5 Ways to Support Teacher Mental Wellness

Summer is upon us and hopefully fun and relaxation abound, especially for preK-12 educators. As a former school educator and administrator, I aptly recall the intensity and abundance of work that underlies instructing children. Long days of teaching and lesson planning also included correcting student behaviors, which drained the energy and emotional well-being of educators. That still holds true today amid vast teacher shortages and a severe need to support student mental wellness, so educators’ mental wellness is also important to consider.

A 2023 study revealed that teachers experience stress and burnout at higher levels than most working adults, which, if longstanding, could result in anxiety and depression.¹
This is consistent with a finding from a survey of public schools which is that 43% of their staff reported mental health struggles or observing them in a colleague.²

While most public schools give employee referrals for mental health support (directly or through employee assistance programs), most do not provide direct intervention (e.g., group- or peer-based support) due to various reasons (e.g., lack of funding).

If you’re looking for more ways to support your teachers’ well-being but don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve compiled a list of five ways to more extensively support teacher well-being. Check them out below.

5 Ways to Support Teacher Mental Wellness

Directly Address Educator Stress

Research has noted that close to 90% of teachers experience chronic stress.³

Effective stress management techniques include sports-based physical activity programs, progressive muscle relaxation with music and aromatherapy, and utilization of breathing exercises and yoga.
Here are 16 activities to reduce teachers’ stress that align with the 4 A’s (avoid, alter, accept, adapt) of stress relief.

Want to dive even deeper? The three approaches below have been offered by mental health professionals as effective methods for stress reduction and are a good starting point for further research.

• Mindfulness-based interventions, especially those that include cognitive-behavioral therapy
• Rational Emotive Occupational Coaching (REOHC)
• Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction (IBSR)

Listen To Your Teachers

Administrators can learn from educators how they are feeling and what they think will work to better support their mental health.

For example, teachers have indicated that students’ mental health issues are negatively impacting academic learning, social-emotional learning, and teachers’ efforts to manage classroom behavior, which impacts teachers’ mental health.

Five common suggestions from teachers about how their mental health can be supported are:^4,5

1. More time to put into practice what was learned from professional development
2. Mental health programming for teachers
3. A pay raise or bonus to alleviate financial stress
4. More and improved support with student behavioral issues
5. Smaller class sizes

Teacher Preparation

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA), educators are often the first ones to notice mental health struggles in students.⁶ However, only 9% of public schools surveyed strongly felt they could provide effective mental health support to students in need (U.S. Department of Education School Pulse Panel Survey, 2024).²

Given that the majority of schools lack access to a licensed mental health professional (U.S. Department of Education School Pulse Panel Survey, 2024),² a big and challenging need is student mental health training for teachers.

While pre-service educators report minimal levels of student mental health training,
research shows that those who completed student mental health training felt more confident in their ability to support students’ mental health needs.⁷ The same holds true for in-service teachers.

An example of an evidence-based in-service teacher training is Mental Health FIRST AID from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.⁸ Studies have indicated that the program:

• Increases educators’ knowledge of signs, symptoms, and risks associated with mental health challenges
• Decreases educators’ stigma about mental illness
• Increases teacher empathy toward students with mental challenges

Importantly, teachers have used the skills and information to manage their own mental well-being.

Embrace Community Partnerships

Schools are where most students receive support for mental health issues.^9,10

Since school-based mental health professionals are scarce, schools should seek community partnerships that will expand people and material resource support.
School partnerships with community behavioral health clinics have increased access to mental health implementation evaluations and school-based mental health care.

There is a need for interprofessional collaboration between school staff, mental health professionals, policymakers, community organizations, and general practitioners.
The unique expertise and resources of different partners can result in better tailored interventions that more effectively address students’ mental health needs.

Community partnerships allow for students to receive mental health support within and beyond the schools, which supports the continuity of care, and reduces the burden on teachers to act as primary mental health providers for students.¹¹

Seek High Quality Resources

As indicated above, most public schools do not have sufficient funding or staff with expertise to provide effective mental health services. High quality, free health education that supports student mental health wellness is available from Everfi,
e.g., The Compassion Project (grades 2-6), Character Playbook: Building Healthy Relationships (grades 6-9), Understanding Mental Wellness (grades 8-12).

This type of support is critical since implementation of student mental wellness programs has been found to positively impact teachers’ emotional wellbeing and their ability to manage student behaviors.

If you’re like me and love research and data, check out our Mental Wellness Education Report. In it you will learn how districts across the nation are building more self-aware and resilient students.

References

1. Sandilos LE, Neugebauer SR, DiPerna JC, et al. Social-emotional learning for whom? Implications of a universal SEL program and teacher well-being for teachers’ interactions with students. School Ment Health. 2023;15:190-201. doi: 10.1007/s12310-022-09543-0.
2. School Pulse Panel 2021–22, 2022–23, and 2023–24. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed June 20, 2024.https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/spp/results.asp.
3. Agyapong B, Brett-MacLean P, Burback L, et al. Interventions to reduce stress and burnout among teachers: A scoping review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023;20(9):5625. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20095625.
4. Will M. Here’s what teachers say they need most to manage stress, mental health. Education Week. Published July 18, 2023. Accessed June 20, 2024. https://www.edweek.org/….
5. Will M. Teachers are stressed and disrespected, but happier than last year: 7 takeaways from new poll. Education Week. Published May 22, 2023. Accessed June 20, 2024. https://www.edweek.org/….
6. For educators. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Updated April 24, 2023. Accessed June 20, 2024. https://www.samhsa.gov/mental-health/how-to-talk/educators.
7. Brann K, Clemons C, Meehan C, et al. Examining pre-service teacher mental health training and self-efficacy at one American university. Exceptionality Education International. 2022;32(1):35-54.
8. National Council for Mental Wellbeing. Research and evidence base. Mental Health First Aid. Accessed June 20, 2024. https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/about/research/.
9. Atkins MS, Hoagwood KE, Kutash K, Seidman E. Toward the integration of education and mental health in schools. Administration and Policy in Mental Health. 2010;37(1-2):40–47.
10. EAB. Are districts the nation’s adolescent mental health care providers? A mandate to support seven million students in crisis. Published 2020. Accessed June 20, 2024. https://attachment.eab.com/…/Adolescent-Mental-Health.pdf.
11. Wiedermann CJ, Barbieri V, Plagg B, et al. Fortifying the foundations: A comprehensive approach to enhancing mental health support in educational policies amidst crises. Healthcare (Basel). 2023;11(10):1423. doi: 10.3390/healthcare11101423.