Food plays a role in our emotional, physical and even psychological health. In this episode of Classroom Café, Leeann Rybakov, a health coach who is certified in functional medicine, will discuss how we can make healthier choices to support our overall well-being. Rybakov will share some practical and time-saving food choices that will nourish our bodies and spare our wallets.

• Free Pantry Swaps Resources from Leeann Rybakov
• Leeann Rybakov on Instagram

Mindfulness strategies can help teenagers take back some control over their emotions and overall mental health. In this episode of Classroom Café, Lexi Mulee, a licensed mental health clinician who works with teens, will discuss some short, innovative approaches to mindfulness that pique teens’ interest, including mindfulness meditation. This is a technique that can calm anxieties and help both teens and adults manage their emotions.

Teenagers test limits and push boundaries. But some behaviors, such as withdrawing from friends and family or increased anger and mood swings, may indicate your teenager or child is struggling with their mental health. In this episode of Classroom Café, we are joined by Lexi Mulee, a licensed mental health clinician and the founder of Wise Mind Counseling. Mulee specializes in working with teens and will discuss ways to build positive relationships with them as well as the warning signs that your student may need help.

Grief is an intensely personal experience, which can look very different from one person to the next. There is no "right" way to grieve. In this episode of the Classroom Café podcast, we are joined by Ashley Groesbeck, a clinical social worker, and Alain Metellus, the UFT’s director of crisis intervention, for a discussion of ways we can validate the experience for the bereaved and help them, or ourselves, to accept and move through the grieving process.

What does addiction look like, and how can our personal biases, experiences and judgments affect the way we view this illness? In this episode of the Classroom Café podcast, we are joined by Steven Sulzer, a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, educator and credentialed substance use disorder counselor. He will share his own experience as well as tools and resources we can use when a family member or loved one may be dealing with substance misuse.

Learn practices, techniques and resources that can be used in school-based settings to identify survivors of domestic violence and support their health and well-being. In this episode of the Classroom Café podcast, Jules Perkél, a trauma psychotherapist and clinical social worker, will discuss the most commonly seen behaviors of survivors of domestic violence and the best practices when working with those who have experienced this trauma.

Students are trying to figure out how to navigate the new school year.  In this episode of the Classroom Café podcast, Dr. Miri Rosen talks about how educators can support students while reengaging with them at school. Learn how to identify students in need and how creating healthy boundaries and engaging in self-care can benefit our students.  Dr. Rosen is a board-certified child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist.

Here we are in the 2021-22 school year, still dealing with COVID-19,  wearing masks, social distancing and trying to manage stressors created by the pandemic. In this episode of the Classroom Café podcast, mental health speaker and best-selling author Mike Veny will discuss the “next normal” and how to support people where they are.  Listen in for tips on how you can maintain your own mental wellness and support others with compassion and concern.