MHWFA book / course manual

Mental Health
​Wilderness First Aid manual

Updated v.2.3 available March 2023!
Manuals are optional (recommended) for a MHWFA course.  They are an excellent resource, covering all Basic and Standard course material and more, especially as PowerPoint slides are not made available.  Manuals include information on mental health in context, assessment, interventions, evacuation rubrics, field guides, forms and citations.  Topics covered: resilience, anxiety & phobia, panic attack, trauma, grief & loss, depression & mood disorders, psychosis, self-injury, and suicidal ideation, newly updated for 2024.  Read the Introduction free online!

• 200+ pages, filled with illustrations and visual graphics.
• High quality B&W printing, spiral bound, with vinyl/poly covers and quick-reference tabs.

​**NEW** PDF full colour version now available! 

• High-quality PDF (approx. 450MB), full colour.
• PDF licensed & watermarked for individual customer use only.
• Download link delivered to your inbox.

Order

Books and websites by topic - list in progress

On Active Listening

How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk.  Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlich.  2012.

• This is the book that started my own journey in to mental wellness and counselling work.  Awesome book that can change the way you speak more effectively not just to kids but to adults as well.​

​Nonviolent Communication.  Rosenberg PhD, Marshall B. and Deepak Chopra.  2015.
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On anxiety

Will Somebody Please Explain Anxiety to Me?  Zelinger PhD, Laurie E, Jordan Zelinger, et al. 2014.

• This illustrated book provides an awesome introduction to the physiological processes in the body of anxiety symptoms, broken down to be accessible by children and adults alike.

​AnxietyBC website - https://www.anxietybc.ca/

• Lots of information, videos, and supportive resources.

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On exercise for mental wellness

• Exercise for Mood and Anxiety: Proven strategies for overcoming depression and enhancing well-being.  Michael Otto and Jasper Smits, 2011.
  
  

On Grief

• Re-membering Lives: Conversations with the Dying and the Bereaved.  Hedtke, Lorraine, and John Winslade.  2004.  
• My Grandmother is Always With Me: A Remembering Journey.  Hedtke, Lorraine, and Addison Davidove.  2004.  
• Tear Soup.  Pat Schwiebert, Chuck DeKlyen, et al. 2005.

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On Mental health first aid

• Mental Health Wilderness First Aid, v. 1.6.  Daye Cooper Hagel, 2021.  (See top of this page for excerpt / ordering)
• The John Hopkins Guide to Psychological First Aid.  George S Everly and Jeffrey M Lating.  2017.
• Mental Health First Aid Canada.  Mental Health Commission of Canada.  2010.
• Canadian Mental Health Association.  https://cmha.bc.ca/

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on nature-based mental wellness

• Last Child in the Woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder.  Richard Louv, 2008.
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On Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy

​Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is an emerging field of research in the mental health realm and may be of interest to some to learn about further.  Keep in mind it is at this time an unregulated and/or illegal practice, depending on your local laws; and outside the scope of mental health first aid.

• How to Change Your Mind: What the new science of psychedelics teaches us about consciousness, dying, addiction, depression, and transcendence.  Michael Pollan, 2018.
• Listening to Ayahuasca: New hope for depression, addiction, PTSD & anxiety.  Rachel Harris, 2017.
• Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies - https://maps.org/
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on Psychosis

• Schizophrenia: A very short introduction.  Christopher Frith, 2003.
• Early Psychosis Intervention program: https://www.earlypsychosis.ca

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on self-injury

• Canadian Mental Health Association - ​​https://cmha.bc.ca/documents/self-harm-2/

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On suicide

• American Association of Suicidology - https://www.suicidology.org/ 

• Livingworks training programs (90 minutes online or 2-days in person) -- great training in this area! - https://www.livingworks.net/

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on trauma

• A Terrible Thing Happened. Margaret M. Holmes.  1993.
• ​The Body Keeps the Score.  Bessel van der Kolk M.D., 2004.
• ​The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: & other stories from a child psychiatrists notebook.  Bruce Perry,  2017.
• ​The Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics - an amazing training program developed by Dr. Bruce Perry; free videos also available on the website. https://www.neurosequential.com/
• Waking the Tiger: Healing trauma.  Peter Levine.  1997.

Daye's list of recommended children's books on mental health topics

recommended_childrens_books_on_mental_health_topics.pdf
File Size:	108 kb
File Type:	pdf

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MHWFA references list

Download the bibliography for the MHWFA course book here

mhwfa_manual_-_1.6_bibliography.pdf
File Size:	146 kb
File Type:	pdf

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