When 15-year-old Maya in Sioux Falls flips open a softcover journal with colorful sketches and honest questions, she’s not just doodling—she’s untangling anxiety, naming emotions, and learning how to breathe through the storm. She’s one of thousands of teens now using What’s on My Mind: A Teen’s Guide to Thinking, Feeling, and Figuring Things Out, a free mental health workbook created by Sanford Fit in partnership with BeHEARD for Educators and made possible by First International Bank and Trust. With half of all lifetime mental health conditions beginning by age 14, early intervention isn’t just helpful—it’s essential. And in a world where teens face relentless academic pressure, digital overload, and shifting relationships, this workbook offers something rare: a quiet, judgment-free space to just be.
Developed with clinical experts at Sanford Health, the workbook blends science with compassion. It’s grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), features mindfulness exercises, and includes journaling prompts that invite self-reflection without pressure. Teens can start anywhere—skip pages, return to favorites, or use it alongside therapy. Its design is intentional: approachable, not clinical; supportive, not prescriptive. As Brittney Nathan, CCLS and lead program development specialist at Sanford Fit, puts it, “Early and accessible mental health resources act as a preventative shield, transforming how young people navigate their life now and well into adulthood.”
To ensure the resource reaches those who need it, Sanford Fit delivered over 300 PR boxes—each containing sample workbooks and coping tools—to mental and behavioral health teams across the health system. Clinicians, school counselors, and community leaders are already integrating it into waiting rooms, classrooms, and therapy sessions. Feedback has been resoundingly positive: professionals say it fills a critical gap in teen mental health support, offering an evidence-based tool that doesn’t feel like homework. Caregivers report that simply seeing their teen engage with the workbook opens doors to conversations once thought impossible.
The initiative is part of a broader push by Sanford Fit to normalize mental health discussions, reduce stigma, and equip young people with lifelong coping skills. By making the workbook freely available for download—complete with print-ready chapters—the team ensures access isn’t limited by geography or income. Already, educators in South Dakota and Minnesota are using it in wellness programs, while parents are leaving copies on kitchen tables with a simple note: I thought this might help.
This isn’t just a workbook. It’s a quiet revolution in how we care for teens—one page, one breath, one honest moment at a time.