Bridgeway is offering mental health First Aid training, according to Vice President of Behavioral Health Services at Bridgeway, Stacy Brown.
Brown says that individuals do not need to be in the mental health field to receive training, and that it is for anyone in our society. Brown also says that Bridgeway will come to the organization that wishes to receive the training.
The training is funded through a grant given by the State of Illinois and through 708 boards in various counties.
Brown outlines the basic skills that are taught through mental health First Aid training.
“It’s to learn how to recognize signs and symptoms of possible mental health issues and how to, as an individual, reach out to somebody to help them.
It doesn’t mean that we’re going to train you as a therapist, we’re not going to teach you how to diagnose, we’re just going to give you the skills to feel comfortable to reach out. And even if you aren’t the right person to do that, we’re going to help you get someone to the right person. So it’s those basic set of skills.”
Organizations and individuals can contact Bridgeway at (309) 344-2323 to schedule mental health First Aid training.