The start of the school year is scheduled for this Thursday, September 1, a sometimes scary moment for many children, adolescents and young people. A new center dedicated to the mental health of young people is opening in Rennes. This endowment fund is called My Ker. It has already hosted five young people for an experiment last spring. Professionals want to follow other young people in a next session.
What is My Ker?
This endowment fund has been in existence since 2020. Last spring, an experiment took place with five young people. this allowed the center based in the Beaulieu district of Rennes to test its methods. Several professionals (psychiatrists, sophrologists, master yogi) mobilize to support young people aged between 15 and 30 and suffering from mood disorders such as depression, school phobia or even bipolarity.
– Lucie Amadieu
For two months, the young people come twice a week to take part in different workshops. “We work a lot through speaking. In groups of two or three, the young people talk about their emotions. They also learn to recognize the warning signs of their pathology by asking themselves the following questions: ‘Am I more tired? ‘, ‘Do I speak faster?’, ‘Do I exert myself more?'”explains the president of My Ker, Geneviève Quélennec.
Who funds My Ker?
“The My Ker device is completely independent”, answers Gilles Ulliac, co-founder and director of the FSEF Rennes Beaulieu clinic. Nevertheless, the site works thanks to partners such as the clinic of the French Student Health Foundation in Rennes, the Alaph association. “There is no company behind who drives. We are there to meet a need.”
A way to circumvent the traditional care offer?
The three co-founders of My Ker do not present their endowment fund as a substitute for the classic care offer but rather as a completion according to Gilles Ulliac, also director of the FSEF Rennes Beaulieu clinic. “In France, there are major difficulties from a psychiatric point of view. We often wait for an emergency to hospitalize the person. Once the patient enters a psychiatric following, heavy medication, he can decompensate even more Our system aims to arrive upstream – or downstream – of hospitalization. Our objective is that it be as light as possible: there is no full-time hospitalization since the structure is open only during the day and only during the week.”
– Lucie Amadieu
What results?
Because of their illness, young people often drop out of school. “Some were out of school, couldn’t get out of their homes, stay playing video games”, describes Gilles Ulliac, co-founder and director of the FSEF Rennes Beaulieu clinic. After two months of care, this professional notices changes. “You have a young person who was out of school and who is going to return to the clinic as part of a school scheme. Another is reorienting himself: he leaves his first general to go to a professional baccalaureate. Finally, another person who apprenticeship in Nantes is getting closer to Rennes to reorient oneself towards another profession.”
How to join the next session?
A next session is scheduled from October 4 to December 17. To register, you must go through the My Ker website. The group is made up of a maximum of 12 people. From now on, participants must pay 180 euros per month. Before joining the care pathway, all these young people meet with a psychiatrist to determine if the support offered corresponds to the pathology.