Taleese Morrill, LMSW, facilitates a Youth Mental Health First Aid training session at Mount Saint Mary College on Wednesday, January 14. Hosted by the Student Health and Wellness Center, the workshop taught faculty and staff how to recognize, understand, and respond to signs of mental health or substance abuse challenges in youth.
The Mount Saint Mary College Student Health and Wellness Center recently hosted a series of Youth Mental Health First Aid certification sessions led by Taleese Morrill, a licensed master social worker (LMSW) and REACH Team Lead at Access: Supports for Living in Newburgh.
The evidence-based training, developed by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, equipped Mount faculty, staff, and local professionals with the skills to recognize, understand, and respond to signs of mental health or substance abuse challenges in youth and young adults.
A major focus of the workshop was the impact of language on mental health stigma. Morrill challenged participants to move away from clinical or derogatory labels in favor of “person-first” language that respects individual identity.
“Stigma is not a small thing,” she noted. “We use words like ‘crazy’ every day, but it takes active work to remove that from your language. [However] we also have to respect how people identify. There are people who say, ‘No, I’m not a person living with autism; autism is core to my identity.’ Asking people how they want to be addressed is part of the support.”
Throughout the sessions, Morrill also emphasized that effective intervention begins with the mental state of the person providing the aid. Put simply, one cannot be an effective caretaker if they are not taking care of themselves first.
“When we talk about crisis work, 90 percent of going in and doing that is actually what is going on with you before you even walk through the door,” she explained. “I’ve done this work long enough to know that my calm will increase the likelihood of a situation going well.”
Located in Newburgh, N.Y., the Mount is a private, co-educational institution committed to academic excellence and service. The Student Health and Wellness Center provides holistic support for the student body, fostering an environment where mental health is prioritized as a cornerstone of academic success.