To start the New Year, Tri-Town Youth Services is aiming to help families prioritize their mental health. The organization is sponsoring a free community read and discussion series that highlights the book Permission to Feel by Dr. Marc Brackett.

The discussions will be held online, by Zoom, on Wednesdays, Jan. 19 and 26 and Feb. 2, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Registration is available at tritownys.org.

“We think the topic is timely, as the stressors in our everyday lives continue to build up,” said Tri-Town Youth Services Executive Director Allison Abramson. “There is nothing normal about parenting through a pandemic or worrying about school violence or mitigating the impact of social media on children’s lives. In our culture, there is an expectation that we normalize stress, push through and carry on, but that approach is not helping any of us.”

Brackett, who is the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, introduces the concept of a social emotional learning program, RULER, in Permission to Feel. RULER stands for Recognizing Emotions, Understanding Emotions, Labeling Emotions, Expressing Emotions, and Regulating Emotions.

“Prioritizing mental health as a community means that we become curious about those feelings we’re tempted to stuff down or ignore,” said Abramson. “Permission to Feel provides language for encouraging each other to look at those feelings and work through them.”

Tri-Town Youth Services is collaborating with the Essex Library Association (ELA), Chester Public Library, Deep River Public Library, and Ivoryton Library to highlight the program and make the book Permission to Feel available to patrons for loan.

“Essex Library is honored to participate as a partner in this important discussion series about emotional wellbeing,” said ELA Executive Director Deborah Smith. “Having listened to the audiobook recently, I was struck by the myriad impactful and practical ways that parents and educators can make a more positive difference in the lives of young people and, indeed, in their own lives.”

Deep River Public Library Director Susan Rooney said, “We are always happy to support Tri-Town Youth Services. Allison Abramson exudes positivity and optimism and has great programs. This one is especially relevant for us as it involves a book discussion and collaboration with the local libraries.”

Chester Public Library Director Stephanie Romano said, “It’s always a pleasure to partner with my fellow librarians to support these great organizations. These are such trying times for all of us, and I feel everyone is just burnt out and overwhelmed with COVID and the variants that keep coming out, we are seeing so much hate and negativity from it. I’m hoping, with this program, people will be able to tune into their feelings and be able to reflect on the root cause and communicate in a more positive way.”

The online discussions, which will be moderated by Tri-Town Services staff and area librarians, will feature chapters of the book in sequential order. On Jan. 19, the topic is how to develop a curiosity about emotions. On Jan. 26, the topic is how to recognize and name emotions, as well as pitfalls to avoid when making assumptions about other people’s emotions. On Feb. 2, the topic is emotional intelligence at home and at school.

“We hope that program participants will be introspective about the many different ways they may be dealing with stress, uncertainty and all of the emotions that accompany those experiences,” said Abramson. “With support and encouragement from other Book Talk (program) participants, we can all observe our responses to feelings and try new ways of expressing and regulating the emotions that come up throughout the weeks.”