One in every five Americans (52.9 million people) experience mental illness each year.

The signs of someone struggling with mental health are often subtle, leaving many conditions undetected and therefore undiagnosed and untreated. It’s important to not only recognize these signs in ourselves but in our family, friends and colleagues so that we can give them the support they need when they need it.

Recognizing this gap in care and the results from the 2021 Clergy Well-being Survey showing a steady decline in mental and emotional health, Wespath is offering first aid training for mental health.

First aid training for mental health is a two-part live, virtual webinar facilitated by Chris White, a leading international UK government hostage and crisis negotiator and First Aid for Mental Health trainer. This training will teach you how to identify and understand mental health challenges with empathy, and without judgment.

According to White, “We all have our ‘window on the world’” and that window is in a room. The First Aid for Mental Health concept of empathy is listening without judgment to earn the right to enter another person’s room and look at the world through their window. First Aid for Mental Health teaches you how to be invited (or welcomed) into someone else’s room, see the world through their window and get them the help they need. It also teaches you how to accept and understand your own mental health needs, without embarrassment or shame.

This training is offered to all United Methodist Church clergy and their spouses, Church leaders, staff and congregation members– at no cost. Spots are limited, register today.

Session 1 - The Basics, March 10, 2022
Duration: 60 minutes

The first session teaches the foundational concepts of mental health, the ability to identify when you or someone else may have mental health needs that require assistance and the skills to start a conversation and get them the help they need. Session 1 includes topics on:

—Current mental health challenges and statistic
—Influences, stress, vulnerability and self-awareness
—Stigma, discrimination and promoting inclusion
—Identifying and coping with stress; exploring our own ‘stress signatures’
—First Aid for Mental Health: principles to approaching and helping others

Session 2 – A Deeper Dive, March 24, 2022
Duration: 60 minutes

The second session dives deeper into external influences, stress, vulnerability and ways in which our thoughts, feelings and behaviors are impacted every day. It provides practical methods for how to manage ourselves and others in crisis. Session 2 topics include:

—Personal resilience and staying well
—Understanding ways in which we can become unwell
—An introduction to depression, substance abuse, anxiety and self-harm—risk factors and First Aid for Mental Health interventions
—Suicide and First Aid for Mental Health for suicidal crisis
—Connecting with others, active listening and understanding common personal barriers to having an effective conversation