College of Nursing Offers Mental Health First Aid Courses  

The College of Nursing is offering both Adult and Youth Mental Health First Aid courses that teach how to help someone who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis.

Do you want to be able to recognize the early signs and risks of mental illness? Do you need the confidence in identifying those who are suffering from substance abuse? A Mental Health First Aid course may be right for you. The College of Nursing is offering both Adult and Youth Mental Health First Aid courses that teach how to help someone who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. The training helps participants identify, understand and respond to signs of addictions and mental illnesses.

The Adult Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Certification Program is designed to give an overview of the prevalence and impact of adult (18 years and older) mental health problems as well as outline the signs, symptoms, possible risk factors and warning signs of depression and anxiety. Participants will learn the action plan for someone experiencing depressive or anxiety symptoms, plus how to respond to someone who is not in crisis but may benefit from help.

Two date options are offered for the Adult course: Tuesday, January 19, 2021, and Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Both courses will be conducted via Zoom 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

New this year, the College of Nursing is also offering a Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Certification Program. This course teaches participants how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders in youth, ages six to 18 years old. This training gives participants the skills they need to provide initial support to children and adolescents who may be developing a mental health or substance-use problem and help connect them to the appropriate care.

Two date options are offered for the Adult course: Wednesday, January 13, 2021, and Friday, February 12, 2021. Both courses will be conducted via Zoom 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Both the Adult and Youth courses are open to all College of Nursing students, plus any students who are interested in mental health or health care, such as psychology majors, education majors, science majors, social work majors and students planning to live in the dorms or who aspire to work in Residence Life. Seton Hall faculty, administrators, staff and the general public are also welcome to register.

The Adult courses will be taught by Teresa Conklin, D.N.P., APN, FNP-BC and Afua Ampiaw, M.S.N., R.N. and the Youth course by Mildred Kenney-Lau, M.S.N. and Beth Jameson, Ph.D. All instructors are distinguished members of the Seton Hall faculty who have extensive teaching experience in both clinical and didactic settings.

For both courses, participants are required to complete two hours of online prep-work independently prior to the four-hour synchronous session. Upon successful completion of either program and its end-of-course exam, participants will be issued a nationally recognized certification as Mental Health First Aiders conferred by MHFA USA.

Costs for each course:
Seton Hall students: $29.00
Seton Hall faculty/staff: $60.00
General Public: $125.00

Deadline for registration for the Youth MHFA Course is December 29, 2020.
Deadline for registration for the Adult MHFA Course is January 5, 2021.

Categories: Education, Health and Medicine