Newton organization training people to become mental health first aid certified

by: Malley Jones

Posted: Aug 28, 2023 / 07:37 AM CDT

Updated: Aug 28, 2023 / 08:52 AM CDT

NEWTON, Kan. (KSNW) — Prairie View in Newton is hosting adult and youth mental health first aid courses where trainees can get certified.

“I decided that we really needed to use this to get our message out and to teach people about mental health to reduce stigma and help connect people,” class instructor Jodie Beeson said.

The class teaches people how to get others care, how to recognize symptoms of mental illness or someone struggling mentally, and how to connect people with resources in the area.

“A lot of people have a lot of misunderstandings about mental health unintentionally, but in their responses, they can say things that deter people from seeking help,” Beeson said. “There’s a lot of stigma out there and a lot of misgivings about it. You’ve heard, ‘Just pull yourself up by the bootstraps,’ or ‘You’ll get over it,’ ‘It’s not that big a deal,’ ‘I’ve been through the same thing.’ Those kinds of things deter people from seeking help when they need it.”

It doesn’t train people how to treat or diagnose others but rather understand and direct a situation.

“This is not for them to treat people,” Beeson said. “It’s for them to be the understanding community person, co-worker, friend, family member to help people connect with mental health.”

Beeson says the more people you train, the farther the message goes.

“Everybody that’s talking about mental health in the community is educating another person about mental health,” Beeson said. “So it’s kind of the ripple effect. So even if someone doesn’t go through the training, they can still understand, well, I need not to stigmatize people, talking about things in a way a person experiencing a mental illness rather than calling them their mental illness, and just ways to interact.”

They are working to get into schools to train youth as well.

Marlene Lemmer-Beeson is a founding member of the Community Chaplains Response Team, and she took the class.

“We work with a lot of individuals who come from different areas, and some of them have some addiction issues and mental health,” Lemmer-Beeson said.

She says it’s encouraging to see more people recognizing mental health needs.

“I just believe that everyone who has the opportunity should take this advantage of a free training in mental health,” Lemmer-Beeson said. “It will give me more confidence, and I think whether you’re at a shopping mall or wherever you’re at, if you see someone that you recognize as going through a mental health crisis, knowing that I have the training helps.”

Jaimie Dehler also took the class and works for Harvey County Emergency Management and 911.

“I work in an environment where 911 dispatchers deal with mental stress all the time,” Dehler said. “They suffer from PTSD, they deal with patients, they deal with callers who are going through all kinds of mental breakdowns or stressors or things that they’re able to control at that point in time. We deal with victims of fires or tornadoes, and it causes a lot of stress. And so if we can figure out better ways to deal with them and help them mentally as well as physically and with rebuilding their life, and that’s an important part.”

Dehler says they can’t be there for everybody else if they’re not okay themselves.

“There’s so much stigma around mental health,” Dehler said. “And I believe, even in our line of work, working in 911 and emergency management, we get stressed, and we have to keep going forward. So to be able to look at a coworker and say it’s okay, take a breath, take your time.”

The next class is on Wednesday, Aug. 30. Registrants must sign up by Aug. 29 at 5 p.m. To register, call 316-284-6365.