When we talk about healing in the context of school-based mental health, we often focus on what we can do to help students and families. But what if true healing starts with what people can do for themselves — and how we, as providers, make space for that power to emerge? That’s where the concept of agency becomes essential. Within a healing-centered engagement (HCE) framework, agency means recognizing and restoring a person’s power to shape their own healing journey. It’s the belief that everyone, regardless of circumstance, holds the capacity to lead their own growth and transformation.
​
What We Mean by “Agency”
Agency is the ability to make choices, influence outcomes, and shape one’s own story. Within a healing-centered engagement (HCE) framework, agency reminds us that everyone — students, caregivers, and staff alike — holds the wisdom and capacity to lead their own healing journey. Our role is not to “fix” people but to walk beside them as they reconnect with their own strengths.

From Trauma-Informed to Healing-Centered
Dr. Shawn Ginwright, who developed HCE, invites us to move beyond the question “What happened to you?” and toward “What’s right with you?” This shift reframes healing from an individual recovery process to a collective one that honors identity, culture, and community. When we center agency, we acknowledge that the people we serve are not defined by trauma but by possibility.

What Agency Looks Like in Practice
In our partnerships with schools, centering agency might mean involving students in setting their own wellness goals, collaborating with caregivers on culturally grounded strategies, or empowering teachers to use restorative approaches in their classrooms. It’s about co-creation — not compliance — and about creating spaces where every voice has value.
Many of the young people and families we serve have experienced systems that disempowered them or made them feel unseen. By centering agency, we acknowledge their lived experiences as sources of wisdom rather than deficits. When clients feel a sense of choice and ownership, engagement deepens and trust grows.

For Staff, Too
Agency isn’t just for the students and families we serve. It’s for us as professionals, too. Healing-centered work invites us to reflect on how we show up — to notice when we are leading with curiosity, humility, and openness, and when we might unintentionally take control of someone else’s process. Building a culture of agency within our organization means fostering spaces where staff voice is valued, creativity is encouraged, and wellness is prioritized. 
​
In a field that can easily lean into burnout or over-responsibility, reclaiming our own agency also means noticing when we’re holding too much, or when we need to pause and listen. It also means having the freedom and trust to bring our creativity and cultural wisdom into the work.

Pause and Reflect
Ultimately, centering agency reminds us that healing is not something we deliver; it’s something we cultivate with others. When we trust in the strengths of our clients, our partners, and ourselves, we create environments where true healing — and lasting change — can take root.
 
Some Questions for Thought:
How are you currently fostering agency — in yourself, your clients, or your colleagues?
And just as importantly: Where might you step back, so that someone else can step forward?

Blog By: Joline Castaneda, Manager of Operations

Blog by: Devina Brooks, Director of School Partnerships

The UE Constellation & UE HEART programs have collaborated with the Hayward Arts Council and Hayward Public Library for another year of celebrating our young artists. Our annual Student Art Show opened on April 9th where we welcomed families, staff and community members to view the exhibit, enjoy light refreshments, and hear one of our very own students, a very talented pianist, play live music for attendees.
 
This Art Show began 7 years ago out of an incredibly talented group of students whose passion for art was contagious and we knew needed to be celebrated. Luckily, we built a connection with the Hayward Arts Council, which has given us the opportunity to have our students artwork on display at various galleries in Hayward over the years.
 
This event has become one of our favorite parts of the school year, and we’ve learned that our local community enjoys celebrating out student’s creative abilities just as much as we do! If you’d like to check out our student’s artwork in person, this year’s exhibit is still on display at the Hayward Public Library, 2nd floor, through Saturday, May 17th. Or you can also view the artwork, as well as purchase any pieces that interest you, on our website, https://give.classy.org/2025StudentArtShow
​

​We are in the golden age of podcasts where you can find a lot of different programs focusing on clinical work and the socio-cultural. For those of us with 30+ minute commutes, finding the right thing to listen to is essential to our professional growth and general self-care. Given so many to choose from, here are a couple recommendations for updated podcasts with some interesting subject material:

Between Us: A Psychtherapy Podcast

This podcast is hosted primarily by John Totten, a psychotherapist practicing in the Pacific Northwest. Season 4 comes about after an almost 3 year break from the initial run of the podcast but continues to showcase the varied works of different psychotherapist, psychoanalysts, and people interested in the intersection between therapy and society. For those who are interested in Relational approaches to psychotherapy/psychoanalysis, culture, and identity, this is a must.

Therapy for Black Girls

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, PsyD. Is a psychologist from the Atlanta, Georgia area and has been providing a nearly weekly podcast for over 7 years! The podcast features numerous conversations on topics particular to to BIPOC experience including respectability politics, dealing with imposter syndrome, and interviews with other amazing healers in the field.

Divergent Conversations | A Neurodivergent Podcast

The podcast is hosted by Patrick Casale and Dr. Megan Anna Neff, two AuDHD mental health professionals and entrepreneurs, and features other well-known leaders in the mental health, neurodivergent, and neurodivergent-affirming community. Highlighting the “nothing about us, without us” frame of having neurodiverse folks speak about their own experiences, this podcast has a range of conversations regarding areas such as diagnosis, masking, and autistic burnout to name a few

Room: A Sketchbook for Analytic Action 

On this podcast, writers, poets, activists, artists, and analysts who have contributed to ROOM (a free interdisciplinary magazine) converse about their work in larger connection to our complex world and narrative informed practices (including psychotherapy). The podcast is co-hosted by psychoanalytic candidates Isaac Slone and Aneta Stojnić and furthers ROOM’s mission to highlight psychoanalysis as an important lens for social discourse.

What are you all listening to?
 
Mosaic & Pathways Team

Blog By: Linzy Gustafson, Director of Operations

​Going into our 2nd year of partnership with Castlemont Elementary School we started off this year with a ‘Back to School Retreat Day’ for our Counseling Enriched Classroom (CEC) program consisting of our Seneca staff team (therapist, student support assistants, supervisors) along with school district staff. This was a way for us to come together to celebrate our successes and progress over the past year as well as acknowledge the challenges and areas of growth to strengthen our communication, understanding and collaboration with one another. Providing safe, inclusive, and fun learning spaces for our students means also continually bringing intentionality in creating this environment for the adults who work together on this team. We started the day with a mindfulness grounding exercise led by our Seneca school based therapist and then engaged in a powerful icebreaker ‘Just By Looking at Me’ where each of us took turns to share the vulnerable aspects of ourselves others may not know or see from the outside, helping to build empathy and  understanding with one another. As always, in the beginning of the school year, we felt it was also important to ground ourselves in the Unconditional Education (UE) model to remember our purpose, values and mission in supporting the students. We then reviewed over CASEL 5 SEL (social-emotional learning) core competencies and each picked one we felt aligned with to focus on intentionally this year for team. From this, we created community agreements to hold in all our spaces with one another and reflected on our overall Team Journey of Life, identifying the successes and obstacles we have overcome as well as the ongoing dynamics and challenges we will face on the horizon. One of the intentions behind this particular activity as outlined beautifully by the authors (McParland et al., 2022) of the article ‘Narrative therapy approaches to team away days: creating communities’ is ‘to give space to acknowledge that the journey has not always been smooth, whilst also providing hope and a pathway for the future’. Each of us have unique qualities and skills we bring and it is important to remember especially in times of tension/stress how we are stronger together with our different ideas and perspectives, shifting narratives we may hold about ourselves or others and to connect, transform and strengthen our team identity. 

Blog By: Jennifer Lin, Clinical Supervisor

​Several weeks ago, some colleagues and I lead a Professional Learning Community (PLC) centering around the importance of play in schools. The theme and it’s touch points have been lingering in my mind ever since. In a world that increasingly values academic achievement and measurable outcomes, it’s easy to overlook the simple yet profound role of play in a child’s development. Play, often seen as a break from learning, is actually an essential part of the educational process. Far from being a frivolous activity, play nurtures cognitive, social, and emotional growth in ways that traditional learning methods cannot. When integrated thoughtfully into the school day, play helps foster creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and resilience.

Play isn’t just fun—it’s foundational for a child’s cognitive development. When children engage in pretend play, for example, they exercise their imagination, problem-solving skills, and ability to think abstractly. Activities like building with blocks, solving puzzles, or engaging in role-playing allow children to make connections between their ideas and the world around them. These types of play help children make sense of abstract concepts they may later encounter in their academic work, such as math, science, and language arts.

Beyond cognitive benefits, play is a critical aspect of social and emotional learning. Through play, children learn how to communicate effectively, collaborate with peers, negotiate, and resolve conflicts. These skills are developed naturally in group games or cooperative tasks, where children have to share, take turns, and support each other. Such social interactions help children understand empathy, respect, and the value of teamwork—skills that are essential not only in school but also in life.

Moreover, play provides children with the space to express their emotions and navigate complex social dynamics. Whether playing a game with classmates or engaging in imaginative play with friends, children practice emotional regulation, learn to manage frustrations, and understand how to respond to others’ feelings. These emotional competencies are vital for building self-confidence and resilience, both of which are key to thriving in a school environment.

Physical play is just as important as cognitive and social play. It allows children to develop fine and gross motor skills, coordination, balance, and strength. Running, jumping, climbing, or even something as simple as playing catch, all contribute to a child’s physical health and well-being. These activities not only promote fitness but also improve brain function, enhancing concentration and focus in academic tasks.

In a school setting, outdoor play provides a break from the sedentary nature of classroom learning. This physical release helps children expend excess energy, which can, in turn, improve their attention span and ability to focus when it's time for more structured learning.

In an ever-changing world that demands innovation, creativity is a skill that students must develop from an early age. Play, particularly unstructured play, nurtures creativity by allowing children to explore, experiment, and think outside the box. Through imaginative play, children can step into different roles, experiment with new scenarios, and come up with solutions to problems they encounter in their games. This flexibility in thinking lays the groundwork for creative problem-solving skills that will serve them in academic and real-world challenges.

In addition to fostering creativity, play also encourages curiosity. When children are given the freedom to explore without a specific outcome or goal in mind, they naturally ask questions and seek answers. This inquisitive mindset is the foundation of lifelong learning, a trait that schools should strive to cultivate in every student.
 
School can be a source of stress for children, especially as they face increased academic pressure, tests, and expectations. Play offers a healthy outlet for managing stress. By providing opportunities for children to relax and unwind through play, schools can help alleviate anxiety and prevent burnout. Playful activities allow children to momentarily disconnect from academic stress, helping to restore their energy and enthusiasm for learning.

The benefits of play on mental health are particularly important in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world. By fostering environments where play is encouraged, schools can provide a sense of balance for students, supporting their overall well-being and happiness.
 
The importance of play in school cannot be overstated. Play is not merely a break from learning but an essential component of a child’s educational experience. It fosters cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development, while promoting creativity, stress relief, and a love for learning. Schools that recognize the value of play create environments where children are not only equipped with knowledge but are also empowered to think critically, collaborate with others, and develop the skills they need to succeed both in and out of the classroom.

As we approach the winter holiday season, channel your inner child, go out, and play!

Blog By: Daniel Perez, Program Director

​I am so excited to share that our new Berkeley School Medi-Cal Therapy Program is up and running. We hit the ground running with a fantastic team that provides thoughtful therapeutic services to kids and families at 5 different school sites. We provide services at Longfellow Middle School, Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, Willard Middle School, Sylvia Mendez Elementary, and Berkeley Technology Academy. Each site is unique and special in its own way with at least 1 therapist assigned to each site. Our team is dynamic, kind, thoughtful, invested in the well-being of the program, the students, families, school partners and each other.

As the new school year began back in August, we started with zero clients and  through collaboration with each school’s administration team to develop referral pocesses, we are now proudly serving 30+ students and running 3 groups, with more plans of expansion in the coming months. We have principals hugging us at the end of meetings and thanking us for our partnership, BUSD district partners emailing appreciation for our presence at their school sites, and most importantly students who are dropping by the therapist’s office to seek out support from them and families asking for us to work with them. We started this program less than 4 months ago and already have made a positive presence, thanks to the care and commitment of each person on our team making that effort and impact. We like to say that we are “small BUT mighty!”

​As part of our commitment to building a strong and connected community with each other, we have scheduled team outings, including an initial FUN DAY to kick off the school season. We went Axe Throwing in Berkeley (not all team members are in the photo, some joined later in the school year). This team has come together to not only provide such important quality care and collaborative partnerships, but also care in building connection with each other and having fun along the way. As they say, “Team work, makes the dream work,” and this team is proof of that motto. 

Blog By: Eidit Choochage, Director of School Partnerships

Blog By: Stacey Buenavista, Director of School Partnerships

​In January of this year, Hayward became the first city in the Bay Area, and one of the first cities in the country, to divest the city’s stock ownership stakes in four companies that support the genocide of Palestinians (Chevron, Hyundai, Intel and Caterpillar).

​Hayward’s holdings in the four companies amounted to $1.6 million and the motion narrowly passed with a vote of 4-3 from the Hayward City Council. During the city council meeting, nearly 50 people provided public comments, the majority of which were youth from Hayward Public Schools (and some from the schools that we partner with).
​
The HEART program is proud to work with youth fighting for the collective liberation of all oppressed people and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim families in our Hayward community.

Blog By: Jesse Wiltey, Assistant Director of School Partnerships