Children can experience many of the same behavioral health problems as adults — depression, anxiety, substance use and more — and, like adults, it can be hard for them to know what to do when these problems set in.
Willowbrooke at Tanner, the behavioral health service of Tanner Health System, offers a free training program to help individuals who work with children respond when a child or adolescent is experiencing a behavioral health challenge or crisis.
Youth Mental Health First Aid training was designed by Mental Health First Aid USA, which worked with experts at the National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health at the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development to develop the youth program. Mental Health First Aid USA is coordinated by the National Council for Behavioral Health, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Missouri Department of Mental Health.
The training is available through a special grant that Willowbrooke at Tanner received to provide free training to individuals throughout the community to help them respond when a child or adolescent is experiencing a behavioral health challenge or crisis.
The training course takes about a day — eight hours — and empowers you to recognize signs of behavioral health problems in children and adolescents ages 12 to 18. Participants who complete the training receive a certification and reference materials from the course to keep.
The goal of the training is not so you can diagnose and treat behavioral health problems, but to help you recognize them and be proactive in helping children and adolescents access the care they need. We offer the training to anyone who works with youth — including those involved in education, child care, youth athletics, churches, community programs, law enforcement and more — in Bartow, Carroll, Coweta and Paulding counties.
The training can be provided on-site. The instructor is accredited by Willowbrooke at Tanner to lead the training. We simply ask that the minimum group size be 10 participants.
To learn more about hosting a Youth Mental Health First Aid training session, call 770-812-3275 or send an email to dprice@tanner.org. To sign up for an upcoming Youth Mental Health First Aid training session, visit Tanner Health System's online calendar of classes and events.