Recently, the president signed a series of proposals designed to prevent gun violence in the United States. Central to these proposals was a call for a national dialogue about mental health and greater awareness of mental health issues.

Mental Health First Aid is groundbreaking public education program that helps the public identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The WellPower has four Mental Health First Aid certified instructors on staff and is bringing this important training to the community.

David Henninger is the co-founder and executive director of Bayaud Enterprisess, a Denver-based non-profit organization that helps mentally-disabled people find meaningful work in the community. Citing his organization’s commitment to mental health awareness, Henninger chose to have his staff participate in the two-day program faciliated by the WellPower.

I caught up with Henninger at the end of the training to ask him some questions about the experience.

Q. What made you decide that participating in Mental Health First Aid was a good idea for your organization?

Henninger: Mental health literacy is imporant for everyone–not just to consumers and clinicians. Particularly since we’re in the mental health service business, I thought that it was important. Right now we have lots of new and old staff who have different levels of knowledge about mental health issues, and I felt that it was a good time to take advantage of the program.

Q. How did you learn about Mental Health First Aid?

Henninger: We were looking at training needs for our organization and we decided that we wanted to know more about mental health issues. We did some research about what programs were available in the community to promote mental health literacy, and since we had a long-standing relationship with the WellPower, we decided that participating in Mental Health First Aid with them was the best way to go. There’s a high degreee of trust between our two organizations.

Q. How many of your employees participated in Mental Health First Aid?

Henninger: Altogether, fourteen of us participated in the program.

Q. What is your overall impression of the program after having completed the training?

Henninger: This program is well organized, very relevant, the material is good, and the facilitators were excellent.

Q. Are there any specifics that you took away from the Mental Health First Aid training?

Henninger: Overall, the “A-L-G-E-E” action plan for responding to mental health situations resonated with me most. This is a very good acronym, and a simple way to remember how best to respond to someone experiencing a mental health crisis or other situation.

Q. How do you feel that this is going to make a difference at Bayaud Enterprises?

Henninger: There’s no question that it has and will make a difference for us. We’re a fairly sophisticated organization when it comes to mental health, but we found out by participating in this program that there’s still a lot for us to learn. The stigma of mental illness is still there, but we’re in a better position now to respond to it with practical knowledge about mental health issues.

Q. Would you recommend Mental Health First Aid to other leaders in the business community?

Henninger: Absolutely.

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The WellPower would like to thank David Henninger and Bayaud Enterprises for their partnership in the Mental Health First Aid program.

General information about the Mental Health First Aid program is available on the program website here.

For more information about participating in Mental Health First Aid with the WellPower, please contact Joanne Aiello.