PCC Employees to Receive Mental Health First Aid Training
January 23, 2012
Tucson, AZ – Pima Community College is offering faculty, administrators and staff in-depth training to identify and help individuals with symptoms of mental illness.
The training in Mental Health First Aid Certification will teach employees a five-step plan for quickly providing help, including assessing for risk of suicide or harm, and connecting people with appropriate professional care.
Participants also will learn to identify potential warning signs and risk factors for depression, anxiety, substance abuse, psychosis, trauma, and eating disorders.
Employees choosing to attend the training will receive 16 hours of instruction over four weeks. The goal is to provide the layperson basic support skills, said Amy C. Davis, M.A., PCC counselor and educational support faculty who will co-teach the sessions.
“Mental Health First Aid offers an in-depth means of helping employees at all levels feel more prepared to provide basic assistance to students and their fellow employees,” Davis said. “These trainings are just part of a larger series of support opportunities the College has offered employees the past few years. Ultimately, it creates a more supportive and safer community for all.”
PCC’s Mental Health First Aid Training mirrors a curriculum used around the world. Additional training sessions are scheduled for spring. The sessions are being taught by Davis and other PCC faculty who took part in “train the trainer” seminars conducted by the Community Partnership for Southern Arizona and the Arizona Department of Behavioral Health.
“One of the greatest values of the program is to give people a basic understanding of mental illness and to offer common-sense methods of helping. These tools will go a long way to de-stigmatizing mental illness and improving people’s willingness to help others,” said Dr. James Sanchez, PCC staff psychologist.
Dr. Sanchez, hired by PCC in summer 2011 to train and advise employees on mental-health issues, said Mental Health First Aid training is a valuable complement to Threat Assessment Training, which is designed to teach PCC administrators and supervisors what to do when faculty or staff reports a troubled person at a PCC campus or facility.
CONTACT:
C.J. Karamargin
Vice Chancellor for Public Information and Government Relations
(520) 206-4850
ckaramargin@pima.edu