Step 1
Step 2
The Youth Issues Course provides youth workers and volunteers with a 7 session overview of some of the major challenges impacting teens. We’ll guide you toward recognizing the presence and impact of each issues with an eye toward building a repertoire of practical responses that reflect the heart of Christ.
Knowing how to step into the challenges some young people encounter can feel overwhelming. Most Youth Workers aren’t trained counsellors, but seeing the waters rising around our youth compels us to move into their complicated worlds and help them navigate the way through. So what do we need to know to step in with support that is useful to the youth and fits our role in their life?
This course will provide a foundation for engagement with youth that includes understanding and skills for truly helpful support. It will not equip you to become a counsellor but instead will supply you with what you need to walk with confidence, competence and compassion into the challenges young people face.
The content will “bend” to the felt needs of the participants but topics we plan to explore over the span of the course include:
- Supporting vs Rescuing – Considering a Philosophy of Care
- Trauma and Resilience
- Mental Health (with a focus on stress, anxiety and depression)
- Self-Harm
- Online Sexual Exploitation
- Sexual Minority Youth
- Neurodivergence (with a focus on ADHD and Autism)
- Addictions
- Crisis Intervention and Suicide
- Being in Care/Understanding the Child Welfare System
The once-per-month class will include teaching, resource connections, skill development and guided interaction time. We will meet online on the second Wednesday of October, November, December, January, February, March, and April from 9:00-11:30am Pacific Time. The cost is $180 for the entire 17.5 hours of course time and is available to YFC|Youth Unlimited staff and volunteers across the country.
Dates
October 8
November 12
December 10
January 14
February 11
March 11
April 8
TIMES
9:00am – 11:30am Pacific Time // 12:00pm – 2:30pm Eastern Time
COST
$180 per person
Location
Online – you will receive a link before the course starts
For more information contact iona@youthunlimited.com
to Register
Step 1: Registration
Fill out the Registration Form here
Step 2: Payment
Once you have filled out the Registration Form, go to the Lifeteams website using the “Pay for Registration” button below, add the course to your cart, and proceed to checkout
REGISTRATION CLOSES OCTOBER 10, 2025
“Self-initiated training often takes a back seat in the hustle and bustle of life and ministry, but signing up for this course made it easy to have it scheduled and planned out, I just had to show up ready to learn and grow. This course is a must for all newer staff. Hardcore, straight to the issues, being trained well on the job. A great way to learn and put into practice right from the get go.” (Jack Wiebe, Morris Youth Unlimited)