BALLSTON SPA — Wood Road Elementary School Counselor Kathy Roy is reading a different kind of book to her students.

“You Weren’t With Me” addresses the feelings of having a loved one who’s away from you.

"It really addresses loss of any kind with a child, whether it's someone in the hospital or someone who has addiction problems, that’s something different. But it really addresses the whole gamut of separation issues that especially our little ones can have and feel," Roy said.

It can be hard to discuss topics like substance abuse with kids. The hope is that the book helps them understand their feelings in an age-appropriate way.

"It opens up those feelings and it gets them thinking about it. And then for students who are really facing bigger problems at home, they feel more open and ready to talk about what's happening and their feelings related to it," Roy said.

"You Weren’t With Me," along with many others, is being given to school districts through funding from the Prevention Council of Saratoga County as a resource to help break the stigma around mental health, starting at a young age.

"It's impacting their life. If they have a loved one that's going through a substance use disorder, whether actively using or in recovery, it's going to make a difference in their life and it impacts their life,” said Prevention Council of Saratoga County Director of School-Based Services Patty Kilgore. “So we need to talk about that."