HAMPTON, Va. - You never know whey you’ll be called upon to help someone in a mental health crisis. Saturday, local faith leaders took a free course so they would know how to respond.
The training in Hampton was organized by Sentara Behavioral Health. It's the first of two in-person and ten virtual sessions to be held statewide.
The training, called Mental Health First Aid, is for pastors, clergy and other faith leaders to help them learn to recognize and respond to mental health and substance abuse issues. This way, if someone in their congregation were in need, they could help.
Sentara says the goal is to train more than 300 across Virginia, knowing these are people with the power to help countless others who might be in trouble.
"[Someone might not] go to the hospital, they’re not going to go to a mental health professional, they might not even tell their family, but they will go and trust and build that relationship with their pastor, or their youth pastor, and we want to make sure that person knows what to do if they’re the only line of defense," said Katie Bush, the Director of Operations for Sentara Behavioral Health Services
Sentara says $12,000 in grant money helped pay for the courses. Saturday's session was at Cornerstone Worship Center in Hampton. The second in-person session will be in Richmond, with ten virtual sessions to follow. Sentara says faith leaders interested in taking the course should reach out to exchris3@sentara.com
If you or anyone you know is having a mental health crisis, you can dial 988 for immediate help.
