Mental Health Training
Our mental health training programme supports staff and volunteers to work confidently with clients affected by mental health issues, and to effectively promote positive mental health and wellbeing within their communities. Our current courses and workshops are outlined below. If you want to find out more about any of the courses listed, or discuss the possibility of us offering tailor-made training on mental health issues for your organisation, please feel free to contact us.
The courses we are currently running are:
September 2012
October 2012
9 & 10 Mental Health First Aid
November 2012
December 2012
4 Religious and Cultural Perspectives on Mental Health
January 2013
15 & 16 Youth Mental Health First Aid
February 2013
26 & 27 Mental Health First Aid
Please see below for details of other courses coming soon.
How much does it cost?
- All mental health training will be FREE for members of VAC. This offer applies to all mental health training except for Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid.
- Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid will be charged at VAC’s usual rates, which start at £25 per person for VAC members. This is a heavily subsidised rate and a real bargain!
- VAC members who book a free place on a training course and who do not notify a member of the mental health team if they are unable to make the course, in advance of the course commencing, will be invoiced for the cost of the course at VAC’s usual rates.
- Non-member rates will apply to ALL mental health training courses. Non-members will not be eligible for free training.
- Places on all mental health training courses will be limited to 4 people per organisation, subject to availability.
- We offer free in-house training for BME groups (see details below).
Annual membership of VAC costs just £24! Membership is free for organisations with a turnover of less than £1,500. Membership is only open to organisations based in Camden, or who work within Camden. For full details of membership, please visit the Membership page of our website.
If your organisation is faced with difficulties in accessing VAC’s mental health training in light of the above, please speak to a member of the mental health team, who will be happy to discuss your options with you.
How to book your place
To book a place on any of our mental health training courses, all you have to do is fill in a training booking form for all courses (2011-12) listing the course(s) which you would like to attend and return it to a member of the mental health team
More about scheduled courses
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)
Date & time: Tuesday 9 & Wednesday 10 October 2012, 10am – 5pm each day
Venue: To be confirmed
Date & time: Tuesday 26 & Wednesday 27 February 2013, 10am – 5pm each day
Venue: To be confirmed
Cost of course: VAC’s usual rates (£25 for VAC members)
What does the course cover? This two-day course promotes awareness of mental health issues, and trains non-mental health professionals to recognise those affected by mental health problems and offer initial help and guidance towards professional support. By training these “mental health first aiders” within the community and the workplace, it aims to tackle the prejudice and stigma traditionally associated with mental health problems, and to improve the outcomes for those affected and their families, friends, colleagues and employers. For more information, please read the MHFA flyer or contact a member of the mental health team at VAC.
Should you attend this course? This course is suitable for volunteers and paid staff from voluntary and community groups, as well as people from the wider community. You will be required to fully attend both days of the course if you wish to receive the MHFA Certificate and manual, so please consider this commitment carefully. The course deals with mental health issues at an introductory level, so it is not suitable for mental health professionals.
Facilitators: This course is facilitated by 2 of the following trainers: Jocelyn Devlin, Senior Community Development Worker (Mental Health) at Voluntary Action Camden; Sucaad Odowa-Nielsen, Community Development Worker (Somali Mental Health) at Voluntary Action Camden; Ann Wolfe, Community Development Worker (Bangladeshi Mental Health) at Voluntary Action Camden.
Personality Disorders
Date & time: Thursday 13 September 2012, 9:30am – 1pm
Venue: To be confirmed
Cost of course: VAC’s usual rates (£25 for VAC members)
What does the course cover? More information coming soon.
Should you attend this course? More information coming soon.
Facilitator: This course is facilitated by Catherine Alborough, Skills Development Manager, Skills Development Service, One Housing Group.
Religious and Cultural Perspectives on Mental Health
Date & time: Tuesday 4 December 2012, 10am – 4:30pm
Venue: Wellcome Collection Conference Centre
Cost of course: Free for VAC members
What does the course cover? This course is designed to increase awareness of the impact of religious and cultural influences on communities’ perspectives on mental health. By the end of the course, participants will have a greater understanding of the way mental health and mental illness is viewed by various cultures and faiths, and what resources they seek or utilise as their first points of contact. Participants will gain an understanding of how background, values and beliefs of service uses could be a barrier to accessing services. The course focuses on Islam as a case study, and will briefly look at other religious viewpoints. It covers the following topics at an introductory level:
- What is culture?
- The evil eye, jinn and spirit possession
- The impact religion and culture on accessing mental health services
- The meaning and understanding of different types of mental health disorders from different cultures’ perspectives
- Common responses to mental health problems from a Muslim viewpoint
Facilitator: This course is facilitated by Sucaad Odowa-Nielsen, Community Development Worker (Somali Mental Health) at Voluntary Action Camden.
Stigma and Mental Health
Date & time: Tuesday 6 November 2012, 10am – 1pm
Venue: To be confirmed
Cost of course: Free for VAC members
What does the course cover? This half-day session is designed to open up a discussion about how we can explore and break down stigma in relation to mental health. Using various techniques including film, case studies and discussion, the session aims to encourage participants to:
- Consider and challenge common myths and misconceptions about mental illness
- Understand what stigma is and how it affects people’s lives
- Discuss how stigma is experienced within the family and community, with particular reference to South Asian communities
- Consider what we can do as individuals and within our voluntary and community organisations to challenge stigma in mental health
Facilitators: The session will be facilitated by Ann Wolfe, Community Development Worker (Bangladeshi Mental Health) at Voluntary Action Camden, and Sukti Neogi, who provides a Bengali Speaking Counselling Service.
Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA)
Date & time: Tuesday 15 & Wednesday 16 January 2013, 9am – 5pm each day
Venue: To be confirmed
Cost of course: VAC’s usual rates (£25 for VAC members)
What does the course cover? This two day accredited course will look at a range of mental and emotional health issues affecting young people aged 11-18, and aims to increase your confidence and knowledge, enabling you to provide comfort to a young person experiencing mental health problems. The course will also raise awareness of mental health issues in the community, helping to reduce stigma and discrimination. For more information, please read the YMHFA flyer or contact a member of the mental health team at VAC.
Should you attend this course? This is a course aimed at people who come into contact with young people aged 11-18. It is suitable for volunteers and paid staff from voluntary and community groups, as well as people from the wider community. You will be required to fully attend both days of the course if you wish to receive the YMHFA Certificate and manual, so please consider this commitment carefully. The course deals with mental health issues at an introductory level, so it is not suitable for mental health professionals.
Facilitators: This course is facilitated by Sucaad Odowa-Nielsen, Community Development Worker (Somali Mental Health) at Voluntary Action Camden, and Jocelyn Devlin, Senior Community Development Worker (Mental Health) at Voluntary Action Camden.
Other Courses Coming Soon
Watch out for new dates for the following sessions …
Cultural Awareness in BME Mental Health (formerly Race Equality and Cultural Capability (RECC))
What does the course cover? This course is based on Race Equality and Cultural Capability (RECC) training, which aims to improve mental health services for BME people, by providing cultural awareness and sensitivity training for mental health practitioners. Participants will consider cultural issues that can potentially face BME people in the context of mental health. The course has adapted modules from RECC, and is interesting and useful for anyone working around mental health. The course will cover “Reflecting on Culture”, “Social Context of Diagnosis” and “Breaking the ‘Circles of Fear’”.
Should you attend this course? This course is aimed at staff and volunteers in community organisations, but is open to anyone who is interested in cultural issues faced by members of BME communities. The course is at an introductory/refresher level, so if you already have a good understanding of these issues, this course may not be right for you. Please note, this course presumes participants already have a basic understanding of mental health problems. If you are hoping to cover this, we recommend you attend our Mental Health First Aid course.
Facilitators: This course is facilitated by Jocelyn Devlin, Senior Community Development Worker (Mental Health) at Voluntary Action Camden, and Sucaad Odowa-Nielsen, Community Development Worker (Somali Mental Health) at Voluntary Action Camden.
An Encounter with Trauma
What does the course cover? This is a workshop which will help participants to understand trauma and the transmission of trauma from parents to children. Everyone who works in any capacity with distressed and vulnerable people needs some basic understanding of how trauma operates. There will be particular emphasis on how children deal with trauma and what they may pass on to their own children if they are unable to process the trauma they experienced. The workshop will include power-points and working in pairs, while encouraging dialogue, sharing experience and discussion.
Facilitator: course is facilitated by Ruth Barnett, a psychotherapist and former secondary school teacher who currently gives talks and seminars to raise awareness of racism and genocide in schools, colleges, training courses and conferences. Having come from Berlin as a child on the Kindertransport in 1939, she has worked with refugees and written articles about trauma and genocide.
Stress and Mental Health
What does the course cover? This
session aims to explore the impact of different kinds of stress on mental wellbeing, and what type of action can be taken to help alleviate stress. The session will cover:
- What is stress?
- Positive and negative stress
- The medical model of stress
- Causes of stress
- How to identify when someone is under stress
- Treatments and services
Should you attend this course? This course is aimed at staff and volunteers in community organisations, but is open to anyone who is interested in the subject. The course is thought provoking and provides an opportunity to hear the views of other community members, but it is delivered at an introductory/basic level, so if you already have a good understanding of stress, this course may not be right for you.
Facilitator: This course is facilitated by Jocelyn Devlin, Senior Community Development Worker (Mental Health) at Voluntary Action Camden.
Understanding Suicide
What does the course cover? This session aims to increase participants’ understanding of suicide. Suicide is often described as a ‘permanent solution to a temporary problem’. We will explore the reasons why someone might be tempted to kill themselves, what the warning signs are, how to listen to a suicidal person and cope with your own anxieties, and what to look/listen out for. We will also consider how a brief intervention may save lives.
Facilitators: This course is facilitated by Paddy Bazeley and Rupal Karia from Maytree. Paddy is a co-founder of Maytree. For over 25 years she worked full-time at the Central London Branch of the Samaritans. She brings exceptional experience and commitment to all aspects of working with the suicidal. Rupal has been working at Maytree for 4 years, in the capacity of Volunteer training, and she has also worked as a volunteer befriender supporting suicidal guests at Maytree.
In-House Training for BME Groups
VAC can provide FREE in-house mental health training to Camden based voluntary organisations or community groups whose main focus is working with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities. “In-house” means we will come to your organisation and tailor the training to your needs. For further discussion and to find out if your organisation is eligible for free in-house sessions please contact a member of the mental health team.
We can also run Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training in-house. However, these courses cannot be offered free of charge.
Our recent in-house training has included:
- Jewish community: 3 Mental Health Awareness courses have been delivered in partnership with JAMI (Jewish Action for Mental Illness, http://www.jamiuk.org)
- Bangladeshi community: 1 MHFA course has been delivered and there is interest in more being delivered in the future
- Irish community: 1 Mental Health Awareness course has been delivered
Further courses can be developed for particular communities in Camden, so please contact us if you are interested, or for more information.
Contact
Sucaad Odowa-Nielsen
Community Development Worker – Somali Mental Health
Tel: 020 7284 6571 (Typetalk: 18001-020 7284 6571)
Email: SOdowa-Nielsen@vac.org.uk
or
Ann Wolfe
Community Development Worker – Bangladeshi Mental Health
Tel: 020 7284 6565 (Typetalk: 18001-020 7284 6565)
Email: awolfe@vac.org.uk
or
Jocelyn Devlin
Senior Community Development Worker – Mental Health
Tel: 020 7284 6563 (Typetalk: 18001-020 7284 6563)
Email: jdevlin@vac.org.uk