Sathea Samathi

Sathea Samathi group
Locations
Cambodia
Sathea Samathi group

Sathea Samathi

Project Overview

Sathea Samathi is a 10-week manualized youth mental health and resilience protocol developed by Cambodian mental health professionals, Buddhist monk scholars, and experts in the care of vulnerable youth. The protocol includes contemplative skills that have been practiced in the region for thousands of years, and augments those interventions with lessons on body movement, prosocial behaviors, and youth interconnectedness with others and with the environment. Importantly, youth guardians and caregivers receive their own sessions to both understand what their children are learning and practicing at home so that they can provide support and in hopes that the intervention may improve their own mental health and parenting.  An initial pilot study of Sathea Samathi as part of afterschool programs found positive trends in mental health outcomes and good acceptability among the youth and their caregivers. An ongoing pilot study is examining changes in youth mental health (symptoms of depression, anxiety, and suicidality) as Sathea Samathi is implemented within a middle school in Cambodia.

Project Leads/PIs
  • Hy Huynh
  • Kathryn Whetten
Funders/Sponsors
Duke University (pilot funding)
Partners
Development for Cambodian Children (Battambang, Cambodia)
Team Members
  • Kathryn Whetten
  • Leonard Ng’eno
  • Andy Weinhold
  • Amy Hobbie