mental health training opportunities in Dayton
Feeling lost about how to help kids with their mental health? Dayton Children’s has two free trainings to help you get started. These trainings are:
- Mental health first aid - full day class taught by an instructor
- QPR gatekeeper training - 1 hr self-paced online course
These trainings are paid for by the generous donation from the Connor Group Kids and Community Partners and is available to families, schools, or organizations within the Dayton Children’s service area.
Education from reputable sources is the first step to attacking this mental health crisis. You do not have to be a therapist or a medical professional to positively impact a child’s mental health. All you need to do is be empathetic, willing to listen nonjudgmentally, and become knowledgeable about the next steps to getting a child the help they need because suicide is preventable.
mental health first aid
We all know that CPR helps you assist an individual having a heart attack. Similarly, Mental Health First Aid helps you assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis. In the Mental Health First Aid course, you learn risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, strategies for how to help someone in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and where to turn for help.
After taking this course, participants should be able to:
- Assess for risk of suicide or harm
- Listen nonjudgmentally
- Give reassurance and information
- Encourage appropriate professional help
- Encourage self-help and other support strategies
Mental Health First Aid is a free, 8-hour education program offered by Dayton Children’s Hospital and is proven to be effective in teaching adults how to recognize and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges. After completing this training, individuals will grow their knowledge of signs, symptoms and risk factors of mental illnesses and addictions, be able to identify multiple types of professional and self-help resources for individuals with a mental health or substance use challenge, increase their confidence in and likelihood to help an individual in distress, and even show increased mental wellness themselves.
To sign up for mental health first aid, or to ask any questions contact MHFA@childrensdayton.org.
QPR gatekeeper training
Stigma, myths, and lack of understanding make talking about mental health or approaching someone in a crisis seem scary and you do not need to be a doctor or work in the behavioral health field to make a difference in someone’s life when they are struggling. In fact, mental health and suicide prevention education is available to anyone in the community, regardless of their professional background.
One educational opportunity that is available is QPR Gatekeeper training.
QPR stands for:
Question
Persuade
Refer
These are the 3 simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. The mission of QPR is to reduce suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing innovative, practical, and proven suicide prevention training. Much like CPR, QPR is an emergency response to someone experiencing a crisis and can save a life.
After taking this 60-minute QPR Gatekeeper course participants should be able to:
- Question, Persuade and Refer someone who may be suicidal
- Get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide
- Recognize the common causes of suicidal behavior
- Recognize the warning signs of suicide
- Get help for someone in crisis
Access the QPR gatekeeper training:
This self-paced training will be available online for anyone who wishes to enroll and can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by following these instructions.
1. Navigate to: qprtraining.com/setup
2. Enter the organization code DCH
3. Select Create Account
4. Complete and submit student registration form
5. QPR will display and email the newly created Username and Password.
6. Student can log in to begin training at qprtraining.com
