In October, we announced our partnership with National Council for Behavioral Health—the largest organization for mental health and addiction recovery in the Unites States, connected to policy change and awareness programs. From About the National Council: “The National Council is committed to all Americans having access to comprehensive, high-quality care that affords every opportunity for recovery.”
Our partnership with NCBH partnership provides scholarships for Mental Health First Aid training, an evidence-based education program for mental health and addiction literacy as well as first aid response.
We’re pleased to report that through this program, we have awarded 5 Mental Health First Aid Instructor scholarships and 105 Mental Health First Aid Course Scholarships. To date, we have trained 13 Warrior Moms as First Aiders and 2 Warrior Moms as MHFA Instructors. Each MHFA Instructor will teach classes in their own local communities, and we’ll have information coming soon about how you can take a MHFA class with a Postpartum Progress volunteer!
Our moms tell us that the classes provide a solid basis for peer support as well as crisis intervention – and that they feel more prepared to help the moms that reach out to them online and in person.
“I was really surprised at how much I liked it. They gave us local resources and numbers to call when we are helping someone through a crisis.”
“I thought it was pretty thorough. I liked that it forced me to think about other situations outside PPD. I also think that I have a better general understanding of some of the other issues, including drug and alcohol abuse and how it relates to mental illness.”
“I liked the general idea of ALGEE. It was a simple way to give us a way to approach and help people. It will work in any situation.”
This week, the National Council holds #NatCon16, a conference for mental healthcare providers, thought leaders, policy makers, and nonprofit leaders in mental health and addiction services. Postpartum Progress is attending as an official Twitter Ambassador for the event, which means our Warrior Moms will have access to all the happenings, news, and even some time backstage with some VIP presenters.
You won’t want to miss out. Keep up with all the action by following us over at @postpartumprog on twitter and searching the hashtag #NatCon16. We’ll be sure to fill you in with a #NatCon16 summary next week, so check back and learn along with Postpartum Progress.
