Corewell Health will be offering mental health first aid training in Benton Harbor in October.
Corewell outreach specialist Teri Albers tells us the organization’s Mental Health First Aid Workshop will be one of many it’s held in Southwest Michigan in recent years as it seeks to help people understand the struggles faced by others in their own community. She says the training seeks to approach a mental health crisis like any other emergency.
“Mental health first aid is giving some response and some understanding for those that have a mental health or substance use challenge,” Albers said. “So with this class, it covers the common signs and symptoms of what a mental health challenge is and what it looks like, and then goes into how to interact, how to support somebody is and what it looks like in a crisis or a non-crisis situation.”
They’ll talk about trauma recovery, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. The workshop will also include Narcan training.
Albers says hundreds of people have been trained in Southwest Michigan in mental health first aid, and it’s made a real difference. She notes one in five Southwest Michigan residents live with a mental illness or challenge. The most common is anxiety.
The workshop will be on October 18 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and it is free. Registration is required and space is limited. Albers says there will be future events, so anyone who misses next month will have another chance.