CHESS OVERVIEW

Chess is a mental health awareness session that aims to give the delegate an overall understanding of how to help someone that may be experiencing some mental health issues.

This brief course will not qualify you as a therapist nor does it allow you to diagnose any mental health condition however what we aim to provide is the ability to feel confident to approach someone that may need help and give them some options of where they may be able to access the appropriate support.

Chess is an acronym of the process that can be followed when helping someone which in turn can help the delegate to feel more confident in helping the person in distress to find the appropriate professional support needed.

The course is delivered by our head trainer who has been teaching mental health and suicide first aid since 2018 where he trained with MHFA England in both adult and youth mental health first aid.

Before this he qualified as a BACP ( British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy ) therapist gaining his post graduate certificate level of a masters degree in integrative psychotherapy.

Since then he has worked in many different sections such as substance abuse , sexual trauma / violence and suicide  on both a voluntary and private practice basis.

He has wrote this course bringing together the pivotal parts of the courses he delivers and simplified them into plain English without intimidating terminology making it accessible to people from all walks of life.

Much of the course is geared towards increasing the confidence of the delegate while making them aware of the importance of keeping themselves safe and recognising when they may need to access support themselves .

When helping people you can unconsciously take on their trauma which can lead to the helper becoming emotionally effected.

Self-care is a major element to the course and can be often overlooked , you cant pour from an empty cup .

Course content will include emotive subjects however the course instructor is trained to deliver the content with sensitivity and respect for everyone’s lived experience.

Delegate participation is encouraged , everyone has a story to tell or an experience of mental health with 1 in 4 people experiencing a mental health issue at some point in their lives wher the ripple effect can be far and wide .

Mental ill health does not discriminate and can affect anyone at anytime however early intervention can have a massive impact in the recovery process.

This is what makes this course so important as its proactive with a view of prevention is better than cure , many people can be misdiagnosed or un diagnosed keeping them in that vicious circle that is surrounded in stigma .

We believe the biggest killer within mental health is stigma as it prevents those in need of support from accessing the right care.

Our lead trainer has been in the construction industry for over 25 years , an industry that loses 2 people every day to suicide usually men . For every 4 suicides 3 of them are men, that’s someone’s father , son , brother or uncle that due to feeling unable to talk about how they feel ultimately feel that the  world and their family would be better off without them.

Suicide is addressed in the course with the question asked “ would you ask someone if they where thinking of taking their own lives “ or would you fear making the situation worse , would you plant a seed that wasn’t there .

The answer is we are not that powerful however how you ask must be done in the right way within the right environment and when talking to a young person your approach must be gentle and again your safety must come first with safeguarding being a massive feature in the process.

The course has been delivered at Birmingham and Stourbridge amateur boxing clubs with feedback from Frank O’Sullivan MBE being “ this course should be available to every sports club that deals with young people “

As mentioned previously CHESS is an acronym that allows the delegate to follow some simple but important steps shown below .

 

 

 

 

 

COURSE CONTENT

• What is mental Health ( mental health continuum)
• Depression (signs and symptoms , avenues of support)
• Stress ( what is stress , stress container )
• Anxiety (signs and symptoms , avenues of support)
• Self-harm (signs and symptoms , avenues of support)
• Eating Disorders ( signs , avenues of support )
• Suicide (signs and symptoms , avenues of support)
• Active listening ( empathy , frame of reference )
• Resilience ( what is resilience , curling parenting , building resilience)
• Wellness
  Self-care for those that help others in the Community

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see we cover a lot in the short time we have but essentially the message we deliver is the same as physical first aid .

• Identify the issue
• Ensure your own safety
• Access ,Approach , Assist
• Contain the situation
• Get the person to the right appropriate avenue of support
• Get the support you need

 

At the end of the session you will be given a link to a data base of help that is available such as “ Hub Of Hope” an application that informs you of the closest available help .

Should any delegate wish to improve their knowledge after the course there will be information on continued avenues of learning such as MHFA mental health first aid and SFA suicide first aid.