ABOUT TEENS4TEENSHELP
​Our Purpose
To empower teens who are suffering from emotional and mental health issues to choose their own recovery.
​Our Mission
To help teens and young adults find hope, health, and recovery from mental health and emotional challenges.
​Our vision
To be the platform to help make mental and emotional wellbeing a strategic health education goal, embraced and supported across American school systems, K-12.
​Our story
Teens4TeensHelp was founded by Jeff, Kathy, and Kara Long. Jeff and Kathy are authors of A Parent’s Guide to Anorexia. Kara is a content advisor and a member of the youth board while pursuing a PhD in Clinical Forensic Psychology at Alliant University.
Our journey started when we admitted our child into a Residential Program for the treatment of her eating disorder. It was a bumpy road with many twists and turns, but it eventually brought us here, Teens4TeensHelp.​​
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you figure out why”
- Mark Twain
You see, on the four-year journey through the untamed wilds of teen mental health recovery, we came across some powerful tools. The biggest one was when our daughter spoke at a high school with her treatment center for the 2nd time. She was informed by a student that it was because of her story the year before that he did not go through with his plans for suicide, but reached out for help instead.
WOW, she saved a life! She felt elated, and her experiences were validated. She made a difference, and the other big piece to this story is that the teen listened to what she had to say.
That was the transformational event that led to the birth of this nonprofit. Armed with the knowledge that there is tremendous power in stories and created with an understanding that teens listen best to other teens.​​
We are keenly aware that most students will not have the benefit of someone coming to their school to talk to them about mental health. With the knowledge that teens are fairly inseparable from their internet connections, we realized that this platform was the best way to reach the most people.
​
This is a project of love. We hope to positively impact the lives of thousands of teens and their families across the country and globally.
Jeff has a background in film and video production, and Kathy has had a long career in the world of healthcare as an Acupuncturist.​​
