Who Do I See as a Mental Health Mentor?

Being a mental health mentor brings with it an incredible variety of students. Every person arrives with their own experiences, their own worries, and their own perception of what the problem is.

I see anxious students, frustrated students, overwhelmed students, chaotic students, low students, literal students, depressed students, disorganised students, stressed students, angry students, upset students and traumatised students. The variety is endless.

It would be easy to stay focused on those labels. Easy to look only at the challenge someone is facing and the thing they hope to overcome.

But that is rarely the full picture.

Because the same students I just described are also incredibly creative students, caring students, empathetic students, determined students, persistent students, loving students, confident students and motivated students.

Often the very traits someone believes are holding them back are closely connected to the strengths that make them who they are.

It can be a bit like looking at a stormy sea. From the surface it looks chaotic and overwhelming. The waves crash, the water churns and it feels difficult to navigate. But beneath the surface there is depth, life, and powerful currents moving with purpose. If we only focus on the waves, we miss everything that exists underneath.

I’m sometimes reminded of Good Will Hunting (Van Sant, 1997). At the beginning of the film, Will is seen largely through the lens of his problems—anger, defensiveness, and self-sabotage. Yet as the story unfolds, those same traits sit alongside extraordinary intelligence, loyalty, humour and depth. The “problem” was never the whole person.

People are rarely just one thing.

There are always two sides to the story. The challenges we face and the strengths we carry alongside them.

So perhaps the more useful question isn’t only what is the problem?

It might also be:

What are your amazing strengths?

References:

Van Sant, G. (1997) Good Will Hunting. United States: Miramax Films.