It is certainly not uncommon for us to seek the help of medical professionals when we are feeling physically ill. Naturally, it’s sensible to visit a doctor when painful symptoms exist. However, all too often, we don’t treat our mental health issues with the same senses of urgency and concern. It should go without saying that our emotional well-being is every bit as important as our physical health.
The sad thing is that, for so long, we have been told to “suck it up” when stress and anxiety arises. Don Marentette of the Canadian Red Cross makes this point before describing their Psychological First Aid course. “It is a program that focuses on people’s self-care, understanding some of the concepts of loss and grief and stress and what that means to them and how does that affect them,” he says, “We begin to explore that and open that up into how can they help others. The beauty of Psychological First Aid is that it can be used before, during or after a crisis event.”
SOS First Aid offers a Psychological First Aid course.
Our Psychological First Aid course is designed for anyone who is interested in understanding the effects of long-term stress, loss grief and trauma. A unique Red Cross program, it teaches how to build resiliency while promoting safety and resources to people suffering as a result of life’s challenges or mental health issues.
With the assistance of funding from Bell Let’s Talk, our PFA course is available through two options. We offer a Blended Learning Workshop that includes two online modules and one full-day in-person class. The first module focuses on Self-Care while the other discusses Caring for Others.
Stand-Alone Online Modules without an in-person class are available as an alternative option. You can take either the Self-Care or Caring for Others modules or both. These are quite convenient for busy individuals as participants have the option of leaving the course at any time, if necessary. They can then resume right where they left off when ready. Although the durations of each module vary from participant to participant, they generally last approximately 45 minutes.
Coping with the effects of stress, loss, grief and trauma isn’t easy.
One of the main benefits of taking our Psychological First Aid course is that it provides participants with personal understandings of essential coping mechanisms. The necessity of self-care, for example, cannot be understated. Practicing self-care allows a caregiver to remain more balanced, focused and effective. It helps you to avoid “caregiver burnout” as repeated exposure to stress can harm a person’s mental and physical health.
Online, learners are introduced to the Red Cross “Look, Listen, Link, Live” model. The Canadian Red Cross describes it as “a resiliency-building approach to emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing that teaches learners how to support themselves and others to cope with the effects of various types of stress. The course uses primarily case-based learning and includes the latest evidence from the international community.”
The model effectively teaches how to contend with the effects of various types of stress. Taken in combination with the Red Cross Caring for Others online course, it provides people with the tools to understand and help people who are affected by stress, loss, grief and trauma.
Register today!
To register for our Psychological First Aid course or to get more information, please don’t hesitate to call us at 905-844-9813. You may also email us at [email protected].
