Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an 8-hour certification course that teaches community members how to help a someone who may be developing a mental health challenge, experiencing or coping with a worsening mental health challenge or substance abuse disorder.
Participants learn how to recognize, understand and respond appropriately to signs of mental health challenges of varying intensity as well as substance use disorders.
Mental Wellness Center offers MHFA to the general public as well as to specific organizations, including social clubs, faith communities, chambers of commerce, professional associations, rotary clubs, and other professionals who may regularly engage with a mental health challenged population (i.e., police officers, human resource directors, and primary care workers in hospitals and nursing homes).
Mental Wellness Center teaches three different MHFA courses depending on your age and what you do:
Teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) is an evidence-based course that teaches teenagers the skills they need to recognize and help their friends with potential mental health and substance use problems and crises and how to get the help of an appropriate adult. The course is designed to be delivered in high schools or other community sites by a trained teen Mental Health First Aid Instructor in three interactive classroom sessions of 75 minutes each or five sessions of 45 minutes each on non-consecutive days.
This past January, Bishop Garcia Diego High School participated in the expanded teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) pilot program, the first of its kind developed for high school students in the U.S. The school is one of 50 selected to take part in the second cohort of the pilot program, bringing the total of sites teaching the program to more than 75.
Youth Mental Health First Aid (yMHFA) is designed for adults who regularly interact with young people - either in a personal or professional capacity. It is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who may be experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or who is in crisis. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations.
Learn more about Youth Mental Health First Aid at https://bethedifferencesb.org
If you are interested in general information about Mental Health First Aid or scheduling a private class please reach out to:
Rocio Pacheco Garcia
Community Engagement and Education Coordinator
rpgarcia@mentalwellnesscenter.org
Mental Health Matters (MHM) is a program of the Mental Wellness Center. Originally created in 2000, MHM is designed to introduce basic facts about mental health to elementary, middle and high school students.
There are two MHM curricula, both of which were created by the Education Committee of the Mental Wellness Center. The MHM curriculum designed for 6th graders (MHM-6) was initially launched in 2008, while the curriculum created to be taught in high school health classes (MHM-HS) was developed later. Both address the three foci that are at the heart of best practices in mental health education:
The underlying premise of MHM is that with understanding, youth will know to seek help should they or someone they know experience symptoms of a possible mental health disorder, knowing that early treatment tends to lead to better outcomes. There is evidence of a recognized need for mental health education that is grounded in the increase in requests and the ongoing success of the MHM curriculum.
Our work is now well established in the Buellton, Carpinteria, Cold Spring, Hope, Goleta Union, and Santa Barbara Unified School Districts as well as in several local, private schools.
For more information, please contact:
Ann Lippincott, PhD
Mental Health Matters Facilitator
education@mhmyouth.org
The Wellness Connection is a high school leadership program of the Mental Wellness Center that educates, empowers, and engages students. Students raise awareness and reduce stigma around mental health by promoting self-care, connection, kindness, education, prevention, and outreach amongst their peers.
In 2017, Wellness Connection was created as a program of the Mental Wellness Center. For the first three years, the Mental Wellness Center contracted and collaborated with Rachael Steidl for the design and implementation of the Wellness Connection. In 2020, the Wellness Connection was rebranded to Wellness Connection. This youth-driven leadership program is committed to raising awareness and reducing stigma around mental health in our community. And in fall 2020, the Wellness Connection welcomed 60 local high school students to the leadership council from high schools throughout Santa Barbara County. In 2021, the Wellness Connection launched a brand new website, click here to visit the new site today!
For more information, please contact:
Youth Programs Coordinator
support@wcclubs.org