Ripple Effect offering free mental health workshops next week

Ripple Effect North West Inc is inviting people to learn about children and adolescents’ mental health and how to effectively support them.

Two workshops will be held, both being navigated by mental health youth first aid trainer Pippa Baker.

One event will be an evening for parents. It will equip them with the ability to teach children how to believe in themselves, back themselves and have faith they can do difficult things.

“When we lean into a challenge, when we embrace failure, [it is] an opportunity to grow,” Pippa said.

She can provide a ‘tool kit’ for parents to recognise differences in their child and what the next step is, to make it a “little less scary”.

The other is a free training session over two days on how to provide initial support to young people who may be experiencing a mental health problem.

Youth mental health first aid is a course which targets parents, coaches, teachers, grandparents and anyone that has regular contact with a young person. This gives them the ability to learn how to support someone with a mental health problem.

The course discusses what mental health can look like such as anxiety, depression, substance use, eating disorders, and psychosis.

Participants will also learn about early intervention, signs and symptoms, and the treatments available along with receiving a manual.

“Increasingly, we are finding younger and younger children feeling overwhelmed,” Pippa said.

“This leads to mental health issues, like anxiety, depression, and even sadly suicide ideation, which is where I can try to come in.”

She said these issues are becoming more common, particularly for that targeted age bracket.

This is because of the physical, physiological and biological changes, and the added pressure of identity, future, social media and modern life.

“I want to reassure parents how to support our young people while they are figuring all those things out, which can be extremely overwhelming,” she said.

“When young people experience mental health problems, it can have a far reaching a long-term impact on their future.”

The ‘ripple effect’ affects their school life and therefore the trajectory of their education, their ability to relate to people their own age, social skills and connection.