The Emmanuel Centre has now trained a further 16 people as part of a Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Course, the first for 2015.
There are now more than 50 people from 27 parishes across Perth, including one parish priest, trained in Mental Health First Aid.
The self-help centre for people with disabilities and their families ran the course in late February and early March this year, which took place thanks to a generous donation and was facilitated by Tasha Broomhall from Blooming Minds.
Emmanuel Centre Co-ordinator Barbara Harris said it is the vision of the centre to have at least two people in every parish trained in Mental Health First Aid so they can assist the parish priest where necessary.
“You may have witnessed an accident where witnesses come running to offer help to the injured – generally we do want to help others when we can,” Mrs Harris said.
“However, in our everyday lives, there are often people around us whose lives have fallen apart as a result of broken relationships, major illness, job loss or death of loved ones, among other reasons,” she said.
Mrs Harris went on to say that unfortunately, when it comes to mental health, many people are reluctant to offer help, often because they don’t know what to say or do.
“The MHFA course teaches adults how to assist other adults and family members who are experiencing a mental health crisis or developing a mental health problem.
“Participants learn the signs and symptoms of mental health problems, where and how to get help and what sort of help has been shown by research to be effective,” Mrs Harris explained.
Mrs Harris also explained that those who have completed the MHFA course through Emmanuel Centre are ordinary people of varying ages and from a variety of diverse backgrounds.
“Some participants work in community service areas, some have had experiences with mental health issues, either personally or externally, while some have simply recognised a need in their parishes and want to know how they can best offer assistance.
“This last course was also attended by three members of the Catholic deaf community who hope to offer support to other Catholic deaf people within the Archdiocese,” she said.
Mother-of-two and Emmanuel Centre volunteer Judith, who belongs to St Denis Parish Joondanna, participated in the Mental Health First Aid course last year.
She said that when approaching someone with a physical disability, we are more likely to offer practical assistance but, when it comes to someone with a mental health issue, “we often don’t know what to do about it”.
She went on to say that, with the best of intentions, in a situation of need, people either do too much, (such as cosseting a person in need like a baby) or too little (such as ignoring them so as not to cause embarrassment).
“The MHFA course will enable participants to know what to do to avoid both extremes,” she said.
For more information about the Mental Health First Aid Course, please contact the Emmanuel Centre on 08 9328 9113 or by email emmanuelcentre@westnet.com.au.