Rainbow young people can face particular challenges when accessing services. If you’d like to learn about what these can look like, spend some time on these resources.
Discovering and coming to terms with their rainbow identity can be a confusing time for young people. There are many social, familial and internal conflicts that can make this time a bit more challenging and affect young people’s wellbeing.
Even though Rainbow young people are more likely to access mental health services, many of them may already be secure with their identity and not want to explore it with you. It’s important to co-design your practice with the person in front of you and let them decide how much they want to share and what they want to focus on.
By knowing a little, you can create a space where a young person feels safe to fully express their identity, making a massive difference in their wellbeing process. These resources are a great introduction to some of the questions you may have about how you can support a young person who is Rainbow and seeking mental health and addictions help. They are not textbooks that represent all Rainbow people but instead a collection of advice and experiences that can help you better understand how to support Rainbow rangatahi and their whānau.
We hope that these resources can help you learn more about how to walk alongside and best support the Rainbow rangatahi you may come into contact with.
