Orford
“Parents are literally getting second mortgages and having to sell their home to send their children out for treatment,” Perry said. “We need to be able to bring this to the masses.”
Last June, the pair started We R Hope, a youth anxiety coaching organization that is beginning to do just that. Originally started as a business, We R Hope became a nonprofit this April. Their staff also includes clinical director Wesley Wolter, who is a psychotherapist.
“The thought around it was, ‘How can we impact the most people?’ ” Perry said. “What about the kids who don’t have the resources who have anxiety?”
Perry and Reinstein are coaches: They use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and life coaching to help kids come up with strategies to help them combat their anxiety. The coaching is not counseling. We R Hope typically works with children ages 10-17, but also have worked with kids as young as eight.
For example, one of the coaches might assist a student who is struggling in math because they’re stuck on the thought that they can’t do the work because it’s too hard.
“But the real fear around that is failure, so they refuse to go to class,” Perry explained. They then would help that child identify that fear and methods to calm it. “We work them through changing their emotional state, … thereby changing that behavior,” he said.
We R Hope also has started to work in area schools, including Claremont Middle School.
“We understand that schools are struggling to find the resources to support their students,” Perry said. “What we’re trying to do is offer individualized support for students in the school.”
When the coaches go into schools, they meet with students one on one to discuss their goals and come up with methods to work through the anxiety.
“We’re creating these goals and these action plans in conjunction with them and working through them,” Perry said. “We’re there five days a week meeting with the kids.”
The organization also is holding retreats and events throughout the community. The Upper Valley Teen Wellness Retreat will be held Saturday and Sunday, June 30 and July 1, at Milldale Farm Center for Wellness, 1478 Blood Brook Road, in Fairlee. Wolter is the owner and founder of Milldale. The suggested donation for the retreat is $300; however, people are welcome to donate what they can.
“These kids don’t have the value to believe that they are someone special,” Perry said, adding that he believes some of that has to do with what they see posted on social media: “Children are judging themselves based on what they’re seeing and that’s just not reality.”
We R Hope will be hosting adolescent anxiety and youth crisis management programs at area libraries this summer.
July 9: 6-8 p.m., Howe Library, 13 South St., Hanover.
July 11: 6-8 p.m., Fairlee Public Library, 221 Route 5, Fairlee.
July 12: 6-8 p.m., Orford Social Library, 573 Main St., Orford.
July 13: 6-8 p.m., Kilton Public Library, 80 S. Main St., West Lebanon.
July 14: 10 a.m.-noon, Bradford Public Library, 21 S. Main St., Bradford.
July 16: 6-8 p.m., Norwich Public Library, 368 S. Main St., Norwich.
July 17: 2-4 p.m., Hartford Library, 1587 Maple St., Hartford Village.
July 18: 6-8 p.m., Converse Free Library, 38 Union St., Lyme.
July 19: 6-8 p.m., Tenney Memorial Library, 4886 S. Main St., Newbury.
Editor’s note: For more information, contact Perry at 802-234-3581 or visit https://werhope.org/. Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
