Our Services at Work: Mental Health Promotion and Education Team Makes Big Impact

CMHA Waterloo Wellington offers Mental Health Promotion and Education across the region. On any given day, our team of highly trained mental health educators share learnings with large businesses, small organizations, sports teams and coaches, service clubs, churches, social clubs, schools, families and more! After a recent presentation a participant reached out to our staff to share the impact the information shared had on him and his family.

“Thank you for your presentation on Understanding Mental Health, Suicide and Addictions. I recently had a situation where I put the skills I learned into practice. My daughter came to us because her friends had been talking about suicide. If I had not come to your presentation, I would not have approached it as head on as I did for fear that I would give my daughter ideas she may not have had.  Learning that was not the case gave me the confidence to approach my daughter calmly and rationally while listening to what she said, and what she was not saying. I asked my daughter if her friends said how etc. and she said it was more off hand comments.

This conversation happened on a Saturday afternoon and within a couple hours; I was speaking with the school principal who reached out to the families involved to ensure everyone was safe.  I am very proud of my daughter and I am thankful for your presentation.  It allowed me to slow down, take a breath, ask direct questions, and pull more information than I probably would have. The information you gave allowed me to approach the situation without the level of panic and fear that I would have in the past.  I hope in the end the fear was unfounded, but I am not going to take a chance.  I would rather be thought of as too caring than as someone who did not do something when they could have.

That Saturday was probably the hardest day I have ever had as a parent and there were many tears but I think it brought us closer together as well and taught her to trust me.  Your presentation may have saved someone from something at the very least dangerous or possibly irreversible. I will definitely recommend your presentation to anyone who’s looking for any information on these topics.  I personally took a lot from it that made me reflect on relationships I currently have as well as ones I’ve had over the years.”

To learn more about Mental Health Promotion and Education, click here. To view our current education and training opportunities, please click here.