For those who have been affected by mental illness, whether personally or by a family member or friend, openly discussing their feelings can be difficult.The Exceptional Sidekick Service Dogs and Therapy Dogs is a nonprofit group that relies on the support of donations. To learn more about the services they offer, like the Exceptional Sidekick Teen Advocate Program and to donate, visit newtownservicedogs.org.

That is why the nonprofit group Exceptional Sidekick Service Dogs launched a new program this March at the Newtown High School (NHS) to bring together teen leaders who have expressed an interest in mental health, recovery, and service dogs.

The extracurricular course is called the Exceptional Sidekick Teen Advocate Program and it is comprised of a specially selected group of sophomores and juniors, known as the Dog Squad, who are looking to become peer advocates and break the stigmas associated with mental illness.

During the six-week program, the teens work directly with two young psychiatric service dogs in training, Harry and Jake. The dogs are black Labrador retriever siblings that are only about a year old.

Harry and Jake are currently residing with two NHS teachers caregivers - science teacher Dr Bridget Berechid and French teacher Jennifer Brown - who regularly bring the dogs to class with them.

Exceptional Sidekick Service Dogs Founder/Executive Director Abby Hill explained, "The teachers are our puppy raisers and the dogs are at the school every single day with them. They take them home at night and train them in their spare time."

The students in the program dedicate time during the school day to take care of the service dogs, as well as attend workshops twice a week after school for Mental Health Peer Advocate Training and Psychiatric Service Dog Training.

Ms Hill is a certified professional dog trainer and dog behavior specialist with almost 20 years of experience, who uses her expertise to teach the students the proper ways to train and handle the service dogs in the program.

Students learn everything from how to take the dogs out to go to the bathroom to how to walk them on a leash, to how to get the dogs in and out of their crates. They are also responsible for learning what to do if someone wants to pet one of the dogs.

Ultimately, the work they do to incorporate and maintain the specific trainings is vital in helping Harry and Jake become successful service dogs.

For the in-depth discussions on peer mental health training, Ms Hill has teamed up with Lauren Wolfe, MS, LPC, who works directly with the teen advocates on weekly assignments provided by Mental Health America.

The students are taught about topics they may come across in their community such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, psychosis, eating disorders, recovery, and how everyone struggles with mental illness differently.

The peer advocates also learn effective listening skills and self-care practices, as well as how to help a peer access professional help if needed.

The goal of the program is to give the students valuable knowledge about mental health, so they can help those struggling to feel comfortable talking about what they are feeling inside.

Service dogs in the school act like an ice breaker to invite the conversation to start in a natural way.

The program has been met with great support and Ms Hill says, "The teachers really notice a difference in their classrooms, too. The teachers are happy having the dogs here and to have people visit them."

The spring semester's Exceptional Sidekick Teen Advocate Program will be finishing later in May, before the NHS students leave for summer vacation, but will return in the fall.

After Harry and Jake's psychiatric service dog training is successfully completed they will become eligible to be matched with a child or adult with a psychiatric disability, free of charge.