Understanding Youth Homelessness and Young People’s Mental Health Through Experiential Science

During the conference “Bridging Knowledges: Experiential Science and Clinical Practices in Youth Homelessness” held at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, I aimed to create a space for reflection on how we understand and support young people experiencing homelessness and mental health challenges.

We took a moment to look beyond diagnoses, statistics, and service pathways, and instead return to the human experience behind these realities. Behind youth homelessness, there are often trajectories marked by survival, rupture, adaptation, and at times a deep mistrust of public services and institutions.

The conference also highlighted the importance of experiential science and knowledge rooted in lived experience. Often underestimated in practice settings, this expertise nonetheless provides a crucial understanding of what truly helps, what can cause harm, and what enables trust to be (re)built.

We also discussed the importance of humanizing the young people we support. Behind behaviors, diagnoses, or protective mechanisms, there are first and foremost complex human beings with histories, emotions, needs, and a dignity that deserves recognition. Within healthcare systems, youth experiencing homelessness often feel as though they are seen through the lens of their difficulties rather than their humanity.

This reflection also went in the other direction: humanizing professionals. Accepting that intervention does not rely solely on expertise or providing answers, but also on the ability to be authentic, humble, and present.

Sometimes, what truly creates connection is not having the “best intervention,” but being a better person with whom young people can feel safe and trust.

This conference was, above all, an invitation to slow down, to question our intervention reflexes, and to reflect on the place we give to lived experience in our practices.

What happens to our understanding of mental health when we truly listen to those concerned?

And what might change in our systems if we made more space for human, relational, and experiential forms of knowledge?