Meet Caitlyn George: Listening, Advocacy, and Supporting Youth Mental Wellness

Meet Caitlyn George: Listening, Advocacy, and Supporting Youth Mental Wellness

At Touchstone Foundation, our interns bring different educational backgrounds, professional experiences, and perspectives that strengthen our work with young people and the Lancaster County community. This semester, we are excited to welcome Caitlyn George, a Master of Social Work student whose experience in behavioral health has shaped her commitment to listening, advocacy, and ensuring people feel heard when seeking support.

Through her time at Touchstone Foundation, Caitlyn will build upon her previous experience working with adolescents while exploring how community programs, education, and advocacy can help young people develop healthier relationships with their mental well-being.

Finding a Path from Psychology to Social Work

Before pursuing her master’s degree in Social Work, Caitlyn earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and spent two years working in a behavioral health facility.

That experience ultimately helped clarify the role she wanted to have in the mental health field. While working with patients, Caitlyn began recognizing limitations in what she could accomplish in her position. She wanted greater opportunities to advocate for individuals, understand their needs, and play a more active role in helping them access appropriate support.

“When I left, I began pursuing a degree in Social Work,” Caitlyn shared.

Today, her graduate studies are helping her develop the skills and experience necessary to become a stronger advocate for the individuals and communities she hopes to serve.

Becoming Someone Who Listens

One experience in particular helped shape Caitlyn’s decision to pursue social work.

While working in behavioral health, she encountered patients who she felt weren’t always being heard or having their needs adequately addressed—even when staff members documented concerns and advocated on their behalf.

“I originally started my MSW program because I wanted to be someone who would listen,” she explained.

That commitment to listening remains an important part of Caitlyn’s professional philosophy. As her education has progressed, she has also developed a particular interest in focusing her future work on veterans.

Although her career interests have evolved, the motivation behind them remains consistent: helping people feel heard, understood, and supported.

Returning to Youth Mental Wellness

Touchstone Foundation provides Caitlyn with an opportunity to reconnect with another area of her previous experience: working with adolescents.

Before joining Touchstone, Caitlyn gained experience facilitating therapeutic groups with young people and helping adolescents understand the importance of caring for their mental health.

At Touchstone, she hopes to build on that experience while seeing firsthand how positive conversations about mental wellness can take place outside traditional clinical environments.

“I hope to experience the positive connection between adolescents and mental health and grow its awareness,” Caitlyn shared.

Through programs that encourage conversation, self-awareness, connection, and advocacy, Caitlyn will have opportunities to explore how community-based approaches can complement the work happening within behavioral health and educational settings.

Looking Beyond the Label of “Lazy”

One area of youth mental health advocacy Caitlyn is particularly passionate about is challenging assumptions about young people’s behavior—especially when teenagers are quickly described as “lazy.”

Behind disengagement, low motivation, withdrawal, or difficulty completing everyday responsibilities, there may be more happening than what is immediately visible. Caitlyn believes it is important for adults to look deeper and consider whether a young person could be experiencing depression, anxiety, distressing thoughts, or other challenges affecting their well-being.

Her perspective emphasizes curiosity before judgment: asking what a behavior may be communicating rather than relying solely on a label.

Creating Healthier Relationships with Technology

Caitlyn is also interested in conversations surrounding screen time and our growing reliance on technology.

Phones, computers, gaming, and social media are increasingly embedded in everyday life for young people and adults alike. Caitlyn is interested in exploring how these habits may influence attention, patience, boredom, irritability, and our ability to disconnect.

For her, raising awareness about screen time provides an opportunity to encourage greater mindfulness about how technology fits into everyday life and how young people and adults can develop healthier habits that support their overall well-being.

Beyond Social Work

Outside of graduate school and her professional interests, Caitlyn is an animal lover who enjoys learning more about them.

She is also a longtime fan of video games.

“I grew up on video games and love talking about them,” Caitlyn shared.

That interest provides another point of connection with young people—and an understanding that conversations about technology can recognize both the enjoyment and community it provides and the importance of finding balance.

We are excited to welcome Caitlyn George to Touchstone Foundation and provide opportunities for her to expand her experience in youth mental wellness, community programming, advocacy, and direct engagement. We look forward to the perspective she will bring as she continues developing a career grounded in one of the most important elements of mental health support: making sure people know someone is willing to listen.