Lisa Garcia, Project Director, Recovery International

Meet Max. Like most other youth these days, he is experiencing high levels of anxiety and letting his temper get the best of him. In fact, according to Mental Health America, one in five teens live with mental illness and 75% of all lifetime mental illnesses develop by age 24. Early intervention is key to preventing more extensive mental health challenges.

To meet this need, Recovery International launched Power Your Mind with Max and other characters in a new self-help workbook for teens and young adults. The program uses graphic novel panels to illustrate situations and engage youth in learning tools to use to respond to daily stressors and situations.

The program offers healthy living habits and life skills to:  

• Control anger,
• Alleviate anxiety,
• Develop and maintain peaceful relationships at home, school, and work, and
• Establish realistic expectations and beliefs.

Power Your Mind helps people learn to gain control of themselves rather than be controlled by the people and events around them. Both youth and caregivers can utilize this self-help method. In fact, practicing this as a family brings about the best results. 

Print your own Mini-Zine with tools for coping at poweryourmind.org/zine-landing-page/. Keep checking back for new Zines featuring different topics. In this latest edition, you’ll see how Max uses tools to calm his “angry temper.”  

Want to learn more about tools for fearful temper, inner and outer environment, being group-minded, and facing your fears? This online workbook will show you how to use those tools and the 4-step method to achieve better mental health at poweryourmind.org. For more than 80 years, Recovery International has helped adults achieve better mental health using a peer-led, cognitive-behavioral, 4-step method and tools developed by neuropsychiatrist Dr. Abraham Low.