Westerly Hospital offers two new sessions for youth mental health first aid certification training

WESTERLY, RHODE ISLAND, January 22, 2018 – Westerly Hospital, in partnership with the Washington County Coalition for Children, will be offering two new two-part sessions of a certification training course on youth mental health first aid. Both sessions will be held in Westerly Hospital’s Henry J. Nardone Conference Center.

• Saturday, January 27 and February 3, from 8:00 am until 12:30 pm. This session will be facilitated by Dr. Robert Harrison.
• Thursday, February 15 and Thursday, February 22, from 8:00 am until 12:30 pm. This session will be facilitated by Scott Mueller, MSW and Lori Duffy, LICSW.

Both sessions are free and open to the public but space is limited. To register for either session, contact Donna Greene at [email protected] or call 401-788-2371.

Youth Mental Health First Aid is a mental health literacy program designed to teach adults a 5-step action plan to offer initial help to young people facing mental health challenges or in crisis situations as well as connect them with the appropriate professional, peer, social, or self-care they need.

This free course is ideally designed for adults who work with young people, ages 12-18 — teachers, coaches, leaders of faith communities, police officers, youth group leaders, parents, and other caring citizens. The interactive curriculum teaches participants the risk factors and warning signs of a variety of mental health challenges common among adolescents, including anxiety, depression, psychosis, eating disorders, AD/HD, disruptive behavior disorders, and substance use disorders.