Fox Lane Middle Schoolers Engaged in Empowering Presentation on Mental Health

When Fox Lane Middle School eighth graders entered the Suzanne Grant Theater recently, they had no idea what they were in for. Student Assistance Counselor Annemarie Feddeck invited Dr. Matt Bellace — a neuropsychologist who blends science, stand-up comedy and inspirational stories to engage students — to present to the school about the science behind “natural highs” and the importance of mental health. The experience had students actively participating, belly laughing and hanging on to Dr. Bellace’s every word.

Dr. Bellace grabbed the students’ attention immediately when he started his presentation with a physical challenge that required collaboration and trust while demonstrating the importance of support. Two groups of students laid back on chairs, crossed over one another. Slowly and carefully, the chairs were removed, one by one. The crowd cheered as students supported one another and kept their formation. One group successfully stayed up even when all the chairs were removed.

“When you surround yourself with positive support, you can achieve seemingly impossible things,” Dr. Bellace said, adding that “Social support and mental health are intimately linked.”

To further prove his point, Dr. Bellace told a story about a surfing lesson he took in Portugal. He wasn’t used to big waves, so he was nervous about wiping out. His instructor encouraged him and told him he’d be right there for him. While he did wipe out, Dr. Bellace was able to recover and keep going.

“The number one predictor of your behavior is the friends you surround yourself with,” he told students.

Dr. Bellace also talked about dealing with stressful situations.

“I’m envious of you,” he told students. “You’re about to face so many big moments in the next few years. And with those moments come big emotions.”

He walked students through a five-finger breathing exercise, asking them to note how their breathing calmed and their heart rates slowed.

“You can calm down in five deep breaths,” Dr. Bellace said. “If something happens and someone is mean and you get worked up, take five deep breaths.”

Again, he related the exercise to a personal experience, demonstrating how the techniques he was sharing can be applied to real life.

He told students about his own daughter, who got annoyed with him and said, “no one likes you anyway.”

“If I explode and yell and scream,” he told students, “I become her favorite video game. If I take a deep breath and tell her it hurt my feelings and it was rude, it changes things.”

Dr. Bellace also talked about how athletes do mental exercises, like visualizing making baskets in a basketball game.

“Research shows that players who visualize making their shots before a game, hit more of them. Why do you think that is?”

“They were in the right mindset,” said one student.

“They believed in themselves, and they thought they could do it, so they did,” said another.

Dr. Bellace talked about other ways to manage stress and regulate emotions as well, touching on things like meditation, music, movement and writing. He also discussed natural highs (like laughing, riding a rollercoaster, running or achieving a big win) and how much better and longer lasting their effects are than chemical highs.

When the presentation was over, Assistant Principal Kevin Hanlon asked students to give him one takeaway from the presentation.

“Music can help you,” one student said.

“A natural high is the best high,” said another.

“What I got from it,” Hanlon said, “is that you can do more than you thought you could when you have support. And you have a lot of support here. You can’t hear it enough. We are here to support you.”

Thank you to THRIVE Bedford | Lewisboro | Pound Ridge Alliance for making this experience possible.