Plans for Mental Health Week/Peer Support

Community Education Committee

I am starting to gather the members of our Community Education Committee to plan a family focused event for Mental Health Week. The inspiration for this year's event came from attending Douglas Turkington's workshop on CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) for caregivers last year. We are looking at having an evening event during Mental Health Week (May 2-8). Anyone who may be interested in working on this committee is encouraged to contact me. We will be planning a venue and promotion will be a key to the success of this event. We have a presenter in mind and are just waiting to receive their commitment.

Peer Support

I recently participated in OPDI's (Ontario Peer Development Initiative) training for peer support. It was an intensive course which was quite focused on self care. It was a wonderful opportunity that was funded by Bell Let's Talk Campaign. There were 18 participants and there is great excitement that we will be able to make a significant impact on the mental health and wellbeing of people needing services in Lanark County. We are now exploring our internship phase of the training. Here is the text on the Bell Let's Talk Website:

Lanark County Mental Health, Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital - Smiths Falls, ON

The funded program answers increasing demand from clients who want ongoing support after their primary group programs have wound up. Specifically, it would enable the agency to train 14 people as peer group facilitators with the Ontario Peer Development Initiative. These peer support workers would then be able to serve the needs of about 150 group clients a year for up to a year, to ensure they continue to get support for mental health concerns such as suicidal thoughts, trauma, anxiety, depression or symptoms of psychosis.