The most common change in mental health for all Americans is the experience of anxiety disorders and depressive disorders. As a faith leader, having the tools to recognize the signs and symptoms of these illnesses is vital to the cong-term mental health of our communities and families. Participants will meet three very different individuals who are all experiencing these illnesses and practice walking through noticing signs, discussing symptoms, and in turn inviting a loving and faithful conversation about seeking help if we believe this person to be experiencing illness.

Many Americans use substances at the onset and in the depths of changes in their mental health to cope, mask pain, and fit in. As faith leaders, we can recognize, understand and take action when we might notice changes due to drug or alcohol use. During this presentation, we will practice having conversations with individuals as well as their family members when it comes to changes in their mental health when an individual is using substances. Using the be nice. Action Plan to notice signs of use and abuse, invite ourselves to have an open and faithful conversation, challenging stigma around substance use disorders and challenging the individual to get help, as well as empowering our entire faith community to treat substance use as a mental health concern first and foremost.

Stop, Drop and Roll - we all know what to do in case of fire. CPR - many of us are trained in helping some experiencing cardio/pulmonary crisis. Depression and other mental health disorders may lead to crisis in individual's life in the form of suicide crisis or homicide crisis. The be nice. Action Plan is a tool to use for both individuals and families in this time of crisis, as often our Faith Leaders will be the natural first contact when mental crisis occurs.
Participants of this course will practice having conversations with individuals and their families that are experiencing mental health crisis. We will dive deeper than our previous QPR training by discussing Kent County resources available for our faith leaders.

Half of all mental health disorders begin by age 14, half by the age of 24, meaning that as soon as we start to see signs and symptoms in youth, we need to be equipped to take action to ensure that individual get the help that they need. be nice. is an Upstream Prevention program as well - creating communities where mental health and wellness is normalized and encouraged. We will learn to encourage mental resiliency - empowering youth to concentrate on protective factors for their life-long mental health.