Horizons Community Blog (Colville, WA)

Registeration Form is located under the Community Event tap under the Upper Columbia Volunteer Center section.


The NEW Alliance Counseling Services AmeriCorps Program is partnering with Community Colleges of Spokane, Colville HORIZONS and Washington State University to sponsor the first Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) program in Northeastern Washington. The course will be held at Institute for Extended Learning, Colville Center on May 26 and 27, 2011 from 9 a.m. to 4p.m both days. Registration fee will be $20.00 for both days and lunch will be provided.
The MHFA program will train police officers, emergency responders, primary care professionals, education personnel, clergy and members of the public to improve mental health literacy -- helping them identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness.
"We are thrilled to bring Mental Health First Aid to our community," said Ann Van Dielen, AMERICORPS member. "This important educational effort really helps people understand the shroud of fear and misjudgment facing individuals and families who experience mental illnesses and addiction. We hope this program will help reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and move more and more people toward recovery."
Mental Health First Aid is a 12-hour training certification course which teaches participants a five-step action plan to assess a situation, select and implement interventions and secure appropriate care for the individual. The certification program introduces participants to risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems, builds understanding of their impact and offers overviews of common treatments. Research has shown that the MFA program is effective in improving trainees' knowledge of mental disorders, reducing stigma and increasing the amount of help provided to others.
Mental Health First Aid comes under the auspices of the ORYGEN Research Centre at the University of Melbourne in Australia under the direction of MHFA founders Betty Kitchener and Tony Jorm. To date, it has been implemented in six other countries worldwide, including Hong Kong, Scotland, England, Canada, Finland and Singapore.
The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare brought MHFA to the United States in 2008. In its pilot year, the program was introduced in nearly 20 states and more than 40 communities nationwide
The program has been made available to the residents of the area through grants from the Washington State Mental Health Transformation Project, Eastern State Hospital, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services and Washington State University. The course will be taught by John Murphy, a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor. John is a Patient Advocate at Eastern State Hospital, a trainer for Wellness Recovery Action Plan and Recovery and Resiliency program. He is on the state board for the National Alliance on Mental Illness and has been advocating for mental health for more the 20 years.
“MHFA offers those who take the program a way of approaching someone in crisis and asking how they're doing and offering resources that could help them,” John said. Safety is another aspect of mental health first aid where trainers teach people whether they can approach someone, or should call law enforcement.
Many times, people want to respond but don't know how. Participants will learn about signs and symptoms of mental illness and about effective treatments in an effort to help reduce stigma.
For more information and registration form go to http://www.colvillewa.org/. Contact Ann Van Dielen at 509-389-1950 or email at info@colvillewa.org.