Addictions & Mental Health   

This course introduces students to the skills used to recognize the need for, and understand the steps to, effective crisis intervention as they apply to callers, family members, friends and co-workers. Emergency services providers, in particular, are exposed to Critical Incident Stress (CIS) situations that may lead to the need for interventions to mitigate/prevent the development of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The focus of this course is to make the student feel confident and competent in understanding and responding to a diverse range of crisis situations.Textbook Required.

NOTE: Crisis Prevention [CSDU160] course, offered asychronously online and is not comparable to the Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) course offered to Full-time SLC Students.

This course focuses on a multi-disciplinary examination of the ways in which mental health and addiction are viewed by society and how these perceptions influence society’s response to the practical and socio-political aspects of mental illness. Students will examine personal attitudes, societal myths, and stereotypes related to mental illness and addiction. Students will be challenged to critically reflect upon how their personal orientations and resulting behaviours about mental illness, addiction, and wellness impact their cultural, societal and political beliefs. Drawing on literature, arts, politics, media, medicine, and the social sciences, students will critically examine mental illness and addiction as a social construct and contrast and compare assumptions of agency, normalcy, treatment, and recovery. Students will also learn firsthand from those with mental illness, evaluate the effects of mental illness in special populations including Indigenous people and the elderly, and apply their learning through health simulation activities. Finally, students will explore ways that those affected by mental illness and addiction construct and assess themselves. No textbook required.

*NOTE: Students wanting to register for a General Education course as part of their certificate or diploma program should make sure to receive formal approval from their Program Coordinator. It should be noted that some general education courses are too close to the vocational specializations of specific programs and are therefore excluded as an option for students. It’s therefore important to receive formal approval before registration.