Connections Matter – ACE Prevention

Connections Matter: Prevention of Adverse Childhood Experience training that provides adults information on building resilience, compassion, and healing-centered interactions with youth.

Connections Matter is a healing-centered curriculum that teaches adults how to use the power of connections to help develop healthy brains and supportive relationships, prevent and heal from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and strengthen communities. This free training is available to any group in NJ – professionals, community groups, parents, schools, faith-based groups, etc.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How ACEs adversely affect development and brain outcomes.
  • How caring connections, including Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs), serve as a primary buffer against the negative effects of trauma.
  • How to build more resilient, compassionate, and healing-centered communities.

Please reach out to us if you are interested in receiving Connections Matter training. To learn more about the program, visit the Connections Matter website.

Teen Mental Health First Aid

Teen Mental Health First Aid is an evidence-based training for teens (ages 14-18) that provides prevention methods for supporting and encouraging their peers to use better coping methods during difficult moments.

Teen Mental Health First Aid teaches teens how to recognize and provide Mental Health First Aid to their friends and peers. It is taught by adult instructors to teens. Teens will learn the different types of mental health challenges and mental health crisis situations in fellow teens, as well as how to help their peers.

Through the tMHFA training program, students will learn how to:

  • Recognize early warning signs that a friend is developing a mental health challenge
  • Recognize warning signs that a friend may be experiencing a mental health crisis
  • Describe how to talk to a friend about mental health and seek help
  • Explain when and how to get a responsible adult involved
  • Discuss where to find appropriate and helpful resources about mental health challenges and professional help
  • Apply the tMHFA 5-Step Action Plan to help a friend with a mental health challenge or crisis

This program is being offered as a fee-for-service. Please reach out to us if you are interested in receiving more information or to set up Teen Mental Health First Aid for your students.

Tackling Opioids through Prevention for Athletes

Tackling Opioids through Prevention for Athletes (TOP) is intended to help raise awareness of opioid use among student athletes and to provide evidence-based information to strengthen policies and practices within schools, athletic departments and community-based athletic programs.

TOP exists to educate athletes about the pathways to addiction and offer alternative pain management strategies. Athletes are more prone to injuries that could result in getting prescribed prescription opioids, like narcotic pain relievers, which can lead to misuse, addiction, accidental overdose, and even death.

Mercer Council staff are available to provide free presentations and support to schools, teams, and community sports programs across Mercer County. Interested coaches, school personnel, or healthcare providers are invited to contact us. Download the TOP Toolkit to learn more.

Safe Dates (An Adolescent Dating Abuse Prevention Program)

Safe Dates is a dating abuse prevention program which raises student awareness of what constitutes healthy vs. abusive dating relationships, and equips students with the skills and resources needed to help themselves or their friends who may be in abusive relationships.

Dating violence encompasses more than simply physical aggression. It also includes psychological, sexual, and emotional harm in a relationship, and it can occur both in person and digitally. Dating violence is a relatively common issue among high school students, and the Safe Dates program is here to help.

This evidence-based program educates youth and adolescents on how to identify and prevent dating violence. Through ten engaging sessions, students will:

  • Learn and discuss the causes of dating violence
  • How to help a friend in an abusive relationship
  • Gender stereotypes about dating violence
  • Important prevention techniques

In addition, the curriculum will include updated facts and statistics on dating violence and sexual assault, information on dating abuse through technologes, and a new Families for Safe Dates program to help facilitate conversations about healthy relationships and dating violence.

It is important to consider how we’re educating youth on the topics of dating violence and sexual assault. Safe Dates is an effective solution, and its interactive format will help students of all backgrounds to truly understand the power of their voice, when it comes to dating violence prevention. Please reach out to us if you are interested in receiving training.

Healthy Outlooks for Older Adults: Alternative Approaches to Managing Pain

This one-hour program will engage older adults and provide them with information regarding appropriate medication use and management, as well as alternative approaches to treating chronic and acute pain.

Through this program, individuals will:

  • Learn about the risks of prescription pain medications (Vicodin, Oxycontin, Codeine)
  • Find alternatives to pain management (acupuncture, yoga, physical therapy, chiropractic, massage, mediation, etc.)
  • Gain insights into prescription medicine misuse and safety

Please reach out to us if you are interested in Healthy Outlooks for Older Adults Program.

QPR Suicide Prevention

QPR-Question. Persuade. Refer. is an early intervention training for both community and professional members to respond by recognizing and actively providing intervention to the life-threatening signs of a suicidal crisis.

The QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) program is dedicated to saving lives and reducing suicidal behaviors by providing practical, evidence-based suicide prevention training.

QPR Gatekeeper Training is designed for anyone who wants to learn how to recognize a crisis and the warning signs that someone may be contemplating suicide. This training is appropriate for:

  • Parents
  • Teachers
  • First Responders
  • Mental Health Professionals
  • Youth Leaders
  • And YOU!

As a certified QPR gatekeeper you will learn to:

  1. Recognize the warning signs of suicide
  2. Increase awareness of stigma and understand suicide as a public health issue
  3. Know how to offer hope
  4. Know how to access local and national referral resources
  5. Know how to get help and save a life

If you are interested in receiving QPR Gatekeeper training, please reach out to us. Together, we can create a community where everyone plays a role in suicide prevention. For more information on the QPR program, please visit QPR Institute.

Seeing is Believing (Fatal Vision Goggles)

This program includes interactive dialogue between participants and facilitators, hands-on activities, and role-playing. Utilizing the Fatal Vision Goggles, students will experience the effects of alcohol and other drugs on their ability to perform tasks.

Fatal Vision Goggles are specially designed and manufactured goggles that simulate the visual impairment caused by alcohol or other drugs. Viewing through the goggles, the wearer experiences a loss of equilibrium, one of the effects of intoxication. The underlying principle is to demonstrate how quickly impairment can turn fun into devastating consequences.

As each student tries on the goggles and makes an attempt to complete hands-on activities, they experience how impairment makes certain activities (such as driving) extremely dangerous. This is an excellent tool to use in schools and youth groups to educate young people on the risks of underage drinking, as well as risks of marijuana use and driving.

Through this program, students will:

  • Examine the effects of alcohol/marijuana on the brain and body systems
  • Improve decision-making skills about alcohol and/or marijana-related situations
  • Understand the legal, physical and emotional risks of underage drinking and marijuana use

If your school or youth group is interested in bringing the Fatal Vision Goggles program to your students, please reach out to us today. Together, we can help educate and empower the next generation to make safer, more informed decisions.

Don’t Get Vaped In

This comprehensive, multi strategy approach is designed to engage youth tobacco prevention and assist schools and communities in responding effectively using educational and supportive approaches.

We also adapt this program to cover cannabis/marijuana and to address school-specific needs.

If your school or community organization is interested in implementing the Don’t Get Vaped In program, please reach out to us today.

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