using my experience to teach

[Tybee]

The website makes me quite suspicious actually as to agenda for the organization-- they are promoting themselves with saying that Michelle Obama, Patrick Kennedy, and the first lady of New York are all trained in this. The training I looked at with the role playing made it seem like they were promoting citizens becoming trained to be mental health first responders, which I think is really, really a bad idea, for the reasons that IL was saying.

[iris lilies]

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.

The ethics of a go-fund-me appeal for personal development is suspect. Yes, people do it.

[Chicken lady]

I realize this is an aside, but I fail to see how it would be unethical to make a go fund me request for ANY purpose, as long as funds were collected for the purpose stated and used accordingly.

Some PURPOSES might be unethical (go fund me so I can pay somebody to hack into the dmv and erase my ticket, for example)

if I started a go fund me for the purpose of going out to dinner once a week (help me support local restaurants!) I see no way in which that would be unethical - unlikely to work, but not unethical.

back to the original question, I don’t know anything about the course, profession, or earning potential, but I think you seem to be in a good place right now, and I would suggest you spend the next two years in your current job focusing your professional energy there and enjoy the improved schedule and lower stress to focus on strengthening yourself emotionally and spiritually, as well as enjoying better physical habits like sleep. If you feel a need to explore additional income/business focuses, your crochet offers hat along with a creative outlet.

you seem to get really excited about “the next thing.” (Says the woman with more unfinished projects than years left in her life and a tendency to teach classes for free just because “I HAVE to have THIS ONE.”)

[iris lilies]

ethics of go fund me for non life threatening: jeppy, care to weigh in? I think it is ethically borderline because the OP has money to take this course.

fortunately, the crowd in crowdsourcing will decide if the ask is worthy.

I had an ethical challenge (ethical with a small e) some weeks ago. There was a fundraising spaghetti dinner advertised with yard signs, held just a few block away from our
Hermann house. So we went. It was at the VFW hall and i assumed it was some kind of VFW fundraiser..

Nope. At the door we were greeted by a teenage girl all tarted up in 5 inch heels and gobs of makeup. We were attending a fundraiser to send her to a beauty contest in California.yeah, not an endeavor I would ordinarily support. But damn, the spaghetti looked good! And it was, the girl’s mom knows how to cook. And we made a connection with the girl’s dad who does lawn work for a living, so we might hire him in the future. All was not lost, and I gave an extra $10 over and above our meals because they did not have good attendance. Their silent auction stuff was not e ticing.I really felt sorry for her family who, I suspect, spent as much money on the set up of this fundraiser as they took in.

In the end, it was great to see how supportive and loving was this family and friends toward this girl, though. They had a lot of energy and ideas if not solid know how in fundraising.

[Tybee]

Here is a link to the organization's legislative activities:

https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/a...tive-activity/

Unfortunately, the link they give here:

President Obama calls for Mental Health First Aid training

In his report, Now Is the Time: The President’s Plan to Protect our Children and our Communities by Reducing Gun Violence, President Obama calls for Mental Health First Aid training to help teachers and school staff recognize the signs of mental health disorders in young people and find them appropriate care.

is broken. . .

It might have explained more about the organization's purpose and agenda.

[razz]

Most education operations are for-profit centres when i have looked at them objectively. They have to turn my dollars into a really valuable outcome to generate any interest from me.
I agree with CL's thinking about taking your time over the next two years.

[Teacher Terry]

For profit education is usually a rip off. We tried to send our clients to public colleges or technical schools.

[sweetana3]

You now have an opportunity to get your life in order. Try not to jump from one thing to another. I agree with the other posters that you should concentrate on your current job to establish good patterns in both work and home life. Enjoy your extra time to set up systems so you can take care of your finances, practice your hobbies (crochet, meditation,etc.), and enjoy your kids. SLOW DOWN and enjoy your renewed life.

and I do not agree that $2,000 for a nebulous 8 hour class is a good investment or worthwhile use of your time.

[Teacher Terry]

At 50 you will probably work another 10-15 years depending on your health. Work, enjoy kids and grandkids and relax. Being in constant motion is not healthy.

[ApatheticNoMore]

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.

it would be a massive amount of largely irrelevant education just to do counseling or social work it seems to me. And even more irrelevant if what one wants to do is some kind of training work.