ME Time

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

ME Time is a manualized, tested, and effective program for youth ages 13-19 that reduces depressive symptoms and has been demonstrated to reduce or delay the onset of substance use in multiple peer-reviewed research articles. It is based in concepts from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and focuses on changing thoughts and actions to change emotions with the goal of reducing depressive symptoms. The curriculum is taught in a group setting once weekly for six weeks. The program encourages participants to engage in pro-social and physical activities to manage their mood and has been shown to significantly increase pro-social engagement. Salt Lake County Youth Services (SLCO YS) has been implementing ME Time since 2019 to help meet the high need for accessible mental health services in the community. The data from Youth Services' implementation of ME Time from July 2021 through June 2022 showed that participants had significantly lower rates of depressive symptoms after going through the program and the rates continued to drop in the three months following participation; participants' depressive symptoms decreased 22% on average.