July 13, 2018 (Jackson, Miss.) – Local educators came together for a Youth Mental Health First Aid training held at Region 7 Community Counseling Services on June 27.
The Department of Mental Health and a number of Community Mental Health Centers are working together this summer to offer Youth Mental Health First Aid training to educators from throughout the state. Youth Mental Health First Aid is an eight-hour training designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, and others how to help an adolescent who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. Educators from Attala, Clay, Oktibbeha, Winston, Lowndes, and Monroe Counties completed training at Region 7 last month.
The eight-hour course teaches educators to recognize the signs of mental illness in a young person, as well as how they can respond and what they can do to help the youth in their schools. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a five-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders.
Participants in the training on June 27 included Gwendolyn Coleman of Clay County, Iesha Cotton of Lowndes County, Willie Daniels of Winston County, Sandra Davenport of Clay County, Sunja Douglas of Attala County, Betty Libby Forrester of Clay County, Samantha Ingram-Wilborn of Clay County, Claumetria Jones of Lowndes County, Nekela Macon of Lowndes County, Daphne Robertson of Monroe County, Martha Shumaker of Oktibbeha County, and Corliss Wesley of Clay County.
Region 7 Community Counseling Services is one of the state’s 14 Community Mental Health Centers that make available a range of community-based mental health, substance use, and in some regions, intellectual/developmental disabilities services. Region 7 provides services in Choctaw, Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Webster, and Winston Counties.
