Trainings

What does it actually mean to create a “safe space”…or is it a “brave space”? Or is it something else? Designed for theatre and film artists, this course focuses on moving the concept of “safety’ from a concept, to a core condition understood through biological, social, systemic, and emotional lenses. will come away with vocabulary and tools to identify and remove barriers to safety, and increasing access to connection. By focusing on the science of safety, students will learn how to assess safety in a room and ethically respond when safety has been compromised (in individuals and groups). 

• Key Takeaways:
  • Recognize mental health challenges and crises in creative spaces. 
  • Creation and use of an action plan to use when a group loses access to safety. 
  • Use of an action plan to use when individuals lose access to safety, 
  • Understand and support core needs of people in community settings
  • Ability to explain how danger and safety are interpreted by bodies. 
• Dates offered:
• July 2, 12-4:30pm ET

“We don’t rise to our values, we fall on our structures.” This phrase, adapted from the Greek poet Archilochus, describes the goal of this class: to ensure that your toolbox is full of structures to support yourself and your team. Using the Salutogenic Standards as our guide, we will walk through best practices for creative spaces that support mental health and connection, even when telling challenging stories. 

• Key Takeaways:
  • Discern the difference between care and safety in a creative space
  • Use of a structure to support ethical and compelling stories for creator and consumer, especially for stories that depict potentially traumatic or challenging material. 
  • Use of community agreements, access need check-ins, and other core structures to build a foundation of consent. 
  • Building a self-care ritual that supports your best work.
• Dates offered:
• July 1, 12pm-4:30pm ET

As entertainment artists, collaboration is our super power. But how do we ensure that we are building capacity for difficult collaboration, and holding space for conflict as a necessary part of equity work? This class addresses the ways in which creative people show up to conflict, common pitfalls, and suggested structures for holding conflict as a healthy part of the collaboration process. Participants will explore their own tenancies in conflict, as well as practical tools to understand and facilitate conflict from the outside. 

• Key takeaways:
  • A practical grasp of the specific collaboration challenges of those in the entertainment industries (theatre and film) 
  • Understanding of the spectrum of collaboration to harm. 
  • Deepened awareness of one’s own tendencies in conflict and tools to help show up authentically. 
  • A robust grab bag of tools for showing up to conflict as a participant or facilitator.
• Dates offered:
• July 17, 5pm-9:30pm ET

REGISTER HERE

Building on the skills present in our core curriculum, this course focuses on direct applications to your creative workspace. Whether you are a theatre professor looking to more confidently navigate student mental health challenges, or a film director getting ready to direct a challenging short, feature, or series, you’ll find the tools you need here! 

Topics Include:

• Advanced Container Practice for Challenging Stories
• Advanced Applications of AGNC
• Advanced Conflict Navigation and Policy
• Scope of Practice, Referrals, and Creative Change

Pre-Requisites:

All Core Curriculum

Logistics:

All classes will take place via Zoom on September 10th to October 15th on Sundays from 12:00 PM EST to 3:00 PM EST. 

Fees:

All admissions are based on a sliding scale. If your access point is sold out or you would like to apply for a scholarship, please contact info@associationmhc.com.

Apply TODAY for the 2023-2024 cohort! Classes begin September 9th, 2023. 

If you’re an AMHC Member with a login and password, you’ll use that to complete your application. If you’re not yet a member, please create a user ID today!

The Job:

Mental health coordinators are mental health professionals and entertainment artists who use tools from both fields to support inclusive, compelling, and ethical storytelling. 

We specialize in working in creative entertainment spaces that are high tension and/or high potential for conflict or trauma. 

• Choreograph scenes that contain potentially traumatic material 
• Assess a script or project for hot spots (a risk analysis)
• Make recommendations of or for responsible, compelling portrayal of trauma, substance use, or mental health challenges
• Support actors not hurting themselves through lots of tools from first audition to a project wrap (which might include decompressing from the work)
• Supervise, support, and advocate for the well-being of minors involved in a project
• Help keep audiences safer with appropriate media guidelines and content disclosures
• Act as first responder to mental health crises within an artistic space (like a set medic but for mental health)
• Support conflict and concern navigation
• Provide training and policy support to companies and organizations to infuse more mental health awareness into their practices

This training is designed for entertainment professionals who wish to work as mental health coordinators OR creative leaders who interact with mental health challenges in their spaces (either with their colleagues or in depiction). 

The Training

Participants will come away equipped with: 

• Best practices in content disclosure for performers and consumers
• The ability to identify and responsibly portray potentially traumatic or emotionally charged material, with a robust and ready to use toolbox. 
• Supporting artists with mental health challenges, and lived experience of trauma within the creative space. 
• Perform crisis and critical stress management for creative spaces
• Mental Health Coordination skills for Live Performance OR Film/TV 
• Advanced understanding of coordinating and supporting access needs
• A diverse portfolio of choreography and script analysis, as well as paperwork 
• Access to a diverse and expansive community of practitioners all over the world. 
• proposals, and role highlights in order to successfully pitch the MHC role to potential employers. 

Mental health coordinators possess an advanced understanding of both the portrayal of mental health challenges, as well as how those challenges show up in our spaces. Thus, participants will dive into the dramaturgy, best practices in portrayal, and specific symptom expression in creative spaces and people of:

• Depressive disorders
• Anxiety Disorders
• Substance Use Disorder and Process Addiction
• Eating Disorders
• Bipolar/Mood disorders
• Psychotic Disorders
• Mental health and substance use crisis such as suicide, NSSI, overdose, substance misuse. 

Finally, partnerships with outside training organizations will provide additional certifications and training in:

• Suicide Prevention 
• Psychological First Aid
• Mental Health First Aid
• Substance use/addiction 
• Eating Disorder Competence

The Prerequisites:

Eligible applicants have completed one of the following:

1. All core curriculum, and completion or concurrent enrollment in Foundations of MHC OR
2. Certification for the Artistic Mental Health Practitioner course OR
3. Hold a master’s degree in a clinical mental health discipline (clinical psychology, clinical counseling, etc.) AND all Core Curriculum

Logistics:

All classes will take place via Zoom on September 9th to November 11th 2023 on Saturdays from 11:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST. 

Key Dates: 

Applications Open: May 13th to June 15th

Applicants Notified: July 1

Tuition Due or Payment Plan: August 15th

Cost includes: 

• 10 weeks of classes (up to 40 hours) of class time with an experience instruction team
• Access to membership with the Association of Mental Health Coordinators for one year
• A Workbook for personal and course use
• Up to 8 hours of supervision and mentorship for a capstone project

Access is our guiding value. Sliding scale costs are self-selected by the participant to reflect their level of access to generational wealth, privilege, and other resources. Please note that the access rate is reserved for artists of the Global Majority, artists who are gender expansive, or artists with disabilities/disabled artists. For more help choosing your pricing level, please click HERE. If there are still barriers in place, please contact info@associationmhc.com. 

$1,500 Redistribution Rate

$1,000 Subsidized Rate

$ 500 Access Rate

Payment plans available for all participants. Limited scholarships available for artists of the Global Majority. 

The Application

Applications Open: May 13th to June 15th

Applicants Notified: July 1

To access the application, please click here. Be sure you’re logged in with your user ID as an AMHC member or create a user ID here! 

For further questions about the program, please email info@mentalhealthcooridnators.com 

2-Day Certification Course:

Mental Health First Aid is a certification course offered in partnership with the National Council on Mental Wellbeing that teaches you how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The training gives you the skills you need to reach out and provide initial help and support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem or experiencing a crisis.

What you’ll learn:

• Signs and symptoms of the most common mental health challenges.
• Early intervention
• Navigating mental health resources
• Crisis intervention (panic attacks, psychosis, overdose, suicide, aggressive behavior, trauma, and more).
• Self-care

Getting your MHFA certification through the Association of Mental Health Coordinators means that your instructor is a seasoned entertainment and mental health professional, and that the class will be taught with the needs of theatre and film at the forefront.