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Thursday last day to sign up for mental health workshop

Carlsbad Current-Argus (NM) - 3/19/2015

March 19--CARLSBAD -- Today is the last day for community members to sign up for a mental health workshop designed to teach people how to help those struggling with mental illness.

The workshop will be from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.March 26 at the Eddy County Extension Office.

The free training includes a take-home book containing much of the material that will be covered during the workshop.

The classroom-style workshop will be taught by two trainers from UnitedHealthcare, one who is a certified peer-support specialist and one who is a certified family-support specialist, said Russell Liles, manager of behavioral health, recovery and peer support for UnitedHealthcare Community Plan.

UnitedHealthcare tries to do about 14 trainings around the state per year, specifically targeting rural areas, Liles said.

With Turquoise Health and Wellness pulling out of Carlsbad at the end of the month, Liles said it was a good time for the training in Carlsbad.

"One thing this does is raise awareness of mental health issues in communities, the fact that they're there," Liles said.

Liles said that the class is similar to CPR in that it does not teach someone how to be a therapist, but how to talk to someone in crisis and direct them to proper help.

The workshop will cover issues that include recognizing risk factors and warning signs for mental health problems, an understanding of how common mental health disorders are and resources that are available to help people in these situations.

The class is capped at 30 participants, and as of Thursday evening, about 20 were signed up, including many police officers from both Artesia and Carlsbad.

"We've already received a lot of interest from local law enforcement agencies, as well as Carlsbad Transitional Housing, which are both wonderful," said Kyle Marksteiner, a member of the Mayor's Mental Health Task Force. "We also hope this and future training sessions will appeal to many others, including first responders and the human resource and safety departments with some of our area's largest employers."

Marksteiner said Presbyterian Medical Services is looking at sponsoring another training opportunity at the end of April.

Those who wish to register for the workshop can contact Wendy Linebrink-Allison at 505-798-5736 or at wendy.linebrink-allison@uhc.com.

More information can be found at mentalhealthfirstaid.org/cs

Katie England can be reached at 575-628-5516.

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