Starting on March 18,2020 in-person education and training sessions and public presentations have been postponed until further notice. Please contact program leads below to be put on notification lists for when we’re able to re-schedule in-person training. In the meantime, please follow us on Facebook for weekly Wellness Check Ins and information about virtual training opportunities.
If you would like to book a presentation or information booth for your next event, please contact Tayte at t.willows@cmha.pe.ca or call (902) 628-1648.
(in alphabetical order)
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) is a two-day suicide intervention workshop presented by certified trainers, usually twice annually. The ASIST workshop is designed to increase caregivers’ knowledge, comfort level and confidence in responding to a person at risk of suicide. Developed by LivingWorks Education, it is the most widely used, acclaimed and researched training of its kind in the world. Click HERE to learn more.
The course costs $200/person and includes course materials and nutritional breaks. Pre-registration is required. Please click on the course flyer for more information.
We also periodically offer an ASIST Tune-Up half day workshop. Please notify Pat Doyle (contact information below) if you would like to be put on the list for our next Tune-Up. The course costs $50/person and pre-registration is required. Please click on the course flyer for more information.
Training contact: Pat Doyle / suicideprevention@cmha.pe.ca / 902-628-3669
CMHA’s Family Program: Finding Hope and Building Strength; a FREE eight-week course for people with a loved one who has a mental illness. READ MORE
As a result of the current COVID-19 situation and following the recommendations of the PEI Chief Public Health Office, The Family Program scheduled to start on March 19 in Summerside has been postponed until further notice. Please email Paige at p.boutilier@cmha.pe.ca to be put on the notice list for when it is re-scheduled.
Space is limited. Pre-registration is required. Please call Paige at (902) 853-3871 or email p.boutilier@cmha.pe.ca
Living Life to the Full – a FREE eight-week course for people with mild to moderate depression and anxiety.
For more information, or to be put on the waiting list for the next course, please call Les Wagner at (902) 436-7399 or email cmhawest@cmha.pe.ca.
LivingWorks “Start” is a 90-minute, online training program that will teach you how to recognize when someone is having thoughts of suicide and to take meaningful action to keep them safe.
Accessible via any computer, smartphone, or tablet, LW Start includes customization, simulations, and interactive content. You’ll learn about suicide and its prevention, receive personalized information, and gain a series of skills to keep someone safe and alive.
Start complies with the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)’s Tier III evidence-based training criteria. Trainees have been shown to gain increased skills in recognizing someone’s thoughts of suicide and providing appropriate support to keep them safe.
The cost for this online training is $20 – reduced to help communities during COVID-19. For more information, and to register, please click HERE.
The Mental Health First Aid Canada program aims to improve mental health literacy, and provide the skills and knowledge to help people better manage potential or developing mental health problems in themselves, a family member, a friend or a colleague.
The program does not teach people how to be therapists. It does teach people how to:
Recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health problems.
Provide initial help.
Guide a person towards appropriate professional help.
The following mental health problems are covered: Mood disorders, Anxiety disorders, Psychosis and Substance Use Disorder
The following mental health crisis situations are covered: Suicidal behaviour, Overdoses, Panic Attacks, Reactions to traumatic events, psychotic episodes.
Pre-Registration is required. The cost is $180.00 and includes materials and nutritional breaks.
Training contact: Les Wagner / cmhawest@cmha.pe.ca / (902) 436-7399
Mental Health Works is a national social enterprise of the Canadian Mental Health Association. We provide capacity building workshops and presentations that are person centred, evidence based, and solution focussed. We’ll help you build mental health awareness, teach you how to respond to challenging situations, and collaborate with you to create a healthier, safer workplace. There are one hour, half day and full day workshops available to suit a myriad of needs. Click HERE to go to our national program website. Courses are scheduled on an as-needed basis. Cost varies.
Training contact for PEI: Les Wagner / cmhawest@cmha.pe.ca / (902) 436-7399
Peer Support Leader Training – Learn how to lead a safe and honest conversation and build support in your community. Peer support groups are led by people who share the same issue or experience. The leaders are regular people whose only qualification is personal or “lived” experience.
Peer support groups are not therapy groups. The primary focus is emotional support, practical support and information exchange. Each group is different and what happens at meetings is determined by the leader in consultation with participants.
This training is FREE thanks to the generous support of UPSE.
To be notified about the next course, please call (902) 566-3034 or email division@cmha.pe.ca.
safeTALK is a half-day alertness training that prepares anyone over the age of 15, regardless of prior experience or training, to become a suicide-alert helper. Most people with thoughts of suicide don’t truly want to die, but are struggling with the pain in their lives. Through their words and actions, they invite help to stay alive. safeTALK-trained helpers can recognize these invitations and take action by connecting them with life-saving intervention resources, such as caregivers trained in ASIST.
Since its development in 2006, safeTALK has been used in over 20 countries around the world, and more than 200 selectable video vignettes have been produced to tailor the program’s audio-visual component for diverse audiences. safeTALK-trained helpers are an important part of suicide-safer communities, working alongside intervention resources to identify and avert suicide risks.
Training contact: Les Wagner / cmhawest@cmha.pe.ca / 902-853-4180
‘suicide to Hope: A Recovery and Growth Workshop’ is a one-day workshop designed for clinicians and other professional caregivers who work with persons recently at risk and currently safe from suicide. This work is done on a longer-term basis and beyond the suicide first-aid emergency situation. s2H provides tools to help caregivers and persons with experiences of suicide to work together to develop achievable and significant recovery and growth goals. s2H assumes that participants already have some familiarity with suicide prevention and intervention techniques. LivingWorks’ two-day ASIST workshop is recommended as one way to learn the suicide intervention skills that are necessary for using suicide to Hope’s tools. The skills learned in the suicide to Hope workshop are designed to build upon this existing intervention knowledge and experience, and are applicable to caregivers in a wide variety of professional disciplines. For more about s2H please read suicide-to-hope-information-sheet.
Cost of the workshop is reduced to $150+ tax/person and includes snacks and materials. Pre-Registration is required.
Training contact: Pat Doyle / suicideprevention@cmha.pe.ca / (902) 628-3669