Mental Health & Wellness Resources

---

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is the support provided to a person who may be experiencing a decline in their mental well-being or a mental health crisis.

Course participants will learn how to recognize signs that a person may be experiencing a decline in their mental well-being or a mental health crisis and encourage that person to:

• Talk about declines in their mental well-being 
• Discuss professional and other supports that could help with recovery to improved mental well-being 
• Reach out to these supports
• Assist in a mental health or substance use crisis 
• Use MHFA actions to maintain one’s own mental well-being 

VIRTUAL OR IN-PERSON

*min. of 8 and max. of 25 participants for online/virtual courses

*min. of 8 and max. of 15 participants for in-person

(as mandated by the Mental Health Commission of Canada)

$200 per participant (Law Assn. Members = $175pp - just mention FOLA)

Each MeetUp group is FREE and CONFIDENTIAL and operated independently of MAP.

These groups have been in operation since 2015 and most, recently during COVID, have moved to an on-line format.

The format is one hour long.  Each person may (but doesn’t have to) share how their mental wellness is affecting them.  They can then get “feedback” from another member (which is empathy or a technique which has worked for that other member…no host will tell someone what they “should” do…as they are professionals).

PLUS: Mental Wellness is now also offering free professional therapy for Law Association Members!

Through their partner, Nexim Healthcare Consultants, they have been able to get access to licenced, professional therapists at a greatly reduced rate.  Using donations provided by local organizations (such as the Rotary Club) they are able to cover the entire cost of up to five (5) sessions of professional therapy for each person.

The groups have been very popular as they offer three significant benefits: 

1.  Members learn that they are not alone, and that there are others like them suffering;   

2.  Members can unburden themselves to a sympathetic ear…rather than continue to over-burden their spouse or parents who don’t have the lived-history to help; 

3.  Members can get real-world suggestions of techniques which others have used successfully.  

Here are some important links:

1. MentalWellness.Help 
2. Find them on FaceBook
3. Link to their MeetUp page to join a meeting
4. Scroll down for some videos

If you have any questions about the groups, please contact Jason at admin@mentalwellness.help. 

They  are listed with ConnexOntario, and receive support from the City of Toronto through Community Centre 55 and local Rotary Clubs.

When Mental Wellness Peer-to-Peer support group meetings take place on-line, this video gives a quick overview of how the group functions. 

If you would like to start your own group, please contact Jason at admin@mentalwellness.help.

If you, or anyone you know, wishes to make a donation to support this endeavour, or if you wish to discuss how you can help, please contact Jason at:  admin@MentalWellness.help 

Join a group for FREE, CONFIDENTIAL peer support with your Mental Wellness challenge!  

These groups, which have been running since 2015, have helped many, many people deal with their own challenges, be it depression, anxiety, hoarding, PTSD, stress, OCD, worry, etc...  

The virtual, video meetings are conducted using the Zoom platform, are 1 hour long, and there are many many meetings each week.  At a meeting, each member may, but does not have to, share how their mental wellness challenge has been affecting them recently.  If desired, a member can receive feedback from other members, which might include empathy and best practices for what has worked well for the other member when they were in "your shoes". 

To help you be part of the conversation, the Bell Let’s Talk Conversation Guide was created. It provides information and resources on how you can facilitate a conversation in your community, as well as guidelines on how to have conversations with people you care about and may be concerned about. 

And check out the video above to see a powerful anti-stigma campaign by Healthy Minds Canada.

On March 30, 2020, the Boards of Directors of the Conference of Chief Justices and Conference of State Court Administrators took action to establish a new Task Force to assist state courts in their efforts to more effectively respond to the needs of court-involved individuals with serious mental illness.

The Task Force will build upon the previous work of the NCSC National Advisory Committee  supported by funding from the State Justice Institute. Their work and future plans are described in the transition report, The Future is Now: Decriminalization of Mental Illness.

In order to address mental health needs in your community, certain court and community responses must be developed early on. The best practices recommended on this website build the foundation for improving the court and community responses to mental health and co-occurring disorders. 

This website begins with leading change resources specifically designed for judges.  Every community will be at a different place with each of these practices. As you look through the various recommendations, consider your own community and the best way to use these tools to build a structure of support for mental health issues within it. 

Opening with a series of statements on racial justice from six state supreme court chief justices, the 2020 edition of Trends In State Courts provides timely and diverse stories including an article on how collaborative efforts among justice, mental-health, and public-health systems are essential to respond to individuals who frequently cycle through systems, State Courts’ Responsibility to Convene, Collaborate and Identify Individuals Across Systems. 

The National Advisory Committee produced several informative resources to inform and educate the judiciary concerning mental health and the courts to include the Leading Change guide and the Coordinated Court and Community Responses website.

The Leading Change Guide for judges and court leaders is intended for court professionals who want to create change in how mental health needs are addressed in their communities but aren't sure how to get started. It lays out the steps for beginning the movement toward change in the court and community's response to mental health and co-occurring disorders—from inviting stakeholders to the first meeting to sustaining the initial momentum for long-term progress. It includes a list of potential stakeholders, action step checklists, sample meeting agendas, assessment questions.