Houston Public Library's LaTrisha Milton opened the "Big Feelings" programming that included sensory stations (right) for the youngest patrons. Photos by Deisy Valle

The idea for a mental health program at the library came to LaTrisha Milton after the May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX. The youth and family services manager for Houston Public Library (HPL) wanted to do something to help parents and families manage difficult situations and feelings.

“It was just the result of me following the story,” she says. “All these emotions came up in me, and I did not know what to do with myself. Then I started thinking about the families, and the kids, and the teachers.”

Having never created such a program, Milton took her time to pull together the right partners and programs. Then, the originally scheduled event was delayed by storm damage to the library. But on Saturday, July 20, 2024, Milton welcomed more than 50 people to “Big Feelings” at HPL’s Central Library in Houston.

“The day was dedicated to giving families some sort of support when it comes to tough times and being able to cope together—not just parents helping their kids get through things, but also parents knowing how to handle themselves and how to recognize when anxiety is high or frustrations are high, and what to do to kind of bring those things down,” says Milton.

The event was coordinated with partner organizations, including Mental Health America of Greater Houston, Texas Children's Hospital, a local arts and education organization, and a local yoga studio.

It began with a presentation for the entire group from a licensed counselor who defined “big feelings” and how to recognize them and discussed how to know what is “normal” and when it’s time to pay more attention to how you are responding to situations. Then the attendees broke up into smaller groups: adults, tweens/teens, and children 10 and under.

The adult session focused on parenting through anxiety.

“A lot of them were very intently listening,” says Milton. One parent of tweens told Milton that she really appreciated the program because she struggles to understand what her children are going through at times and not get frustrated with them.

Tweens and teens participated in mindfulness yoga.

While the caregivers were there, the tweens/teens group went to mindfulness yoga then participated in an art therapy session about the emotions surrounding grief. The youngest attended a story time about feelings before joining their caregivers again for different activities, including adding emotions in Play-Doh to blank face templates, doing yoga, and exploring sensory-friendly areas with kinetic sand and the ability to build.

The adults also used the time to build relationships with other caregivers, according to Milton.

“We had several parents that made friends while they were there,” she says. “It was helpful for them to know that there are other parents going through the same thing."

At the end of the event, the full group reconvened to talk about coping together. An instructor from Mental Health America of Greater Houston discussed the importance of getting through tough times as a family, respecting boundaries, and maintaining healthy relationships while working through everyone's emotions.

In addition to the official programming, the library had a table with information about upcoming events and more. People could sign up for summer reading, learn about voter registration, and receive information from various mental health organizations in the community.

Throughout the two-hour event, a meditation room was also available, along with a table where mental health professionals were available to answer questions and offer more information where needed. Insurance company New York Life offered its Child ID program, creating identification cards for the children that caregivers can give to authorities if children are lost or missing.

With no previous mental health programming experience, Milton wanted to get as much feedback from attendees as possible. At the end of the event, she passed out a QR code that took participants to a survey. She received a much bigger response with that immediate effort than from the typical post-programming email, she says.

Parents told Milton they appreciated the program because they know their children are going through situations and stressors they did not as kids, and they don't know how to help.

“I wasn't sure how people would respond, [but] people want this type of access to help them deal with things,” she says.

The youngest patrons created faces that showed an emotion and took part in a story time about feelings.