NS woman helping other young people deal with trauma, mental health

Article content

Mental health struggles are widespread, costing the Canadian economy over $50 billion annually, so it’s crucial to take action — especially for youth, says Sophia Rae.

Rae, a psychology student at Acadia who hails from Halifax, N.S., has created a business focusing on mental health and trauma-informed education. Her goal is to provide evidence-based mental health tools that are both effective and legitimate to both educators and students. She goes directly into schools to educate youth and train teachers on how to create trauma-informed classroom spaces.

Article content

“I want to empower youth with resilience skills while ensuring teachers understand how to support students dealing with trauma,” she says.

Rae is passionate about this topic because of her personal experience. At the age of 14, she experienced a traumatic event.

“I lost my aunt in the Nova Scotia massacre, which completely shattered my world. I developed trauma-induced OCD, body dysmorphia, anxiety, and depression,” she explains.

Through her healing process, Rae realized there weren’t many youth-focused mental health resources led by young people, so she wanted to create something that resonated with teens, using evidence-based practices and her own lived experience.

The main program Rae offers is called the Resilient Youth Initiative and is a collection of 10 evidence-based strategies designed to help teens manage stress and trauma effectively. She says it’s particularly beneficial for youth and educators in communities affected by trauma, such as rural schools that may lack adequate mental health support. Her first school presentation was at the school of the gunman in the Nova Scotia massacre, which showed her how important it was to approach these conversations with care.

Article content

Rae designed this program at age 14 with guidance from her parents, both experts in wellness and mental health. Her mom, Jenny Kierstead, created Yoga 11, a high school physical education elective, and her dad, Blair Abbass, is a cognitive behavioural therapist. Rae also collaborated with Catherine Rahey, who specializes in social-emotional learning.

Practice Mindfulness

One of the techniques that Rae teaches is mindfulness. This involves hyper-focusing on small details in one’s surroundings — like noticing textures of bark or feeling the ground beneath your feet.

This practice, which helps break negative thought loops, is now one of Rae’s core techniques in the Mindfulness Toolkit, a handout given out at the end of each presentation. It’s made for easy accessibility and clips right onto children’s backpacks.

Methods for Dealing with Trauma and Mental Health Issues

Article content

Rae offers some of her top tips for dealing with residual feelings of trauma or mental health concerns.

1. Grounding Techniques

This is an essential technique when emotions or trauma responses feel overwhelming. Some methods that Rae says help people reconnect to the present moment are:

• Feel your feet on the ground – Notice the sensation of your feet pressing against the floor to remind yourself of physical stability.
• Deep belly breathing – Engage in diaphragmatic breathing to calm the nervous system.
• Positive mental imagery – Visualize a safe, comforting place while engaging your five senses (What do you see? Hear? Smell? Taste? Feel?).
• Physical movement – If necessary, take a walk to regulate emotions and return to a sense of control.

When to use it: In moments of anxiety, panic, or emotional overwhelm.

2. Name It to Tame It – identifying emotions to reduce their power
Naming emotions is a scientifically proven way to reduce their intensity and regain control, says Rae.

For example, she says that instead of saying, “I feel terrible,” try: “I feel anxious because I am uncertain about my future” or “I feel sad because I miss someone important to me.”

Article content

This helps shift emotions from overpowering to manageable by acknowledging their root cause, she explains, and can be used when emotions feel overwhelming or confusing.

3. Reframing the Inner Critic: changing negative self-talk

The way we talk to ourselves directly influences how we feel and behave, she points out, and we can change it by reframing a negative thought like “I can’t do this” to “I just need to take it one step at a time.”

Rae also suggests using mirror affirmations. This means writing positive statements on your mirror like, “I am strong. I am worthy.” It can be used to help combat self-doubt or when harsh self-judgement takes over.

Do more than just breathe

While breathing exercises are valuable, mental health support needs to go beyond surface-level techniques, says Rae. Many youth-focused programs provide basic tools that offer temporary relief but don’t build long-term resilience, she says.

Instead, she says it’s better to focus on deeper, evidence-based strategies such as:

• Developing a mantra for self-regulation and emotional anchoring.
• Creating structured mental health routines that reinforce long-term stability.
• Practicing mindfulness techniques that rewire the brain’s response to stress.

“Breathing is important, but it must be paired with sustainable practices that create real change,” says Rae.

Rae says that community and connection play a significant role in mental health as well.

One of the most impactful aspects of her work is fostering safe spaces for youth to share their experiences. Many people feel isolated in their struggles, but she says her presentations help build a sense of shared humanity.

This shared confidential space can also happen online, and it’s something that Rae will be expanding into in the future.

Article content