STP 150 SchoolPulse: Proactive Student Mental Health & Suicide Prevention for Schools
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[00:00:05] Iuri Melo: in 2017, we had seven students that took their life by suicide in our little community here and it was wild.
[00:00:11] I had written a couple of books. And had done some presentations at one of the local high schools.
[00:00:15] Actually, Uh, but that principal who I consider to be a real innovator, just a real gutsy guy, but he had lost two students to suicide. he came to me and said, Hey, man I feel like everything I have at my disposal. At my school is just reactive stuff. It's almost as if I'm like a fire extinguisher on the wall, right? Like I'm just literally passively waiting for crisis to happen, right? And then I'm gonna break the glass and intervene and basically try to put everything together and try to make a situation better.
[00:00:45] And so He and I started this process of brainstorming what can we do, right? To be a little bit more proactive, truly preventative, right? And instead of so focused and enamored with the risk factors of things, [00:01:00] bit more engaged with the protective factors and the things that truly insulate and protect our kids from suicide, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress,
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[00:01:14] James Marland: If your school is searching for a proactive solution to student anxiety, depression, and suicide, I ask that you share this episode with them. I believe in the mission of School Pulse and it being a very effective, proactive solution for our students.
[00:01:34] And I know somebody in the audience knows somebody who could get this proactive solution into their school and help their students. So please share this episode with people that might be interested in a proactive solution to student mental health issues now onto the show.
[00:01:57] Hello and welcome back to the Scaling Therapy [00:02:00] Practice. I'm your host, James Marland. This is the show where we help mission-driven leaders launch life-changing online courses and products to increase their income flow. Today I have my special guest, Yuri Mellow. He is from School Pulse, and he also has a private practice in Utah, and he's been there 20 years, right?
[00:02:22] 20 years in Utah.
[00:02:23] Iuri Melo: right around there.
[00:02:24] James Marland: So, uh, we're gonna talk about taking business opportunities and some of the lessons learned mistakes and advice from him as he is building out school pulse. But Yuri, welcome to the show.
[00:02:37] Iuri Melo: Man, James, let's do this. I'm ready. Thanks for the, thanks for allowing me to be here. Thanks for welcoming me here and thanks for the intro, man. I'm ready. Let's do it.
[00:02:48] James Marland: Great. So tell us, uh, Yuri, tell us a little bit about yourself and what your practice is like in Utah.
[00:02:54] Iuri Melo: Yeah, so I actually was just telling you a little bit about this. I live in southern Utah. [00:03:00] It's it's an absolutely gorgeous place, and I'll actually talk a little bit about maybe one of my modalities where I do adventure-based therapy. That's
[00:03:07] James Marland: Oh.
[00:03:07] Iuri Melo: cool, that was a little bit of a, not necessarily a site hustle, but definitely something that I incorporated into my practice.
[00:03:14] James Marland: do you do whitewater rafting or hiking? What do you do?
[00:03:17] Iuri Melo: I do climbing, so climbing, bouldering, canyoneering. and a lot of people don't even realize this, but I think you've mentioned that you've been to Colorado and that's
[00:03:26] James Marland: yeah.
[00:03:26] Iuri Melo: Climbing country there, but St. George Utah is a little rock climbing mecca and
[00:03:32] You know, five miles of the town in almost any direction, you're just gonna find world class, super accessible stuff.
[00:03:40] And so I literally. Take clients even within a one hour session and we're at the rock climbing and creating just a fabulous experiential opportunity. And so, and we may even talk about that as one of those ways that I kept my practice really fresh. Right. And just [00:04:00] as something that was a delight for me.
[00:04:01] But anyway, it looked like you had a question.
[00:04:03] James Marland: No, I like the, I love experiential learning. I think some of my favorite, it wasn't therapy, but when I went on rope courses and team building type things, like those lessons stick with you. If it. If the, there's a good instructor and they bring it out and like, help you process what just happened.
[00:04:23] There is a great transformation that can happen internally that, that just doesn't happen or it's very difficult to happen with just talking about it. Right. Have you, you experienced that?
[00:04:35] Iuri Melo: I, I have I take a lot of people out there. I would say that, definitely my adolescence, right? Pretty much every adolescent client, I'd say 99.9%. That's where we end up. And I, and when I say that, that's where we end up. We'll do an initial session in the office and then we're at the Rock every single time.
[00:04:54] James Marland: Hmm.
[00:04:55] Iuri Melo: I,
[00:04:55] I use adventure-based therapy for a couple of reasons. One. Certainly the way you [00:05:00] described it, James, which is I want to deliver, right? Or I want to utilize that experience or experiences as potentially as a vehicle. Right. but one of the other reasons that I actually use, and this is something that I talk to parents about over and over again, is, my hope is that by the time I'm done with their child, their boy, their girl, or a young adult that I'm visiting with, is that they'll be legitimate climbers. Like I, I wanna give people like a renewable source of happiness, right? Something that they can tap into a source, something that will bring mastery, something that will bring accomplishments, something that's outside it's exercise.
[00:05:37] It's like my three in one approach, right? I really love that, and especially when you're working with teens, you know, I feel like the office is, it can sometimes feel a little intimidating for adolescents. You know, I'm, you're there like sitting toe to toe, eyeball to
[00:05:56] James Marland: Yeah.
[00:05:57] Iuri Melo: With an adult, and they're asking you about your goals and your [00:06:00] objectives and what you wanna see happen as a result of this time.
[00:06:02] And teens don't know that. They're like
[00:06:04] James Marland: Yeah.
[00:06:04] Iuri Melo: just wanted me to come. Right? so climbing becomes this. Really easy way, right. For me to just immediately get into a position of trust with them, I immediately enter into this teacher slash mentor role with them because I've been climbing forever and most of them don't know anything about climbing.
[00:06:25] And so, and it's exciting, it's scary. it requires a significant amount of courage. It's painful. And so it just has these elements, that I think are so rich. In fact, I'm always telling parents like, man, there's like magic in those rocks. And when kids are out there with me it's unique. It's powerful. in the office, I, you know, I'm a traditional kind of, you know, cognitive behavioral, like I love cognitive approaches. Definitely of the belief that our [00:07:00] psychology is everything, right? The way that we interpret an event matters more than the event themselves. But with adolescence, you know, it, it's a little bit more challenging for me to drop this like cognitive bomb and they're just gonna be like, my
[00:07:16] James Marland: wow. That was great. What so wisdom? Yeah.
[00:07:19] Iuri Melo: And with them it's, I really just have to provide. An emotionally awesome experience,
[00:07:26] And then those kids will want to just come back and therapy becomes less of I gotta go to therapy. it's man, I'm going to therapy or I'm gonna go climb with Yuri. Right. So they almost reframe what it is.
[00:07:39] Right. It's interesting.
[00:07:41] James Marland: Yeah, great.
[00:07:42] Iuri Melo: Part.
[00:07:43] James Marland: That is, I didn't, before you started talking about the experiential and the rock climbing, I didn't know you did that. It was very, very interesting and such a unique way. To, you know, break down the barriers. But also I love the, uh, renewable source of happiness.
[00:07:58] Iuri Melo: Yeah.
[00:07:58] James Marland: Uh, that, I'm gonna [00:08:00] try to keep that phrase 'cause a lot of the things we do, like buying or eating or watching tv, that's like an, that's like a limited source of happiness.
[00:08:09] Iuri Melo: Yeah.
[00:08:10] James Marland: something that you have to keep reapplying and you need more and more and more of it. But what if you could have this renewable source of happiness, just tap into it. That's brilliant. So, I want I what some of what you were saying connected us to a little bit of the topic that we were talking about when we were doing the pre-show is doing, you know, you do therapy and you have a, a running practice, but also you do some other, you have other business opportunities and you've, you know, tapped into them and reached into them.
[00:08:42] And I was sort of equating, you know, what. Rock. The dude who likes to climb rocks and do difficult, hard things, it's no wonder he's tried to start another business or e expand his business with another offering. So there, there seemed to be some parallels there. [00:09:00] So I wanted to talk about some of the challenges, opportunities and lessons you've learned by running a therapy practice, but also running, having other business opportunities that you're interested in.
[00:09:13] Also bring in income flow to your practice or to your, to yourself. So what, what else do you do?
[00:09:20] Iuri Melo: Yeah, so we, about seven years ago myself and a good friend of mine we founded a company called School Pulse. And there is a little bit of a Genesis story to that, and I won't
[00:09:30] James Marland: Yeah, do it.
[00:09:31] Iuri Melo: brief.
[00:09:32] James Marland: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:09:33] Iuri Melo: now caught on oh my gosh, this guy is pretty verbose.
[00:09:35] About seven years ago in, in this idyllic place that we live in and really is if you ever have the chance to visit here, it'd be worth your time, James, but. Man, we had, like in 2017, we had seven students that took their life by suicide in our little community here and it was wild.
[00:09:52] In fact, I think even throughout the state Utah there was just a jump, I think in 2016 and 2017. But by then I had [00:10:00] written a couple of books, which is another one of those streams. I had written a couple of books. And had done some presentations at one of the local high schools.
[00:10:07] Actually, two of my girls were going to that. I've got five kids. And but that principal who I consider to be a real innovator, just a real gutsy guy, but he had lost two students to suicide. And in his mind, he feels like they were not on his radar. There were just amazing kids. So he came to me, actually, he came to me and said, Hey, man I feel like everything I have at my disposal. At my school is just reactive stuff. It's almost as if I'm like a fire extinguisher on the wall, right? Like I'm just literally passively waiting for crisis to happen, right? And then I'm gonna break the glass and intervene and basically try to put everything together and try to make a situation better.
[00:10:48] And so he. He and I started this process of brainstorming what can we do, right? To be a little bit more proactive, truly preventative, right? And instead of [00:11:00] so focused and enamored with the risk factors of things, bit more engaged with the protective factors and the things that truly insulate and protect our kids from suicide, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, I say that. like you, I'm a bit of a social scientist and so I realized that we can't fully stop those things, right? There are so many factors, right? we wanted to find a way to make that situation better. And then I connected with a good friend of mine who was a software engineer, a real just brilliant guy, and he said, Hey, I really like that. I wanna build tech for good. Why don't we create this service, right? That engages students proactively over text, provides them with good content. and that becomes our way of right, trying to proactively prevent suicide and other things like that. we started that way. And now our services has grown significantly from. At that point, we were just [00:12:00] texting one text a week, and it was just this tiny little questionnaire. And when the students responded, I had created all of these kind of canned responses and they would kick back a response. And then about three years or four years after that, we started to notice that students would text back, but we weren't responding at all.
[00:12:18] James Marland: Right.
[00:12:19] Iuri Melo: alive. It was not an interactive service. And we started kicking around the idea of man, what if we started to respond? And when we did, oh my gosh, James, like we just had just the most phenomenal, right? All the way from kids who are just doing wonderful, right? And we're talking about the good in their life and we're enhancing that. of course we have all the other issues that you're aware of, right? We got kids who are actively suicidal, homicidal, self-harming, reporting, physical sexual abuse. They're stressed out of their minds, they're anxious, they're depressed, like their parents are divorcing, whatever it is. And these kids are opening up to us over text because it's easy, it's accessible, They don't have to walk down [00:13:00] the hall to the counselor, like they can just privately text this incredible. Team, right? That just receives them with enthusiasm and kindness and goodness. then of course, our goal is always to connect them to parents, is to connect them to the professionals at school and other local resources. But meanwhile, we just have this brilliant service that every Tuesday and Friday. Taps them on the so shoulder like we deliver now we've created the most comprehensive mental health resource for teens in the country. We've created of videos that are relevant to them and not cringey, and we deliver those to them every Tuesday on Friday.
[00:13:39] More inspirational content. And once again, our goal is really to stay on that protective factor. Student success. Let's provide these students with mental excellence with a kind of. With the kind of mental fitness, right, that will help them to succeed academically. Obviously the school is our [00:14:00] customer, right?
[00:14:01] We have to promote student success, we have to promote academic success, we're also doing what we can to promote some safety, right? And to prevent student suicide. But by coming at it really from the philosophical approach of positive psychology, growth mindset strategies, you know, and other cognitive behavioral strategies, which
[00:14:21] James Marland: So
[00:14:21] Iuri Melo: the golden standard.
[00:14:22] James Marland: it, it sounds like you're, you reduced the barrier for getting help. Like, go into your counselor's, you know, go into a counselor's room or talking to somebody when you're, you know, you're, you're scared or confused is a, it's a big barrier. Especially you don't have a relationship with them. But teens text all the time.
[00:14:44] Like it is like breathing. Like I, I saw my son, he's 21 now, but when he had a phone, there was like thousands of texts. I'm like, what are you doing? Like, who are you texting so much to, it's just what they do. And I would have like 20 and 18 [00:15:00] of them would be to my wife, like, you know, yes, I will get the milk.
[00:15:04] So, yeah, that, that sounds like an awesome, product. Let me, can I ask some questions about it just to know more
[00:15:11] Iuri Melo: it.
[00:15:11] James Marland: If a student says, you know, I'm struggling with this, do you have a resource on it, like a video or something? Will it send them a link or to a page that they can read about?
[00:15:22] Iuri Melo: Absolutely. So that, that's part of all of this content that I've created. And I'll share those links with you, James, you're welcome to share 'em with your listeners. And they're free, like you don't have to put in emails or
[00:15:34] Like you can go see all of our resources. You can see all of our videos. But over the years, as we've listened to these students, as we've listened to their questions, created, you know, these short videos anywhere between about five to seven, sometimes eight minute videos that are based on those questions. And so our team knows those videos in and out and as they're talking to a student, right, [00:16:00] they will offer that Hey, it sounds like this has been a challenge for you.
[00:16:02] Have a video for that. Would you be willing to watch it? Right. And we
[00:16:07] And we have a link right on our inbox, right? That allows them to drop that video right over text. It's genius, I'm
[00:16:13] James Marland: Yeah.
[00:16:14] Iuri Melo: And the kid just hits it the video's
[00:16:16] James Marland: get it. Yeah.
[00:16:17] Iuri Melo: they can view it privately, they can view it later, they can repeat, view it. But it's it's definitely the engagement is the most critical part, right? Obviously, tell my team, my positive interaction team, that's the name of our pit crews, what kinda what we call it, is the key there is really. The relationship right is you. You wanna make sure that when they come, that you greet them with enthusiasm. You meet them where they're at, you match where they are. You ask questions, you seek to understand, and then at the very end, I have a suggestion, or I have a couple of ideas, would you be willing to hear or can I share something with you? And that's [00:17:00] like the bottom right between all of these other steps that have to happen before that happens. It's all about helping them to feel welcome in part because is a resource that's gonna continue to like James, if you can imagine we have students that have been receiving our weekly texts years, like two to three to four years. Some ask for permission to continue,
[00:17:28] James Marland: Mm-hmm.
[00:17:29] Iuri Melo: They graduate and go to college Hey, is there a way for me to continue receiving. It's just awesome. We've figured out a really cool little niche there, that really taps in, in a harmless, nons, spammy kind of way. Of course, kids can opt out if they want. That, and that's just one thing that we do. We have email campaigns and other tools that are
[00:17:48] For school, but that part of school.
[00:17:50] James Marland: there's lots of little, uh, nuts and bolts questions. I probably have like. How do you deal with funding? How do you deal with hipaa? How do you deal [00:18:00] with crisis situations? That's a, that's the rapid fire version of like that. Do you have any, before we talk about like the business side, like what are, what are some of the, those seem like significant milestones and problems to overcome, so, can you talk about any of those topics?
[00:18:17] Iuri Melo: Oh yeah. About all of them. Specifically, like we, we do business with schools and so that, that could be all the way from. Us creating a contract for an individual school to a district,
[00:18:27] So I
[00:18:27] James Marland: Mm.
[00:18:28] Iuri Melo: you know, we even have a state purchased our service.
[00:18:32] And this is secondary age is our niche, is we go from about six to 12
[00:18:36] And we even have a state, that's purchased our service and offered it for free for every one of their schools, for all
[00:18:43] James Marland: Sure. Yeah.
[00:18:44] Iuri Melo: And so it's just awesome. And then of, there are also some grants that we've tapped into. United Way has provided some grants for us. There are other organizations that provide some grants as well, because they're trying to prevent, you know, to prevent student suicide, to create safety and to increase the mental [00:19:00] wellness of students. far as hipaa, like our service, it varies a little stick by state, I have to say. Not necessarily with hipaa, but with the student's ability. We have a lot of states, Pennsylvania, for example, like we can actually put these big kind of posters throughout the school that we send to the school, or they can print out and they have a just a little QR code and kids just grab their phone. They scan it and they're in, and there's no username, no password, they immediately receive a text on their phone that just says, Hey, welcome to School Pulse. How you doing today? Right. And that's just the start, right? And that conversation is anonymous, meaning we don't know who that student is. We know which school they go to, right?
[00:19:45] Because each QR code
[00:19:46] James Marland: Right. It's linked to a school. Yeah.
[00:19:48] Iuri Melo: school. So we know where they are. conversation is totally anonymous. Like we truly don't know who they are. And so when a student or tells [00:20:00] us, right, that they're actively suicidal or that they're reporting that their wrestling coach is touching them inappropriately or that they're stressed about their academics or that you know they're abusing some substance or whatever it is. Our goal, right? And this is why schools hire us, right? Is to immediately multiply their ability to extend support to their students, right? And to put tools in their hands, right? So that's our goal, is we immediately greet the students. We provide support then and continuing forward, and of course we're dropping some of our content, our support, our videos. But always, our goal is to do what we can. To connect those students their primary network, right? Which of course is parents or their guardians or whoever is managing that kid's life. and then the other one, right, is our tier two or the next part is we do everything in our power to connect those students to those counselors or administrators at the schools.
[00:20:59] And [00:21:00] I'll tell you that about, I'd say about 85 to 90% of our interventions, right, when students are in active crisis go through the school, meaning we're able to connect that student. To the counselor, to an administrator, and then they connect with the parents, of course, and involve them in that prospect.
[00:21:18] So that's where we have been more successful. And we were, we're a proven suicide prevention program. We've probably had over a hundred thousand users and to the best of our knowledge, and I say this knocking on wood and with the understanding that won't be able to stop all of them, but. We haven't lost a student,
[00:21:38] Remarkable. Like,
[00:21:39] James Marland: Yeah.
[00:21:40] Iuri Melo: and we're talking like thousands of students who have come to us in a, right. In a matrix of just complexity. Right? And we're just honored, like
[00:21:50] James Marland: Great.
[00:21:51] Iuri Melo: we're
[00:21:51] James Marland: Yeah.
[00:21:52] Iuri Melo: schools, parents, it, et cetera. It's powerful.
[00:21:54] James Marland: Wow what a needed service. And just offering the support, not as a [00:22:00] reaction, but as a proactive thing is great. And also, you know, making it easy and anonymous and then connecting people. There's a lot of things you've had to think through
[00:22:10] Iuri Melo: Oh
[00:22:10] James Marland: get there. I wanted to spend a few minutes talking about some of maybe the lessons learned or the problems that you had to come through.
[00:22:21] Maybe it was a, a resource problem, a mindset problem, a you know, a who, not how type of problem that you overcame. What's, uh, if somebody's thinking about starting something that isn't exactly therapy, you know, but it's also tied to their mission and like. Where can I show up in the world? What, what are some of the lessons you've learned along the way?
[00:22:44] Iuri Melo: So I, let me start with my mission. And I would even say my mission specifically with School Pulse. And I, you know, kind of in our little office, I. I am a little bit of a loud mouther, can't be, and I'm, and in my mind I'm always thinking like, we're gonna change the world. [00:23:00] Right?
[00:23:00] But really, the, my, my mission is truly to bless the human family. And there is a spiritual component there for me. That's something that. Not only works well professionally for me, but it aligns really nicely with some of kind of the greater objectives that I have in life. It brings me a great deal of satisfaction and aligns with my kind of, i, my personal ideology and my, even some of my religious beliefs.
[00:23:27] Right. Would say going back to one of your challenges, um, number one, I. It, it's a double edged sword. I feel like there are definitely some benefits to starting side hustle or like you said, to take an opportunity
[00:23:45] James Marland: Business opportunity. Yeah.
[00:23:46] Iuri Melo: just see it like it's there and you're like, I'm gonna go for it, which is what happened here.
[00:23:52] Right. And I've invested now seven, going into eight years of some. I would, I'll just be super [00:24:00] honest of. Tumultuous times, man, tumultuous times. that I would say my private practice I think, was like an incredible place. I had a great partner. I think I shared with you the highest rated therapist locally, like highest rated.
[00:24:23] Like things were just going well. I would like never spent a cent like on. advertising, on anything. 'cause I just was I was fortunate enough to just, to do good work. I knew good people. And I severely cut that off right over time. And actually for a small portion of time I actually almost completely did it and then came back, which was difficult too. Now I find myself running this half and half business. So I was telling James, you know, from about, you know, 7:00 AM or 7:30 AM to [00:25:00] about 12 or 1230, I run my school pulse business, right, where I'm still the psychology behind the project. But in all honesty, I'm running the company. I'm the CEO slash psychology slash content slash trainer of our pit crew.
[00:25:16] I manage about six interns. So it's madness, it's overwhelming also very satisfying but crazy. Trying to make, trying to create business opportunities with schools and districts is difficult. are lots of hoops to jump through. They're, you know, I can't just speak to a school counselor and they purchase, we have to go to the school
[00:25:40] James Marland: Yeah. B2B. Yeah.
[00:25:42] Iuri Melo: to the principal and sometimes to the superintendent, and then the school. So there's we're talking about closing a deal in three, six a year. It's a, we're talking about like a long sales,
[00:25:56] Very challenging. Right. So
[00:25:58] James Marland: And you gotta deal with state and [00:26:00] local budgets. Oh my gosh.
[00:26:01] Iuri Melo: Yep. Oh yeah.
[00:26:02] James Marland: I hear of horror stories.
[00:26:03] Iuri Melo: to year
[00:26:05] James Marland: Yeah.
[00:26:05] Iuri Melo: to year, right?
[00:26:06] James Marland: Yes.
[00:26:07] Iuri Melo: We feel very fortunate that we, in total transparency, this will be the first year that, that we will make money,
[00:26:17] Right? this is the first year where we will actually be able to be in the black, right? Where we're not just burning through cash. And there is an incredible amount of stress that comes right with trying to create and build an opportunity like this. sure that there are many others that are much more intelligent that, that don't require this. You know, you can do the, you know, the four hour work week that Timothy Ferris talk about, or maybe you can create a video or a training series. But on the other half of my day, I still do my private practice. And fortunately for me, being with people, meeting with people, it [00:27:00] just creates a spark. It's energizing. I don't feel like it's emotionally drain draining. Especially now. I think I. I don't take insurance. It's private pay. I'm probably seeing my good friend who used to work at a community agency said, you're, you don't really see like clients struggling. You just see the worried that's who you see.
[00:27:23] Just. and maybe they're right, but I just have been so fortunate to meet just some of the most extraordinary people. And even though of course I'm a professional and I am creating these, you know, client professional relationships, I would happily call these people my friends. These are individuals that I know in the community. and that I've been able to assist in some way. So, so therapy. Is it's almost something that I can go to in a sense, to get re-energized some of this other total reinvention of who I [00:28:00] am and what I do. that's quite challenge, right? And that's like pulling on me pretty significantly.
[00:28:07] James Marland: So. What are Yuri, what's, uh, as you look towards the future, you know, uh, with, with the school pulse and your therapy practice and like your mission and like, you wanna be a, a resource for humanity, you know,
[00:28:24] Iuri Melo: Yeah.
[00:28:24] James Marland: uh, what, What's a goal that you have? What would you like to see in the next year or two for your business?
[00:28:31] Iuri Melo: Yeah I would say that my goal, my objective, just, you know, strictly speaking I would say from a financial perspective or even my future perspective, is, my goal is for school posts really to become like my main source of income. My, my hope is that can become, in a sense, my retirement opportunity,
[00:28:56] James Marland: Mm-hmm.
[00:28:56] Iuri Melo: can create a business. can create [00:29:00] these resources, which are very exciting. They're exciting to create. I love to create content. But that's really my goal, which would mean that in, in some way, right? My is that I wouldn't necessarily feel the need to bolster my income by doing individual therapy, even though I probably would continue to do some in some way, in some form or another.
[00:29:22] James Marland: Whether paid or free. You can't remove the therapist from the, the thera whatever. You can't remove the therapy from the therapist or whatever. Yeah.
[00:29:31] Iuri Melo: And so I, I can probably see myself doing that in one way or another, but that's really my goal is,
[00:29:37] James Marland: Mm-hmm.
[00:29:38] Iuri Melo: And what I'm working for is for that really to become this recurring form of income for me that then provides me with a little bit of increased financial stability, and some financial freedom is.
[00:29:51] James Marland: Just off the top of my head, how many schools or clients would that take? Are you like 10 away, five away, a hundred [00:30:00] away?
[00:30:00] Iuri Melo: No. We're quite inexpensive.
[00:30:02] James Marland: Yeah.
[00:30:03] Iuri Melo: We're probably in about counting our state deal. We're in about 300 plus schools and working. hard to make sure that every expenditure is managed and so that we're not just burning, useless money, but only using this
[00:30:18] James Marland: So
[00:30:19] Iuri Melo: what's necessary.
[00:30:20] So
[00:30:21] James Marland: you see the path to reach that? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, great. So I want, I wanna leave, I wanna leave people with like where, you know, if they're interested in this, where can they find you? What are some of your resources? Do you have social media links? Like where can people find you on the internet?
[00:30:39] Iuri Melo: Yeah, so the easiest way is you can go to school pulse.org. So if you're a professional or a school counselor or an administrator, honestly, it's like the easiest win. It's just a fabulous service. But that, you can find me there, you can email me there. You can also email me directly at [00:31:00] [email protected].
[00:31:00] And my name is spelled IURI. It's a little bit of a challenging name, but the best way to get ahold of me. And like I said, I'll share we've put together the most. Comprehensive mental resource page for teens, truly like in America. And I know that's so cliche, right? Oh my gosh, like really Yuri, it's the best. And honestly like nothing even comes close. Like,
[00:31:20] And I'll share that with you and you're welcome to share it with your listeners.
[00:31:23] James Marland: Great.
[00:31:23] Iuri Melo: All of our videos are specifically engineered or created. For adolescents addressing their issues. We send those videos to thousands and thousands of parents throughout the country. so parents, you're welcome to utilize those, whether it's addressing a kid who is just afraid to speak in public or they wanna become a better test taker or they wanna become a better athlete or they want become a better student, or they're struggling with sadness or depression or loneliness or with their friends. We've just created all of these really cool resources, so that you can find some [00:32:00] value and share 'em with your own kids or watch them with your own kids. We work really hard to create things that are relevant to them and a tool, a potential tool for parents, you know, who are looking to parent their own kiddos.
[00:32:11] So, and I'll share those with you and you can share 'em with your listeners if you wish. yeah, including. A couple
[00:32:20] James Marland: Do you work with?
[00:32:21] Iuri Melo: Those were really fun to write as well.
[00:32:22] James Marland: Yeah, I'll definitely put all that in there. What if be before I end, like, what if there's a parent who knows somebody who knows somebody? How do, how can they, you know, they're like, oh, this is great. Our school needs this, and there's. Sad to say. There's crises all, you know, people take action when there's like this big problem and they wish they would've taken it five years ago, but they can still do it now.
[00:32:45] Like you can still help people now. Like if somebody knows somebody or knows somebody who knows somebody and they want to get in touch with you. Is the your email the best way or what do you have like a form or like
[00:32:57] Iuri Melo: You just
[00:32:57] James Marland: how do you advocate for this program? [00:33:00] That's what I'm trying to say.
[00:33:01] Iuri Melo: No. For sure. You can certainly go, you can get to me through the website, but you can go to me directly. And we do, we have a lot of people, right? Sometimes our program arrives at a school from the top down, and sometimes it
[00:33:13] James Marland: Yeah,
[00:33:13] Iuri Melo: More
[00:33:13] James Marland: like A-A-P-T-A or some sort of parent organization that's like, we got a crisis. You know, we're just reacting. Reacting. Let's be proactive.
[00:33:22] Iuri Melo: Yeah.
[00:33:22] James Marland: Yeah. Okay.
[00:33:23] Iuri Melo: Yeah. And the evidence is so good. Like it, it
[00:33:27] It works. It isn't just a Pollyanna mission of you know, let's just give them good, the evidence actually backs that up, right? And so we're really grounded on evidence-based practices and the stuff that we're sharing. Parents wanna be aware of what their kids are watching and doing and seeing. And that's why we have these email campaigns that go out to every parent when a school opts in because we want them to see, we invite them, in fact,
[00:33:54] James Marland: Oh, there's education for the parents too.
[00:33:56] Iuri Melo: Yeah.
[00:33:57] James Marland: oh that's great. 'cause there's a lot that goes on. [00:34:00] That is so, it happens so fast. It's so like by the time you catch up with it as a parent, it's. Like either over or things have happened, so, yeah. Awesome. Okay. Yuri, uh, thanks so much for being on the show.
[00:34:16] I really appreciated your conversation, but also your heart and mission and your, your you know, your mission to make the life better for humans. And also that, um, you know, the renewable joy, your renewable source of happiness is something that's I'm gonna take with me for a while. So. Thanks so much for being on the show.
[00:34:34] Iuri Melo: absolutely. What a pleasure.
[00:34:36] James Marland: All right, listeners you heard it. There are things you can do. I, I'm challenging you to like, you know, if you know somebody who knows somebody, give 'em yours email and go send 'em to school Pulse because this is a resource or something like it should be in every school. Like there's no reason not to have it.
[00:34:52] So, uh, get in touch with URI and, um, do what you can with what you have. So it's now time to go [00:35:00] put your mission in motion. We'll see you next time.
[00:35:02]
[00:35:07] I want to thank Yuri and his work on School Pulse for being just a wonderful guest today. His heart and his mission to help schools and parents become proactive with their needs of their students and their children is just an amazing, and if you know somebody who knows somebody. Introduce them to School Pulse.
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[00:35:57] If you would like to take advantage of [00:36:00] that and become noticed as a supporter of Scaling Therapist services, go to scaling therapist services.com There, you will find ways to support the show and also become registered on the directory. Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you next time.
