Why Schools Need Mental Health Education with Ross Szabo

Each summer, Ross hosts a Mental Health Education Institute at UCLA to help schools normalize mental health. The Institute helps schools create a common language for mental health, provides curriculum for mental health literacy and healthy relationships and gives teachers guidelines on how to use lived experiences in the classroom. Participants from the Institute report a high level of success in changing mental health in their schools. The in person Institute is July 13-14 and the virtual Institute is July 15-16.--

This episode explores the mental health skills schools never taught us and why so many young people are struggling because of it.

From academic pressure and anxiety to relationships, identity, burnout, and emotional regulation, we talk about the growing need for mental health education in schools and how early conversations can change lives.

In this episode of Normalize The Conversation, I sit down with Ross Szabo, a mental health advocate, educator, and founding faculty member at Geffen Academy at UCLA. Ross shares how his own struggles with depression, self-hatred, and a suicide attempt in high school led him to dedicate his life to changing the way schools approach mental health.

Together, we discuss:

• Why students are overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted

• The pressure teens face around grades, college, and success

• How schools can normalize mental health conversations

• Why coping skills and emotional education matter

• The role teachers play in helping students feel seen

• Healthy relationships, communication, and boundaries

• How connection and community protect mental health

• The difference between prevention and crisis intervention

We also explore how schools can integrate mental health into everyday learning without turning classrooms into therapy sessions. Ross explains how simple shifts — like teaching emotional awareness, communication skills, and self-check-ins — can help students feel less alone and more prepared for real life.

This conversation is for students, parents, teachers, young adults, and anyone who has ever thought: “Why did no one teach me how to navigate this?”

If you’ve ever struggled with anxiety, burnout, perfectionism, people-pleasing, or feeling overwhelmed by life transitions, this episode will remind you that emotional skills are just as important as academic success.

If this episode resonates with you, share it with someone who needed these conversations growing up or someone helping build them now.

Follow Normalize The Conversation for more honest conversations around mental health, healing, relationships, and emotional well-being.