Slaying Our Inner Dragons: How a One‑Day Workshop in Vienna Helped Young People Talk About Mental Health

On 13 March , within the frame of our RECOVER project, we invited fifteen young people and five youth‑work professionals to special moment of connection and exploration through a participatory reseash approach for self-analysis with focus on youth wellbeing. The goal was simple: give everyone a safe space to talk honestly about mental health. Instead of lectures we used the Healing Dragons manual, a playful guide that asks participants to picture their worries as “dragons” and then find creative ways to heal them. Two facilitators arranged the chairs in a circle, laid out art supplies, and asked the group to set their own ground rules. Within minutes the room felt friendly and equal—no one was standing at a podium telling the others what to think.

The morning started with icebreakers that eased nerves and built trust. Each person shared a personal strength on a homemade “shield,” then wrote an anonymous note naming the dragon they struggle with most—exam stress, self‑doubt, loneliness, family pressure. When a few of those notes were read aloud everyone realised they weren’t the only ones fighting similar battles, and tension visibly dropped. Next came a guided visualisation called “Meet Your Dragon.” Eyes closed, participants pictured the shape, colour and voice of their inner challenge. They then drew or sculpted that image with markers and clay. A gallery walk let volunteers explain their artwork: one dragon was tangled in textbooks, another wore a social‑media crown. Sharing these pieces turned private feelings into shared stories and sparked spontaneous empathy around the circle.

In the afternoon, the group switched from reflection to problem‑solving. Working in mixed teams, they mapped the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing youth mental health in Austria. They quickly agreed that peer support and rising public awareness were big positives, while stigma, heavy school workloads and long waits for counselling remained serious obstacles. Ideas for change poured out: start campus support clubs, use TikTok to bust mental‑health myths, hold regular “wellbeing days” in schools, and create an online directory of youth‑friendly services. Youth workers added practical tips, such as a free drop‑in counselling service many participants had never heard of.

The day ended with quiet reflection. Everyone wrote a “hero’s pledge,” one small action they would take for their own wellbeing and one strength they had discovered in themselves. Several read their pledges aloud; one young woman admitted it was the first time she had ever talked about her depression in front of others. A simple sticker poll showed almost all rated the workshop nine or ten out of ten. Before leaving, the young people created a WhatsApp group called #HealingDragonsAT so they could keep supporting each other. By evening that chat was already buzzing with check‑ins and memes.

What changed in just a few hours? Participants said they felt less alone, more confident speaking about mental health, and armed with practical coping tools. Youth workers went home determined to use the creative exercises in their own programmes. The facilitators learned that flexibility—adding breaks when emotions ran high, shortening activities when energy spiked—kept the process genuine and respectful.

The Vienna workshop proved that when young people are trusted to shape the conversation, stigma shrinks and solutions grow. RECOVER plans to run similar sessions in other Austrian cities and to translate the Healing Dragons material into German so more groups can use it. If you want to help—by offering a venue, snacks, funding or simply your time—get in touch or share this story with the hashtag #HealingDragonsAT. Together we can keep turning fears into fuel and show young people they are the heroes of their own mental‑health journeys.

This international project is successfully realised thanks to the generous support of the European Union through the Erasmus+ Programme , and coordinated by the Polish organisation "Zdrowy Kształt S.C." and with partners from Croatia and Latvia.

Project dedicated website: https://recover-erasmus.eu/

More project details are on the ERASMUS+ results platform in its Project Card.

Project Reference: 2024-1-PL01-KA220-YOU-000243430