For the programme
About EmpowerYOUth
EmpowerYOUth is a 22-month Erasmus+ funded project focused on supporting the mental wellbeing and resilience of young people aged 14-18.
The project equips youth workers, guidance counsellors, teachers, and others who support young people with practical tools to help adolescents navigate challenges both in school and in everyday life.
Building on Previous Projects
The project builds on the success of two previous international initiatives, BUILD and I-YOU. These projects explored topics identified by young people themselves, including family relationships, friendships, anxiety, mental health, and social media communication. Research and pilot programmes showed that structured conversations using the Socratic dialogue, and practical coping tools based on cognitive-behavioral therapy approach (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy approach (DBT) can support young people feel more resilient, confident, and supported.
Youth Perspectives and Challenges
EmpowerYOUth brings together partners from Iceland, Bulgaria, and Italy. The project was launched during a two-day meeting in Reykjavík where partners shared insights from youth surveys conducted in each country. Alongside ongoing mental health concerns, young people highlighted increasing worries about loneliness, stress, and financial understanding, both inside and outside of school.
Self-Coaching Tools and Methods
A core element of EmpowerYOUth is the use of simple self-coaching tools developed through the I-YOU project (cards). These tools help young people reflect on emotions, strengthen communication skills, manage stress, and develop healthy coping strategies. Many of the coping strategies draw on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) which focuses on changing unhelpful thinking patterns or behaviors, and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), which emphasizes emotional regulation, mindfulness, and effective communication.
Support for Parents
Importantly, EmpowerYOUth is not only designed for professionals working with youth. Parents can also benefit from many of the tools and ideas developed through the project, which can be used at home to support open communication, emotional awareness, and positive mental health.
A European Collaboration for Youth Wellbeing
How the programme works
Programme Structure and Duration
The programme runs for 8 weeks, with one 40–60 minute session per week. At the beginning of the course, all students participate in an introductory session together with a Values and Purpose module delivered across two sessions. These initial sessions help students explore what matters most to them, understand how values influence choices and behaviour, and develop a shared language for reflection, emotions, and decision-making throughout the programme. Students then choose five additional modules from the remaining topics, allowing the programme to focus on areas they find most relevant and meaningful.
Topics and Learning Modules
Programme modules include: Values • Anxiety • Mental Health • Body Image • Friends • Family • Sexuality • Social Media • Loneliness • Bullying • Money • School Stress
Facilitation and Participation
Sessions are delivered by teams of two trained professionals, such as youth workers, guidance counsellors, teachers, social workers, or psychologists.
Students actively participate through discussions, focus groups, and questionnaires, giving them an important voice in shaping the learning process and reflecting on their own experiences.
Supporting Emotional Awareness and Resilience
A central element of the programme is helping students understand how thoughts can influence emotions and behaviour. Students learn to recognise common unhelpful thinking patterns, including:
- Mind Reading – assuming we know what others think without evidence
- Fortune Telling – predicting negative outcomes about the future
- Catastrophizing – exaggerating problems until they feel overwhelming
- All-or-Nothing Thinking – viewing situations as completely good or completely bad
Students also practise strategies for responding to these thoughts, such as:
- taking time to consider all available evidence;
- exploring alternative explanations;
- reflecting on how likely the feared outcome really is;
- asking themselves: “What advice would I give a friend thinking this way?”
The programme is grounded in cognitive-behavioural approaches, which show that changing unhelpful thought patterns or behaviours can positively influence emotional wellbeing. Students’ resilience is assessed before and after the programme in order to support reflection, progress, and learning.
A Safe and Supportive Environment
EmpowerYOUth creates a safe and supportive space where young people can discuss sensitive topics, identify personal values and strengths, and learn where to seek support when needed.
The programme is specifically tailored to the needs of adolescents and encourages openness, reflection, emotional awareness, and respectful dialogue.
Preventative and Practical Value
The programme helps young people better understand everyday challenges, develop coping strategies, and strengthen emotional awareness.
Through structured learning modules and practical self-coaching tools (cards), EmpowerYOUth helps young people build skills they can apply in school, at home, and in everyday life.
For parents
Supporting Young People at Home
Parents play an important role in supporting their children’s wellbeing, particularly during adolescence – a time of increasing independence, identity development, and emotional change. While young people seek greater autonomy, ongoing parental presence and support remain important protective factors for mental wellbeing.
Many of the tools and strategies used in EmpowerYOUth can also be applied at home, helping families communicate openly and effectively, recognise emotional changes, and encourage healthy coping strategies.
European Collaboration and Expertise
EmpowerYOUth is a collaboration between partners from Iceland, Bulgaria, and Italy, bringing together international expertise in youth work, counselling, and mental health. The project helps ensure that effective, evidence-based strategies reach young people across Europe through the exchange of knowledge and approaches between partner countries.
Contact:
info@empoweryouth.eu
