Regional Community Health & Wellness Programs
Youth Mental Health First Aid
Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. Youth Mental Health First Aid is primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders.
How Youth Mental Health First Aid Helps…
Informs adults about common mental health concerns among youth.
Reduces stigma.
Teaches adults how to recognize signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use problems in youth.
Provides adults with skills to use a 5-step action plan to help a youth who may be facing a mental health problem or crisis, such as suicide.
Our Community Health & Wellness Coordinator, Brittany Nash is a certified Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor who offers three certification courses per year to the North West regional communities. Please see our Events & Training Calendar for our next planned certification course or contact bnash@westford-ma.gov to join the mailing list.
Breathe For Change Yoga and Emotional Learning Facilitation
Breathe For Change is a movement enhancing the health and well-being of educators, students, and entire communities. We offer the mind-body wellness, social-emotional learning and yoga teacher trainings specifically for educators, and provide self-care and social-emotional learning professional development for schools, districts and organizations. Our mission is to Change the World, One Teacher at a Time.
Since 2015, Breathe For Change has gathered data from over 10,000 trainee surveys to measure the impact of our training. To date, these assessments indicate that Breathe For Change trainings result in the following personal and professional outcomes for educators:
Enhanced overall well-being, physical well-being, and emotional well-being
Increased ability to manage their emotions and overcome obstacles in their way
Improved confidence in their ability to facilitate social-emotional learning practices
Increased ability to create a relaxed and supportive environment for their students
Decreased feelings of frustration and burnout due to their work
Brittany Nash is a certified 200-hour yoga instructor and social-emotional learning facilitator. Please see our Events & Training Calendar for our upcoming sessions!
