For Mental Health First Aid Certification
I recently had the pleasure of taking a course and receiving my Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) certification, an opportunity that came through the university. I am a psychology major here at West Chester University, with an interest in becoming a therapist. Naturally, when this opportunity surfaced, I was instantly interested. I thought it would give me great tools to help out my friends and peers in my community, along with furthering my education for my career. I was pleasantly surprised with how much more I got from the in-person training.
For a little background, MHFA is a training program that teaches members of the public how to help a person who is experiencing varying degrees of worsening mental health issues. This includes the early stages to crises and suicide intervention. This particular course has an online portion and an in-person portion led by instructors.
When I arrived at the instructor-led course I was there to learn with a variety of people in the community. There were other students, faculty of the university– both academic and those a part of health services, and people outside of the University community who chose this educational course to better themselves for the people around them, or to gain extra tools for their careers. People were of different ages, genders, ethnicity, and backgrounds which promoted a very diverse and well-rounded insight within the discussions. I really enjoyed connecting to and learning from these other individuals.
The instructors were fantastic. Tracy and Lloyd were extremely inviting, guiding, and really hosted a fantastic environment to learn. Their genuine passion for their roles as educational leaders certainly played a large role in the productivity of the course. They gave so much insight that allowed me to take away so much more than what I expected. An example of this would be how open everyone was to really dig deep and share both personal experience and outside knowledge. The kind of vulnerability that the instructors gave time and space for was extremely important.
If you are looking to further your knowledge and training with mental health, for both yourself and for those around you, I recommend this course through WCU with the utmost confidence that you will gain so much from it no matter your previous level of knowledge on the subject. It really was a special experience to share and learn about the mental health crisis in our country, how we address and approach these issues on an individual, communal, and systemic level, and how to really show up for the people in our lives.
Databases to find counselors, therapists and other helping professionals
1. www.theshrinkspace.com [theshrinkspace.com]
2. www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists [psychologytoday.com]
3. www.talkspace.com [talkspace.com]
4. www.betterhelp.com/ [betterhelp.com]