed training describe parts of these levels, not separate programmes.
1. Understand
Mental Health Literacy2. Respond
Youth Mental Health ResponseNOTICE · HOLD · LEAD
3. Embed
Whole-School CapabilityAudit · Strategy · Implementation
Free guides
Three short, practical downloads - one for each group who shapes a young person's mental health.
For school leaders
The School Mental Health Capability Framework
One page: Understand, Respond, Embed and the six capability areas behind them. Rate your school in ten minutes.
Download the PDF (1 page)For parents
10 Questions That Help Teenagers Open Up
Questions that get past fine, plus what to say when your teenager shuts the conversation down.
Get the guideFor teachers
Recognising Early Signs of Student Mental Health Challenges
What to look for, what to say in the first five minutes, and how to hand over without breaking trust.
Get the guide
Latest articles
Neurodivergence
“I Don’t Want Them to Know”: Stigma and Neurodivergent Students
When a diagnosis becomes a label in the classroom, fear of judgement can become a burden of its own. One 10-year-old’s story shows why supporting neurodivergent students means working with the whole school community, not only the individual child.
Jacqueline Klemke - 03/10/2026
Neurodivergence
ADHD Awareness Month: Different Brains, Real Strengths
October is ADHD Awareness Month. Beyond the statistics, this article looks at the strengths that often come with ADHD — creativity, energy, hyperfocus and original thinking — and why ADHD can look very different from one young person to another, so schools need customised approaches rather than one-size-fits-all support.
Jacqueline Klemke - 02/10/2026
Mental Health Literacy
Reducing Stigma: Why It Decides Whether Young People Open Up
Most young people who struggle stay silent not because no one is there, but because they fear what speaking up will cost them. This article explains how stigma keeps people quiet, what young people are listening for, and how adults and schools can make opening up feel safe and normal.
Jacqueline Klemke - 26/09/2026
Parents
How to Talk to a Teenager Who Won't Talk
Shrugs, one-word answers and closed doors can leave parents feeling shut out. This article explains why teenagers go quiet and shares gentle, practical ways to keep connection alive, from side-by-side conversations to listening without rushing to fix.
Jacqueline Klemke - 26/09/2026
Parents
Teenage Withdrawal: When Should Parents Worry?
Needing more privacy is a normal part of growing up, but some withdrawal is a sign that a young person is struggling. This article helps parents tell the difference, start a caring conversation and know when and where to seek support.
Jacqueline Klemke - 24/09/2026
Parents
How Social Media Affects Teenage Self-Worth
Social media can be a place of connection and creativity, and a constant mirror that measures looks and popularity. This article explores how feeds shape teenage self-worth and offers conversation starters and small changes that help.
Jacqueline Klemke - 22/09/2026
Go straight to the right programme
Looking for a programme, not an article?
Choose the phrase closest to what you need and we will take you to the training or workshop that matches it.
22 matches
If you are a school leader
- Mental health literacy schoolsSix literacy modules for students, staff and parents
- Youth mental health response trainingYouth Mental Health Response, our adapted response training
- Whole school approach to mental healthStaff, students and parents trained with one framework
- Mental health training for schoolsWhole-school training for staff, students and parents
- International school wellbeing programmeA bilingual whole-school programme for international schools
- International school mental healthTraining written for mobile, multilingual school communities
- Wellbeing workshops for schoolsStaff, student and parent sessions, booked one at a time
- School wellbeing consultingAn audit of your strategy, policy and referral pathways
If you are an educator
- Educator mental health trainingNOTICE, HOLD and LEAD training for school staff
- Tiered mental health training for schoolsNOTICE for parents, HOLD for teachers, LEAD for leaders
- Teacher mental health trainingYouth Mental Health Response, tiered by role
- MHFA training for schoolsMHFA-informed training built on our ANCHOR framework
- Staff INSET day on mental healthA full or half-day staff session on noticing and responding
If you are looking for students
- How to talk about mental health in schoolBuilding one shared language across the community
- Student mental health curriculumOur six Mental Health Literacy modules across the school year
- Mental health workshops for studentsNinety-minute sessions for students aged 9-18
- Mental health literacy programmeSix classroom modules on emotions, resilience and help-seeking
- Teen mental health informationPlain-language guides for young people
If you are a parent or carer
- How to respond when a teenager opens upThe ANCHOR framework, our six-step supportive response
- NOTICE parent workshopThe NOTICE workshop in full - outcomes, ages, facilitators and dates
- Parent mental health workshopThe NOTICE 4-hour parent workshop in two 2-hour live sessions, with dates you can book
- Advice for parents on youth mental healthOur parent guides
Recommended next step
Mental health training for schools
This hub covers whole-school mental health capability, so most readers are weighing up what a school-wide programme would involve.
Whole-school programmes for staff, students and families, in English and German.
Book a school discovery callFrom reading to training
Turn this into something your community can practise
These guides are the thinking behind our programmes. When you are ready to put it into practice, here is where it becomes live training.
- Mental health training for schoolsWhole-school programmes for staff, students and families, in English and German.See the programme
- Youth Mental Health ResponseMHFA-informed response training: staff learn to NOTICE, HOLD and LEAD.See the programme
- NOTICE parent workshopA 4-hour parent workshop delivered as two 2-hour live sessions.See the programme
Related pages
- Guides: answers for leaders, teachers and parents
- 5-minute school capability check
- School mental health readiness
- What a school mental health audit should cover
- Building sustainable mental health provision
- Mental health and safeguarding
- How to measure school mental health
- Teen mental health
- Parent guides
- School wellbeing articles
- What is mental health literacy?
- What is Youth Mental Health Response?
- What is the ANCHOR framework?
- Building a culture of belonging
- All blog posts
- Wellbeing Dialogues podcast
Ask us about this programme
Tell us a little about your school or family and we will reply with dates, formats and pricing - usually within one working day.
Want this in your school?
We turn these resources into live training for students, staff and parents, in English and German.