using my experience to teach

[Zoe Girl]

I am feeling that my experience with a breakdown was pretty significant to me. I keep coming back to how this impacts and how it can be part of my life moving forward in a positive way. Then I remembered a very important course I took, Youth Mental Health First Aid. They have an adult course too. I would love to become an instructor in this program. I know one person who is an instructor so I have someone to ask about how it is to teach (like do you make money). There is not a training in my area for the rest of 2018, one early December in Salt Lake, and it costs about $2,000.

Just not sure, I think I am needing to transition totally out of my field to more training of adults honestly. I am liking my program so far but thinking long term I need to make changes.

[iris lilies]

Here is my gut reaction:

1) Why, when there are masters and doctorate level therapists a dime a dozen all around us, would a one time training in a mental health technique be valuable to clients in crises? Why would you be special? Seriously, who are these people who have distilled a large body of knowledge (brain science and psychology) into a single training session? * It is a bit of a mockery of this profession of therapy, IMHO.

2) no one makes real money with only 8 hours training of any kind under their belt. No one will make real money with only this course. Please be realistic. Please.

3) ask yourself: what is this credential really good for, who accepts it, what do you really do with it?

If you are taking it soley to expanding your knowledge base, great! (Unless the course is crank.) But everything you say above sounds like you intend to turn it into a professional opportunity and make money and seek status with it. Seriously, stop and think about this. This sounds like your mediation effort all over again, an effort that seemed unrealistic for you and that made you unhappy and unfullfilled because you didnt practice in that field.

I am already deeply skeptical about the ability of the average therapist to affect meaningful change, and this just seems like another another flavor of therapy, therapy-lite from the profession that already has minimal measures. As an aside, I find it scary to see how little training is really required before Masters and Phd level candidates start in with clients. Ugh.

4) be aware of flirting with mental health modalities because they are attractive due to your own health treatment

* i looked up this service and it gives 8 hours of training. Some would say that is reaaaaaaaaallly pricey for a credential that seems to do—what, exactly?

There are just my own thoughts, none of which is necessarily true for you.

Bottom lime: talk to your therapist about this. You now have a support person who is on your side and who knows
something about this biz. There are supposedly professional standards about therapists in crises treating other people, but from what I can see of that world, that is a pretty easy line to cross. Dont be the person who thinks they are an exception. The client is everything.

[Tammy]

I think mental health first aid is for use in disasters, like after a hurricane, and I think the people are often volunteers.

I would only do this is the training were free or if my job paid for it, and only if I wanted to volunteer.

[iris lilies]

I think mental health first aid is for use in disasters, like after a hurricane, and I think the people are often volunteers.

I would only do this is the training were free or if my job paid for it, and only if I wanted to volunteer.

Ah, I see! So, it isnt intended for any type of long term treatment. Is it intended to produce “volunteers” because there is a lack of mental health professionals in a widespread crises situation? Maybe so.

[mschrisgo2]

Teach and Treat are two very different things.

I had to consciously choose between the two my entire career. I'm a great teacher; and I would be a lousy treat-er because I tend toward being an empath and get too emotionally involved to be of any use.

[Teacher Terry]

Sounds like a waste of time and money.

[Zoe Girl]

It is for teaching people in fields like my after school programming to respond better to children in a mental health crisis, support by immediate crisis management and then have some awareness of resources to follow up. I have taken the youth version and an organization I worked with required all their teachers in mindfulness to take the course. I have also sent staff to the training and they found it helpful.

As far as my experience, I have made suicide watch calls on multiple elementary age students, social services calls, basic behavior and mental health support. In addition I have had staff with mental health crisis over the year that took some sensitivity and awareness to deal with. Mostly I would want to work with people who work with youth not just based on a one time training but based on my decade of experience, training in mindfulness and challenges I have faced. I looked around Denver and there are some teachers who teach at least monthly. Many of them teach under some type of non-profit organization so the class is free to participants. My one friend charges $75 a class. I have connections in the OST world and experience working with grants. Outside of my major episode with my department I think I have a decent reputation in my field.

Does that make more sense? The earliest training would be in Salt Lake in December, which would be also a visit to my best friend I would take anyway. It is adult however and I would think the youth program is a better fit.

Oh and one option to pay for part of it is to start a go-fund-me type of account.

[JaneV2.0]

Your post does make it sound like people--including children--are falling apart all around us. I wonder why this is.

[Teacher Terry]

It doesn’t sound like it will ever be a significant source of income. You would need to teach a lot of classes to get your initial 2k back. I have donated to go fund me for medical bills but wouldn’t for this type of thing. I would be using my free time to relax and doing some fun stuff. Doing self care will make you better at work. It is not healthy to be working all the time.

[Tybee]

Having gone to the website and read about it, and seeing how they are promoting it, there is no way that I would look to this course as any kind of route to changing my employment. I went to Indeed and looked for jobs using this credential and they are advertising for people to work there, at the national organization.

If you want to do mental health work with people, then I would retrain in something where I would get a degree I could use. Your absolute best route would be nursing school, with the absolute best bang for your buck.

If you want another career path, why not get back into the mediation field, using this time with a more peaceful and supportive day job to get the hours you need in mediation.