Mental Health First Aid - Future Training Opportunities
Mental Health First Aid - Future Training Opportunities
The 2025 Holy Conversations Report to the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference of the United Church of Christ included a recommendation for mental health training across the conference. Julia Gaughan, the Designated Term Associate Conference Minister, is certified to teach Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), a mental health training geared toward adults from all backgrounds, which she has taught to faith communities and to KO clergy in the past. To help KO fulfill the mental health training recommendation, Julia has put together an interest form to gather names of potential participants and hosts. Based on the feedback, KO will schedule several in-person and online training opportunities throughout the summer and fall.
Here is some additional information about Mental Health First Aid:
Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based training course that teaches participants about mental health and substance-use challenges. MHFA helps:
Create a new path of resilience and wellbeing.
Reduce stigma and discrimination.
Improve overall psychological safety.
Address mental health and substance use challenges.
During MHFA, participants learn:
Risk factors and warning signs of mental health and substance use challenges.
Information on depression, anxiety, trauma, psychosis and substance use.
A 5-step Action Plan to help someone developing a mental health or substance use challenge and/or respond to someone experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis.
Available evidence-based professional, peer and self-help resources.
MHFA classes are limited to 30 participants, and participants must be eighteen and older.