A tornado couldn’t stop this community from showing up for children’s mental health and the work is needed now more than ever.
BROOKHAVEN, MS, UNITED STATES, May 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The day after a devastating tornado tore through the area, 70 mental health professionals, caregivers, and advocates gathered at the Lincoln County Civic Center for the Children’s Mental Health Conference 2026; themed Compassion in Action: Trauma-Responsive Care for Children. Some registered attendees never made it, stopped by storm damage and dangerous road conditions. The ones who did show up made a statement without saying a word. That kind of turnout does not happen by accident. It happens when people believe the work matters.
More than twenty days have passed since that tornado touched down. For adults, life is slowly piecing itself back together. But children do not process disaster the way adults do. Nightmares, anxiety, clinginess, sudden anger, and withdrawal can show up days or even weeks after the event and many of the caregivers closest to those children have no idea what they are looking at or what to do next.
That is exactly the gap this conference was built to address.
Held on National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, the event brought together six speakers and a room of professionals who work with children every day. Keynote speaker and conference host, Megan M. Hamm, Ed. S, LPC-S, RPT (licensed professional counselor supervisor, registered play therapist, and founder of Time For A Change Counseling, LLC) closed the day with a message that was both deeply personal and practically grounded.
“What happened in that room was bigger than a conference,” said Hamm. “People drove through storm damage to be there. That tells you everything about the heart of the people doing this work — and it tells you how urgent the need really is. They didn’t just leave inspired. They left equipped.”
Three weeks later, that urgency has not let up. In the aftermath of a natural disaster, children’s mental health needs are easy to overlook and not because families do not care, but because the signs are easy to miss and the resources are hard to find. Hamm and her team at Time For A Change Counseling, LLC are available to work with families and children in the area who are still navigating what comes after the storm passes.
Attendees left with hands full of resources, tools, and materials they could put to use immediately with the children in their care. The conference also marked the release of Hamm’s children’s book, Even When It’s Hard: A Story About Big Feelings and Hope, now available on Amazon and as an autographed copy directly through the author. For any child or caregiver dealing with the weight of overwhelming behaviors, it is a timely read.
Families, schools, churches, and community organizations looking for mental health support for children are encouraged to contact Time For A Change Counseling, LLC directly or visit www.meganmhamm.com.
About Megan M. Hamm, Ed.S, LPC-S, RPT
Megan M. Hamm is a licensed professional counselor supervisor, registered play therapist, and behavioral consultant based in Brookhaven, Mississippi, with almost two decades of clinical experience. She is the founder of Time For A Change Counseling, LLC and the creator of the H.E.A.R.T. Framework, a compassion-based approach to behavioral escalation in children. She is also the author of the Amazon best-selling title The Heart of the Matter and the newly released children’s book Even When It’s Hard.
Megan M. Hamm
Time For A Change Counseling, LLC
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