Canadian Mental Health Association for the Kootenays

The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) branches across Canada provide a wide range of innovative services and support to people who are experiencing mental illness and their families. These services are tailored to the needs and resources of the communities where they are based. One of the core goals of these services is to help people with mental illness develop the personal tools to lead meaningful and productive lives.

CMHA Kootenays was historically involved with the Trail Chamber in order to connect with local employers. They no longer provide employment services in the Trail area, so they rely on the Chamber for support and promotion.

CMHA Kootenays is offering two important training sessions to communities in both the East and West Kootenay region: the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills and Training (ASIST) workshop and the safeTALK workshop. The ASIST workshop is 2 full days, whereas the safeTALK workshop is just a ½ day. Both training sessions require between 8 and 30 participants, and dates and times are flexible.

It would be ideal if most members of a community attended either ASIST or safeTALK training to learn these suicide intervention and suicide alert skills. They hope and believe that both workshops can contribute to suicide-safer communities. This is the beginning of such a great opportunity to make a difference in communities across the East and West Kootenays.

For more information on fees and booking, please contact Patricia Whalen, the Regional Gatekeeper Coordinator for the CMHA Kotenays at 250-426-5222 ext. 3124 or pwhalen@cmhakootenays.org.