Testmionials
Learning to Help Yourself and to Help Others
Nichole Coleman, President, Ohio State Association of County Veterans Service Officers
“I am so pleased that I had the opportunity to attend a community mental health first aid course a few years ago. It taught me how to feel confident in my abilities to listen to someone who is experiencing suicidal thoughts while professional help is brought in if necessary. This course isn’t designed to equip a person to become a mental health expert, but it does teach the lay person how to ask the right questions and determine when expert attention is needed. There are three veterans in my county who are not only alive but have a better quality of life due to the information I gained from the mental health first aid course.”
PAM HERSHBERGER
Retired Law Enforcement Dispatcher and Trainer
Wife, Mother, and Grandma
I will admit when Steve approached me about this training I thought why on earth would I want to sit through 8 hours of training. I’m a retired dispatcher and had enough training in my 27 year career. As a dispatcher I had dealings with mental people mainly on the phone but some in person and even some co-workers, I learned early on that mental illness was easily ignored for a lot of reasons. It wasn’t from lack of compassion it was lack of knowledge. Let’s face it mental illness is scary and for good reason, it can mimic physical illnesses and is not easy to treat.
Suicide is a growing disease that can be slowed down maybe not stopped completely but communities can stop it from growing and this class is a start. The class makes you aware of mental illness, how to recognize it, and how to deal with it. This is not a fun subject but we did laugh a lot in the class. The scenarios and interactions were a great part of the class. People shared their stories and that was a real eye opener.
I recommend this class for anyone in high stress careers, anyone dealing with kids or young adults, and anyone that deeply cares for people and their community. You will not be given the ultimate cure for all the problems in your life but you will learn how to handle them and how to be there for someone else. This will help you be more comfortable talking about very uncomfortable issues. I was glad to see this training held at Indian Lake Schools.
Eight hours is nothing if it will help just one person.
Steve and Debbie are taking a horrific tragic event in their lives and turning it into a
positive outreach for a growing need everywhere, I applaud them for this.
Dr. Grant Varian. MD
“Mental Health First Aid trainingg is a terrific way to learn to recognize when a family member, friend or colleague is experiencing a mental health disorder and to become empowered and better equipped to help.”
Dr. Grant, Hospital Medical Director
Mental Health First Aid training does a good job of removing the stigmas associated with mental health, suicide and addiction. While most people want to help others they see in crisis, they often don’t know how. This class gives people the tools necessary to provide mental health “first aid” until the appropriate professional help is in place.
Pastor Jim Ellington
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Farmer and longtime Farm Bureau Member