FVC has received a four-year Mental Health Awareness Training Grant from the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). We are excited to be the recipients of this award so that we can increase our work in the mental well-being of our members and Veterans in general.
Through this project, we will be training FVC members, their families, and members of the agricultural community that work with Veterans about mental health topics, especially suicide prevention using PsychArmor® and QPR. We will also train a select group of FVC members to be trainers in LivingWorks safeTALK during each year of the grant.
Phase one will offer free virtual QPR sessions by regions starting June 27 and will continue throughout this year. FVC will send an invitation to register for QPR to members by region. If you miss your regional training, we may be able to include you in one of the future training courses with another region. The plan is to offer other open trainings after the initial regional trainings where anyone over the age of 18 may attend. There will also be an opportunity for members to invite family members and people that provide services to FVC members to attend these training sessions. In addition to the training, we will also be offering monthly “De-briefs” for those who have been trained to get their questions answered or to process their experiences in case they had to use their training.
Monica Kramer McConkey is collaborating with us on the project. She is a Rural Mental Health Specialist and LPC with 25+ years of experience in the behavioral health field as a child and adolescent counselor, program supervisor, and administrator. She works with farmers, farmer Veterans, farm families and other agriculturalists. Monica is a certified QPR and safeTalk trainer and will be training, conducting debriefing sessions, and providing support for the project. Monica grew up on a farm and has an intimate understanding of the dynamics that contribute to farm stress and its impact on farm families. Monica is very much in touch with the agricultural way of life.
Doris Mold, FVC Chapters Coordinator, will be coordinating the project. When Doris is not working part time as Chapters Coordinator for FVC she works on agricultural/farm/ranch stress programming for the past five years through the Cultivating Resiliency Program and the Rural Resiliency Project.
QPR stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer — the 3 simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver help save thousands of lives each year. People trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help. Each year thousands of Americans, like you, are saying “Yes” to saving the life of a friend, colleague, sibling, or neighbor.
As a QPR-trained Gatekeeper you will learn to:
- – Recognize the warning signs of suicide
- – Know how to offer hope
- – Know how to get help and save a life
Length of training one hour and 15 minutes or more with Q & A.
LivingWorks safeTALK (in-person only)
LivingWorks safeTALK is a four-hour face-to-face workshop featuring powerful presentations, audiovisuals, and skills practice. At a LivingWorks safeTALK workshop, you’ll learn how to prevent suicide by recognizing signs, engaging someone, and connecting them to an intervention resource for further support.
A skilled, supportive trainer will guide you through the course, and a community resource will be on hand to support your safety and comfort.
LivingWorks safeTALK Train the Trainer (in-person only)
We will be offering train-the-trainer courses so that we have trained facilitators that may deliver this programming across the country. Maximum of 10 trained at a time 2 days of safeTALK training and 2 days of ASIST training required. We will be taking applications and conducting interviews for the train the trainer courses.
PsychArmor® is developing a customized learning management system for trainers and trainees that will have an online team portal available to them.
As this project moves forward, we will share more information through our chapters, this newsletter, and online avenues. If you have any questions about this project, please contact Doris Mold at chapters@farmvetco.org
