SCS employees train in mental health first aid

This month marks a full year since the COVID-19 outbreak began to change our way of life. Many around the country continue to be impacted in different ways, including students.

Whether not being in school full time, doing virtual learning, not getting to participate in extracurricular activities or getting to spend time with friends, students’ normality has drastically changed, and those changes can have an effect on their mental health.

Kim Bailey, supervisor of counseling and testing, assessment and evaluation for Shelby County Schools, was part of the first group of 30 to attend Mental Health First Aid training in the summer of 2019, sponsored by the Alabama State Department of Education. Her goal was to come back and train as many counselors and administrators as she could, but COVID-19 hit and things had to be put on hold.

Last February, Bailey conducted training in Vestavia Hills City Schools because no one in that system was yet trained. Last fall, 32 counselors and administrators from various Shelby County Schools had the opportunity to become certified Mental Health First Aiders during two workshops that were able to be held in October and November. Bailey hopes to be able to train more in the spring and summer.

“The training is extensive, it’s eight hours,” Bailey said. “We can’t do it in one day, so it is done over two four-hour days. We are trying now to train assistant principals, or administrative assistants, because a lot of times students who present with a crisis could be with them. This program trains people who are with the kids. A lot of times, the people who get the first involvement are the choir teacher or theater teacher or a coach that kids trust and will talk to.”

The Mental Health First Aid course teaches people how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The training provides the skills needed to reach out and provide the initial help and support to someone who maybe developing a mental health or substance use problem or experiencing a crisis.

The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a five-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including ADHD) and eating disorders.

Bailey said for counselors, it’s more of a refresher course for them. She compared it to CPR training for a medical emergency, but said people are more likely to come in contact with someone having a mental health crisis instead of a medical emergency, as one in five teenagers will experience some kind of mental health issue.

Part of the training in the program is reducing the stigma attached to mental health and focusing instead on emotional wellness.

Bailey works as the counseling supervisor to the 60 school counselors in the 31 Shelby County schools. She sends out the program information to each counselor and the school administrators delegate who they want to participate in the training.

The effects of COVID-19 are having an impact on the students and Bailey said it’s something they don’t have a reference point for because it’s different from anything they’ve ever faced. However, the school counselors are still there for the students whether they are doing in person or remote learning.

“A lot of kids aren’t in school and have limited access to adults,” she said. “Normally if they come to school they see at least seven adults a day. Students at home don’t have that connection to adults so we have to find out how to reach those kids at home and know they’re OK.”

Each Shelby County school has a Google form that students can complete to schedule time to speak with a counselor and each also keeps up with the students learning remotely.

“We are doing as much as we can to keep them engaged and make sure someone connects with them,” Bailey said.

Many of the counselors have come up with creative ways to connect with the students and keep them connected with their friends who are in person learning.

Oak Mountain Intermediate School counselor Julia Limon participated in the training last fall. She has added a “lunch bunch” to keep her students who are at home and in school connected, especially those who may not have many friends or connections.

“I’ve done some where students are here at school and others are virtual and they can come to my room and talk to each other on my big screen during lunch,” Limon said. “I think it makes a difference. Some kids have struggled with the uncertainty of school being virtual for so long and it’s a way to motivate them to come to school. It is definitely affecting students that hadn’t been on my radar last year.”

Limon has also done virtual parent lunch bunches where the counselors talk about different topics. She said they have been well received and she hopes to be able to do more. She has always done birthday cards for her students, and is now mailing them to her remote learning students to stay connected and has received positive feedback from them.

Forest Oaks Elementary School counselor Cindy Smith attended the fall training session. She said that although she knew most of what she was taught during the event, one of her biggest takeaways was to be watchful of some of the common catch phrases that she has found herself using — even in the counseling profession.

“Sometimes we are quick to say things like ‘I’m so OCD’ or ‘she is so bipolar’ and these types of statements serve to only further fuel the stigma surrounding mental health disorders,” Smith said. “We never hear anyone saying things like ‘he is so diabetic’ or ‘that girl is so hypothyroid.’ I learned that as counselors, we need to model the verbiage we use and to try hard to view mental health diagnoses in the same way we view medical diagnoses.”

Mental Health First Aid can help in ways such as informing adults about common mental health concerns among youth, reducing stigma, teaching adults to recognize signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use problems in youth and give them an action plan to help.

More than 2.5 million people across the United States have been trained in Mental Health First Aid by a dedicated base of more than 15,000 instructors. For more information on this program, or to find a class in your area, visit mentalhealthfirstaid.org/population-focused-modules/youth.