By Canadian Mental Health Association

Talk Today Program

Feb 3, 2020 | 8:41 AM

Launched in Ontario in 2014, Talk Today is an innovative program designed by the Canadian Mental Health Association and is one of the most comprehensive mental health/sport related programs in Canada. Through the expansion of this program across the country, the CMHA aims to promote positive mental health among young athletes, reduce stigma and spread awareness of mental health across Canadian communities. This program has become a valuable platform for CMHA branches, teams and individual players to encourage open discussion about mental health within the hockey community and the broader public. Through our partnership with the Medicine Hat Tigers, our branch has been able to interact and educate all people involved with the organization whether they are players, billets or fans.

High-performance athletes in their teenage and early adult years often face significant stress and life’s challenges can seem immense. Not only are they facing the pressures of excelling and reaching the next level in their sport, but they’re also doing so during critical educational and social periods in their lives. Talk Today was designed to provide support to these young people and to destigmatize the negative connotations associated with seeking help.

Talk Today is a program that has many components to ensure that everyone involved has the opportunity to learn and and grow in their own positive mental health. One component that is crucial to the success of Talk Today is the ability to train the players, coaches, billets and other staff in an accredited, evidence-based program designed by LivingWorks, a world leader in suicide intervention.

The program that a majority of the individuals associated with the organization learn is called safeTALK (Suicide Alertness For Everyone). safeTALK is a 3 hour course that teaches participants about the importance of mental health and provides a framework for identifying individuals who are having thoughts of suicide. This training is intended for anyone over the age of 15 and ensures that participants leave with the knowledge of how to know when someone is thinking of suicide, as well as how to connect them to an appropriate community resource for further care. We know that most people having thoughts of suicide need help staying safe, and Suicide Alert helpers are able to help these people move towards that safety.

Another program available to the team is a two day, intensive workshop on directly intervening with someone having thoughts of suicide. This workshop, called ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training), is available to participants over the age of 16 who want to feel more comfortable, competent and confident in connecting with a person who is having thoughts of suicide and helping develop a plan to keep them safe.

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A key component of the Talk Today involves creating and fostering a relationship between the local CMHA branch and the athletes/organizations taking part in the program. The CMHA Mental Health Coach is an individual who is connected to the team and is able to provide information, guidance and assistance. Should a player or another member of the organization ever find themselves questioning what to do to help someone, or perhaps in distress themselves, they are able to reach out to their Mental Health Coach to get whatever help they need. The CMHA Mental Health Coach is the driving force behind Talk Today and serves to ensure that the program is effectively carried out with the hockey club throughout the year. To help foster the connection with CMHA, each club is responsible for appointing a Mental Health Champion. The Mental Health Champion is an adult associated with the hockey club who has good rapport with the players and can act as a point of contact for the CMHA Mental Health Coach as well as promote mental wellness throughout the organization.

Though a lot of the Talk Today program is centred on the young athletes and the adults that surround them on a day to day basis, it is also important to both the CMHA and the Medicine Hat Tigers organization to be able to take this knowledge and awareness out into the community of Medicine Hat to promote positive mental health within the fan base and the city itself. In order to achieve this, one home game per year is dedicated as a mental health awareness event. At this event, fans learn about mental health through things like having a CMHA-run kiosk with information on mental health and local resources, public service announcements on the importance of mental health and the local CMHA branch, as well as videos involving the players discussing mental wellness.

The Talk Today program has made a difference within the lives of not only those who play hockey, but also those who surround them, support them, care for them and cheer for them. We look forward to continuing this program and seeing what positive changes can happen when we choose to talk about mental health today rather than tomorrow.