Free mental health first aid training course available to Ocean County residents

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month in May, the Ocean County chapter of the Mental Health Association in New Jersey is offering a free mental health first aid course to county residents. The course will be provided in two 4½-hour sessions scheduled for Monday, May 5 and 19, from 1 to 5:30 p.m., at MHANJ’s Ocean County office in Toms River.

The course is being made possible through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Red Cross as part of a major initiative to bring Mental Health First Aid, a national program created in 2001, to communities severely impacted by Superstorm Sandy.

Photo via Mental Healthy
The mental health first aid training teaches
people how to help other in specific situations.

“There are so many people who are still not back in their home, or their home’s not finished. They’re wandering around confused and depressed,” said Michelle Green-Ferrante, program director of the Mental Health Association in New Jersey’s Ocean County office. “Mental health first aid is so helpful in that it gives you some tools and tips that you can use. It helps you create a plan, and I think it makes it easier to talk to somebody who may be going through a mental health crisis and walk them through it and encourage them to seek some professional help if it’s needed,” she explained.

Green-Ferrante, who is one of MHANJ’s six trained mental health facilitators in the county, believes the training will be especially helpful for those who work closely with other residents in the community, such as senior citizens who may not see many people on a daily basis.

“They don’t see anybody but maybe their mailman, and when people are elderly they tend to talk, and there might be something going on,” she said. “It’s neighbor helping neighbor. Just like anybody would take a first aid course for CPR, this is so important. It was so important before Sandy, and it’s even more important now,” she added.

The training program will teach participants a five-step action plan to assist those with an emerging mental health crisis or disorder. It covers the most common health problems and will teach participants how to assess a situation, select and implement appropriate interventions and secure appropriate care.

“It’s for noticing and assessing the situation – noticing some signs and symptoms. We’re not going to do therapy,” said Green-Ferrante. “It’s kind of like traditional first aid with CPR; you do something until the professional can get there. It’s intervening and making sure that the person is safe until you can get the appropriate professionals to come and help them,” she explained.

Session one, part one of the interactive course will discuss mental health first aid and mental health issues in the country, as well as depression and anxiety disorders. Session one, part two will focus on first aid for suicidal behavior, the identification of non-suicidal self-injury and first aid for depression and anxiety.

Session two, part one will be centered around first aid for panic attacks, traumatic events, acute psychosis and understanding disorders when psychosis might occur. Session two, part two will focus on understanding substance abuse disorders, first aid for overdose and withdrawal and using mental health first aid.

Individuals who successfully complete the training will be issued a certificate at the end of course.

For more information, or to register, visit mhanj.org or contact Laura Guida at 732-244-0940 or lguida@mhanj.org.

— Kelley Anne Essinger

This article was published in The SandPaper.