Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) - In-person 2-Day

Use code: EARLY24 for $100 off each individual registration ($270 - $100 = $170/person), must register by September 15th, if unable to attend, a credit will be issued for any future virtual or in-person MHFA class taught by What MattRs. **Eventbrite tickets are already discounted**

Remember MHFA never expires, a standard CPR/First Aid class costs about $179+tax and has to be renewed every 1-2 years depending on the organization.

Options:

Hamilton October 5-6, 2024

Oshawa October 19-20, 2024

Virtual 2-Day Standard October 26-27, 2024

Kingston November 16-17, 2024

Windsor November 23-24, 2024

Time: 09:00am - 05:00pm, both days

**mandatory attendance for both days**Email confirming location and meeting room details will be sent closer to the date or once minimum class size requirements are met. Class will be canceled if it does not meet minimum class size and a refund is available for this reason.

Learn how to identify signs of mental health decline, get trained in the skills to provide effective support, create a safe space that encourages them to talk, and motivate them to get help/treatment.

Contact:

About the instructor:

Matthew Rico, RN, CPMHN(C), Psychotherapist

https://openingminds.org/facilitator/?uid=772

Matthew has over 11+ years of experience in mental health and is a person with lived experience. He has worked with various populations and mental health disorders at many different settings. This includes youth/adolescents to older adults receiving inpatient care. He has been involved with many activities and projects such as research, quality/accreditation, and education. Matthew is a Registered Nurse (RN) by trade, specialized in mental health, and has attained knowledge and training in psychotherapy, teaching, and leadership.
Matthew has been teaching non-violent crisis intervention for 9+ years, delivered Mental Health First Aid to 2100+ Canadians since 2018, and is one of the first Canadians certified to provide Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR) training from the Zero Suicide Institute. His experience with education also includes creating workshops, presentations, and educational material. For instance, co-developing and delivering mindfulness education for hospital staff, co-creating a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) microcredential at Ontario Shores in collaboration with Ontario Tech, and teaching on culture and mental health bi-annually for nurses preparing to take their CNA exam. Additionally, he trained many private groups as a mental health consultant over the years, both in-person and virtually. These were on specifically requested mental health topics from a 1-hour keynote delivered to an audience of 200+ to full classes/workshops with as many as 50+ participants.

Why is this experience relevant? Matthew brings his courses to life using both his personality, passion, and years of experience to capture attention. He translates the information, using presentation skills, examples, and stories that add context to the material.

Expect additional tips/strategies that compliment the MHFA content drawn from his service in mental health care. Participants are always invited to stay connected with him as an ongoing resource for questions/support related to mental health. Expect Matthew to stay back for open discussion once the class is done. Participants can use this time to ask questions on mental health topics or present personal cases/scenarios. Coping tools, other mental health disorders, and additional conversation strategies are popular requests.

Q: How does the 2-Day basic class differ from the 1-Day standard class?
A: The 2-day class is twice the length of the virtual class. This means you get more information including discussing psychotic disorders in significantly greater depth than the virtual course that was developed to focus on the most common mental health problems. If you also prefer learning in-person this is a better environment for you!

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Basic does not require any prerequisites and intended for the general public not just healthcare professionals. This course focuses on the four most common mental health disorders including substance related, mood related, anxiety and trauma related, and psychotic disorders. Participants who take this course are well prepared to interact confidently about mental health with their family, friends, communities, and workplaces.

International evaluations and feedback have found the following outcomes for participants undertaking an MHFA course:

• Increased awareness of signs and symptoms of the most common mental health problems
• Decreased stigma related to mental health
• Increased confidence interacting with individuals experiencing a mental health problem or crisis
• Increased help actually provided to individuals in crisis or experiencing a mental health problem

• Substance overdose
• Suicidal behaviour
• Panic attack
• Acute stress reaction
• Psychotic episode

Learn more -

Refund Policy:

If a course is cancelled you will receive either a full-refund or transfer credit to another course date usable at any time with no expiry. If you are unable to attend due to illness or emergency, you may only receive a one-time transfer-credit to another course date at any time not a refund.
You can always contact us for any questions at

Host or Publisher Matthew Rico, RN, CPMHN(C)