Mental Health First Aid Saves Lives

 Maybe if Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training had been available many
years ago when my father attempted suicide, I might have acquired the skills and tools to recognize that he needed professional help and been able to save his life.  I encourage everyone to get trained because no one knows when they will need those skills to help save the life of someone they love.

 In our society, people with problems of the brain are treated differently than people with other physical ailments. The stigma of mental illness stems from lack of knowledge and people’s fear of being labeled and it prevents them from asking for help.  Now there is Mental Health First Aid Training.

MHFA is an internationally recognized training program that was started in Australia in 2001 and is currently used in 17 different countries.  It was piloted in the United States in 2008 and has been delivered to nearly 100,000 Americans through a network of more than 2,500 instructors. 

Common Ground is part of that large network of  MHFA trainers  and  has  two certified instructors that conduct the one-day training, which is open to all—from educators, the faith community and primary healthcare providers to first responders, police and fire personnel, family members and caring community members and others.   We have offered the training for more than a year, and have instructed more than 125 people-- and we would like to add you to that list!

For more than 40 years, Common Ground has been helping youths, adults, and families move from crisis to hope with programs and services that respond to crisis, provide safety and advocacy and build communities of support.  We are a leader in crisis intervention in Southeastern Michigan and have been working diligently over the years to change the negative stigma associated with mental illness. This, along with certified instructors, makes us uniquely qualified to provide MHFA training to the community.

Community members having the confidence and training to engage people in crisis can only save lives—just as community members with Red Cross training can perform CPR and save lives.  We need a community that has the tools to identify and help those in need.  That process begins with training as many people as possible to understand and intervene when witness to an emotional crisis.

In this training you will learn the skills to help someone in a crisis situation—a stranger, a co-worker, a friend or family member. The fall-winter schedule for MHFA training is now available. Visit www.commongroundhelps.org  to view the schedule and register for a one-day session that works for you.  It will be the best eight hours of your week!