#  EMPOWER Youth 

 



    ![EMPOWER Youth](/sites/g/files/omnuum9551/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/2026-07/EMPOWER.png?itok=u0RA_IAK) 

 



 

  

 

 

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The Harvard Medical School Mental Health For All Lab and the Harvard University Lab for Youth Mental Health developed ***EMPOWER Youth***, a transdiagnostic stepped-care intervention for adolescents with emotional problems.

EMPOWER Youth was developed from over two decades of research in evidence-based treatments. This is a **stepped-care approach**, featuring **Quick Calming** and **Problem Solving**, which equips non-specialist providers to address youth internalizing problems.



 

 [  arrow\_forward  Mental Health For All Lab ](https://mentalhealthforalllab.hms.harvard.edu/empower) 

 

 

 

 

##  EMPOWER Youth Trailer 

 





 

 

 



 

 

 

##  EMPOWER Youth Testimonials 

 





 

 

 



 

 

 

##  Implementation Resources 

[**Live Role-Play Practice Scenarios**](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/p5u99w8ipl3ru3o7du5ni/EMPOWER-Youth-Role-Play-Scenarios.pdf?rlkey=czynd1e0bxhqwf5tuyy4mz5vi&st=lbti5jo2&e=2&dl=0)

[**Role-Play Recordings**](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/to8vap7jbzekdtznm23nf/EMPOWER-Youth-Role-Play-Videos-Guide.pdf?rlkey=iwq9mm4qekne5rrpwtw3nio0u&st=w1b9fpnx&e=1&dl=0)

[**Rate Provider Skills**](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2ba923v032pxsg8rljp0q/EMPOWER-Youth-Adapted-Competency-Rating-Sheets.pdf?rlkey=zaxm44q2westt47aqbr7l482r&st=2psb552y&e=1&dl=0)



 

##  Implementation Guide 

 



  

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

##  References 

Fitzpatrick, O. M., Cho, E., Venturo-Conerly, K. E., Ugueto, A. M., Ng, M. Y., &amp; Weisz, J. R. (2023). Empirically supported principles of change in youth psychotherapy: Exploring codability, frequency of use, and meta-analytic findings. *Clinical Psychological Science*, *11*(2), 326–344. <https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026221120230>

Patel, V., Naslund, J. A., Wood, S., Patel, A., Chauvin, J. J., Agrawal, R., Bhan, A., Joshi, U., Amara, M., Kohrt, B. A., Singla, D. R., &amp; Fairburn, C. G. (2022). EMPOWER: Toward the global dissemination of psychosocial interventions. *Focus*, *20*(3), 301–306. <https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20220042>

Hill, E. K., Bond, L., Weisz, J. R., &amp; Patel, V. (2025). Addressing the adolescent mental health-care gap in the United States. *The Journal of Adolescent Health: Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine*, *77*(6), 1014–1016. <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2025.08.007>

Hill, E. K., Bond, L., Carmio, N., Hatkevich, C. E., Nag, D., Romero, S. A., Schwartz, K. T. G., Sternberg, A., Tandon, T., Vergara, C., Young, J. F., McLaughlin, K. A., Weisz, J. R., &amp; Patel, V. (2026). The design of a scalable intervention for adolescents with internalizing problems. *SSM - Mental Health*, *9*, 100624. <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2026.100624>



 

 

##  Join the Movement! 

 



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###    EMPOWER Youth Training  expand\_more  

Are you interested in signing up for the free, online, self-paced EMPOWER Youth training?

Contact Dr. Laura Bond at [laura\_bond@hms.harvard.edu](mailto:laura_bond@hms.harvard.edu)

 

 



###    Current Partners  expand\_more  

EMPOWER Youth is currently being implemented and evaluated across project sites, each focused on understanding how non-specialist providers can be trained to support youth mental health in real-world community and school settings.

[**San Antonio YWCA**](https://mentalhealthforalllab.hms.harvard.edu/empower-youth-implementation-pilot-ywca)

[**Tokyo schools**](https://mentalhealthforalllab.hms.harvard.edu/research-project-promoting-school-climate-tokyo)

[**California schools**](https://mentalhealthforalllab.hms.harvard.edu/empower-youth-implementation-pilot-california-schools)

 

 



###    Future Partners  expand\_more  

Interested in joining the movement? Contact Dr. Laura Bond at [laura\_bond@hms.harvard.edu](mailto:laura_bond@hms.harvard.edu)