What is Mental Health First Aid?
Updated: Sep 13, 2021
If you're a follower of my social media accounts, you've noticed that recently I have been moderating Standard Mental Health First Aid (Virtual) Courses for the past couple months.
Most of us are pretty familiar with what Standard CPR & First Aid Training is even if we have never taken any of the course. First aid training, and similar courses offered by The Canadian Red Cross, are put in place to save peoples lives who are having an immediate physical emergency.
So who is Mental Health First Aid for, and who is it run by?
Mental Health First Aid is run by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, which was founded by the government in 2007 to address the need for mental health information and programs. This program, and similar ones like it, are taught in order to prepare people for dealing with someone who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. (Click HERE to find out more!) These courses highlight how it is often times easy to recognize and deal with physical emergencies, but we may lack confidence in identifying and acting on dealing with mental emergencies.
There are many different programs offered for individuals looking to get trained in Mental Health situations:
- Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)
- MHFA Adults who Interact with Youth
- Mental Health First Aid First Nations
- Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Inuit
- The Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Canada Northern Peoples
- MHFA Veteran Community course
(Click on any that may apply to you for more information)
The course I moderate is: Standard Mental Health First Aid (Virtual). This course focuses on how to help people who may be experiencing a decline in their mental well-being or a mental health crisis. Another important part of this course, is the focus on self-care. Often times when we get busy, we forget that self-care is an important, necessary part of life.
I have been honored to work along side 5 different facilitators (and counting!) as a moderator for this course. Each time I moderate I learn something new and interesting that not only changes the way I help others, but the way I help myself. I highly recommend everyone takes a look into these courses, to see if they are something that would be of benefit for yourself or someone you know.
Interested in taking the course?
Look for dates through the commissions website HERE!
As well, I would like to recommend looking for new course dates and information HERE, as my very close friend, Ebonie Becker, has just launched her business and will be offering courses throughout the year!
Also, as always you can send me a message and I can put yourself, or your organization, in touch with a facilitator.
Have a Happy, Healthy Day!
Coach Danielle