Mental health training opportunities

Counselling Services offers a broad range of suicide intervention and mental health training programs. Our goals are to raise campus mental health awareness, reduce mental health stigma, and support early intervention for those in need within our Waterloo campus community.

Check back often as new sections and offerings will be posted as they become available or subscribe to our eNewsletter.

Interested in having Counselling Services present a training to your faculty or group? Fill out our Training Request form. Please note that training requests are reviewed on Wednesdays, so there may be a delay in receiving a response depending on when you submit the request.

Note: Due to the high demand for these trainings, starting in Spring term 2019, there will be a no-show fee charged to registrants who sign up to attend and do not attend. If you are unable to make a training you've signed up for, please unregister and email Kalpita Gaitonde as soon as possible.

QPR

This training teaches participants how to recognize and support someone who may be having thoughts of suicide. It is an education and awareness program that provides direction as to how to Question a person with thoughts of suicide, how to Persuade them to get help, and how to Refer the person to appropriate professional resources.

Training content:

How to Question, Persuade and Refer someone who may be having thoughts of suicide
How to get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide
Common causes and warning signs
How to get help for someone in crisis

Duration: 1.5 hours

Upcoming dates:

Student Training	Faculty and Staff Training
	Monday, April 29, 2019 (10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.) Audience. Faculty and Staff. Registration is on LEADS.
Thursday, May 23, 2019 (9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.) Location: HS 2302. Registration is on LEADS.	Wednesday, June 26, 2019 (1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.) Location: HS 2302. Registration is on Workday.
Wednesday, July 24, 2019 (1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.) Location: NH 2447. Registration is on LEADS.	Monday, August 26, 2019 (9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.) Location: NH 2447. Registration is on Workday.

safeTALK training

This training teaches participants to identify persons with thoughts of suicide and connect them to suicide first-aid resources. 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 learn to recognize these invitations and take action.

Training content:

Move beyond common tendencies to miss, dismiss, or avoid the topic of suicide
Identify people with thoughts of suicide
Learn simple yet effective TALK steps: Tell, Ask, Listen, and KeepSafe
Apply the TALK steps to connect a person with suicide thoughts to life-saving first aid resources

Duration: 3 hours

Upcoming dates:

Student training	Faculty and Staff training
	Thursday, May 16, 2019 (1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.) Location: NH 2447. Registration is on Workday.

For more information about the safeTALK program, visit Living Works.

More Feet on the Ground In Person

This training consists of a facilitated discussion of the online More Feet on the Ground mental health education program. This program uses those online materials, as well as vignettes to teach participants how to Recognize, Respond, and Refer individuals experiencing mental health problems on campus.

Training content:

Comprehensive information about common mental health and addiction concerns
Overview of signs/symptoms, treatment options, mental health stigma
Facts, statistics, and stories of lived experience
Campus and community resource information
Opportunity to receive a certificate following successful completion of a brief on-line assessment of learning

Duration: 2.5 hours

Upcoming dates:

Student training	Faculty and Staff training
Wednesday, June 19, 2019 (1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.) Location: HS 2302. Registration is on LEADS.	Tuesday, May 14, 2019 (1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.) Location: NH 2447. Registration is on Workday.
Monday, July 8, 2019 (1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.) Location: NH 2447. Registration is on LEADS.	Monday, August 19, 2019 (9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.) Location: NH 2447. Registration is on Workday.

More Feet on the Ground Online

This is a free online mental health education program that teaches participants to Recognize, Respond, and Refer individuals experiencing mental health problems on campus. The program was developed by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) in partnership with Brock University and the Ontario Government’s Mental Health Innovation Fund and has been adapted and branded for all participating post-secondary institutions across Ontario.

Training content:

Comprehensive information about common mental health and addiction concerns
Overview of signs/symptoms, treatment options, mental health stigma
Facts, statistics, and stories of lived experience
Campus and community resource information
Opportunity to receive a certificate following successful completion of a brief on-line assessment of learning

Training dates: