Community Education

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MHFA Standard (Virtual)
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is the support provided to a person who may be experiencing a decline in their mental well-being or a mental health crisis. The Mental Health Commission of Canada reports that one in every five Canadians experiences a mental health problem within a given year. While we often know a lot about physical illness, there tends to be less knowledge about mental health or substance use problems. This lack of understanding leads to fear and negative attitudes towards individuals living with these problems. It prevents people from seeking help for themselves and from providing appropriate support to people around them.
Public and private groups available.

MHFA Standard (Face-To-Face)

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is the support provided to a person who may be experiencing a decline in their mental well-being or a mental health crisis. The Mental Health Commission of Canada reports that one in every five Canadians experiences a mental health problem within a given year. While we often know a lot about physical illness, there tends to be less knowledge about mental health or substance use problems. This lack of understanding leads to fear and negative attitudes towards individuals living with these problems. It prevents people from seeking help for themselves and from providing appropriate support to people around them.

Next Mental Health First Aid courses available:

Cost $250.00 + GST per participant.

More Information: www.mhfa.ca

Trauma Informed Care

Participants will learn how to support individuals with a history of trauma through the following evidence based framework researched and created by Oaks Mental Health:

Theoretical Framework for Understanding Trauma

Defining trauma
How trauma impacts relationships, neurobiology, cognition, emotions, and spirituality
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
The difference between mental illness and a trauma response
The window of tolerance model
Fight, flight, freeze, faint, and fawn responses

Organizational/Systemic Forms of Trauma

How organizational contexts can perpetuate trauma
Characteristics of a trauma-informed/trauma-aware organization
Organizational case studies in which participants identify problems and recommend changes based on a trauma-informed approach

Trauma-Informed Practitioners

Specific examples of practice that perpetuate or exacerbate trauma responses
Recognizing and responding compassionately to trauma responses
Practically applying the principles of trauma-informed care
Preventing burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma in helping professionals
Direct practice case studies which participants identify problems and recommend changes based on a trauma-informed approach

Length: 1 day

Maximum number of participants: 25

Cost: $250/seat + GST

Anxiety, Depression & Suicide Awareness

Participants have an open ad comprehensive discussion about anxiety, depression and suicide. Signs and Symptoms of anxiety and depression are identified, as well as coping strategies and supportive approaches. Participants learn how to talk about suicide and are given a list of resources.

Length: 1 hour workshop

Cost: $500 + GST

Supportive Conversations and Empathetic Listening Skills

Participants learn how to support others through conversation and communicate with empathy. Participants have discussions about self-awareness and active listening techniques, and what to avoid when supporting others and building rapport.

Length: 1 hour workshop

Cost: $500 + GST

Team Up: Preventing Suicide in High Performing Athletes

This workshop is intended to be an interactive learning experience for participants, age 15 and up, who have extensive experience as athletes (including supporters and coaches of athletes) in higher levels of sport.

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

Acknowledge that suicide exists inside and outside of high-performance sports;
Identify protective factors, risk factors and warning signs for suicide, including those specific to high-performance athletes; and,
Use a 5 step-model to get help for someone by connecting them to a trusted helper.

Length: 2.5 hour workshop

Minimum number of participants: 10 in-person/virtual

Cost: $1250 + GST

Workplace Boundaries
Front-line staff have a collaborative and comprehensive conversation about workplace
boundaries and their importance. This workshop can be delivered in-person or virtually.
This training is ideal for groups working within the same organization.

Participants will:

Learn the difference between your “job” and your “role” in the workplace
Discuss the definition of boundaries, policies and procedures, and expectations in
your workplace
Identify common workplace boundaries such as sharing personal information, gift
giving/receiving including things like cigarettes, social media, and providing
additional services such as rides
Explore scenarios that may fall outside of your workplace boundaries, job and role
Comprehensively discuss the outcomes of crossing workplace boundaries
Create a common language between employees, and open an ongoing conversation
about boundaries
Create consistency and continuity between employees, strengthening a team and
improving relationships
Length: 2 hour workshop
Maximum number of participants: 15 in-person/virtual
Cost: $1000 + GST

Responding with Respect on the Frontline
In this training, the Responding with Respect 4R Model © is applied to the customer/client
relationship.

Participants will:

Discover how to create a safe space
Review common mental illnesses
Develop Respectful Responding skills
Challenge myths and stigma
Apply new knowledge to custom case studies
Learn the Mental Health Continuum
Explore self-awareness
Length: 4 hour workshop
Maximum number of participants: 15 virtually – 24 in-person
Cost: $2100 + GST

To register for the workshops provided by CMHA Kamloops, please call 250 374 0440 ext. 203

For more information please reach out to community.education@cmhakamloops.ca

Cancellation Policy

Registrations are non-refundable.

CMHA, Kamloops reserves the right to cancel or postpone workshops due to under-enrollment, instructor illness, inclement weather or unforeseen circumstances. If a course is cancelled, you may transfer to another course at no additional cost or receive a full refund. This is the only circumstance under which CMHA Kamloops Branch will issue a refund.

If your plans change after you have registered you may designate a substitute to attend in your place, at no extra cost. Please notify us of the name of the person attending as soon as possible prior to the course date for which you registered. This will allow us to correct our records and minimize confusion at check-in.

Effective: January 1, 2022

Education and Training

Karina Laitres is a Registered Psychiatric Nurse and CMHA Kamloops’ Community Educator. Karina creates and facilitates mental health workshops and training courses for CMHA employees, community members, businesses, and organizations locally, nationally and internationally. She supports the community of Kamloops through her dedication to advocacy and continued drive to educate and empower others. Karina has experience working in a wide variety of areas and populations within the field of mental health and addictions. She has lead projects assisting organizations with needs assessments and comprehensive planning to fill in gaps in service, guided by research and best practice principals. Most recently, Karina completed a project with the Edmonton Police Service and an extensive homelessness stigma reduction project in the city of Kamloops, BC. Additionally, Karina facilitates workshops for Nurse Practitioners through the Nurse and Nurse Practitioners of British Columbia’s Mobile Skills Program. Karina is very passionate about mental health, addictions, vulnerable populations, our community, and the power of education.