About Mental Health Matters

Hi.  My name is Cath Ellice.  I live in Hamilton, am married to Paul and together we have four gorgeous (most of the time) kids.  I’m originally from Whangarei, and I am constantly drawn back to my happy place on the Tutukaka Coast.  

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I have always been passionate about mental health and wellbeing.  Most of my working life has been spent as Senior Lecturer at The University of Waikato, where I taught and supervised students in the fields of Psychology and Behaviour Analysis.  While I really enjoyed my time at the University,  I was becoming increasingly concerned with the mental health challenges that my students (or people, in general) were experiencing.  I was also frustrated by the fact that we could train only a few Psychologists each year, producing a very small number of “ambulances at the bottom of the cliff”.

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I knew that, given the right programme, anyone could gain the skills and confidence to provide to initial Mental Health Support to others (and help strengthen the fence at the top of that cliff).   Enter Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)!

 

As an accredited Mental Health First Aid Instructor, I am so happy that I can teach anybody – no matter their background – to make a difference by becoming a Mental Health First Aider.

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I would love to hear from you if you are interested in becoming one too.