Living with Mental Health Challenges and Suffering Course
Non-Professional Caregiver Training hosted by Grace Health Centre and Chinese Gospel Church
John 1:14 NIV “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
With the COVID pandemic successfully defeated with the massive out pouring of resources, we are left with a worsening mental health pandemic causing far more suffering and anguish but with minimal resources. We all have friends and family members with mental health challenges and need to learn practical skills to stand in the gap of broken systems in families and mental health care. This course offers continued training, resources and support to help non-professional mental health caregivers be effective in their role using experiential learning and an attachment focus.
Course Learning Objectives
💡 Describe the biblical incarnational model of caring
💡 Learn the skills to be present amidst mental health challenges and suffering
💡 Utilize left brain strategies to convey grace
💡 Utilize right brain strategies to nurture truth
💡 Participate in ongoing support group for evidence based content, encouraging community and practical skills building
Course Schedule
This course consists of twelve 1.25 hour sessions (15 hours in total).
English Group (Sunday)
- Date: Mar 2 (in-person), Mar 9, Mar 16, Mar 23, Mar 30, Apr 6, Apr 13, Apr 20, Apr 27, May 4, June 1, Jun 8 (in-person or Zoom)
- Time: 11:15am – 12:30pm
- Language: English
- Format: In-person or Virtual via Zoom; Attendance in person is compulsory for the first lesson.
- In-person Location: Chinese Gospel Church Scarborough (2610 Birchmount Rd, Scarborough, ON M1W 2P5)
Mandarin Group (Saturday)
- Date: Mar 1 (in-person), Apr 5 (Zoom), May 3 (in-person), Jun 7 (Zoom)
- Time: 9:30am-12:30pm
- Language: Mandarin
- Format: In-person and Virtual via Zoom; Attendance in person is compulsory for the first lesson.
- In-person Location: Chinese Gospel Church Scarborough (2610 Birchmount Rd, Scarborough, ON M1W 2P5)
March 2, 2025 – Session 1: Becoming Flesh – Validation and Attunement
March 9, 2025 – Session 2: Practice and Application
March 16, 2025 – Session 3: Dwelling Among – Empathy and Presence
March 23, 2025 – Session 4: Practice and Application
March 30, 2025 – Session 5: Seeing the Son’s Glory – Worth and Dignity
April 6, 2025 – Session 6: Practice and Application
April 13, 2025 – Session 7: Representing the Father – Attachment Fears and Longings
April 20, 2025 – Session 8: Practice and Application
April 27, 2025 – Session 9: Demonstrating Grace – Unconditional Love and Acceptance
May 4, 2025 – Session 10: Practice and Application
June 1, 2025 – Session 11: Demonstrating Truth – Nurturing Healthy Thinking
June 8, 2025 – Session 12: Practice and Application
March 1, 2025
Session 1: Becoming flesh – Validation and Attunement;
Session 2: Practice and Application;
Session 3: Dwelling among – Empathy and Presence
April 5, 2025
Session 4: Practice and Application;
Session 5: Seeing the Son’s glory – Worth and dignity;
Session 6: Practice and Application
May 3, 2025
Session 7: Representing the Father – Attachment fears and longings;
Session 8: Practice and Application;
Session 9: Demonstrating grace – unconditional love and acceptance
June 7, 2025
Session 10: Practice and Application;
Session 11: Demonstrating truth – nurturing healthy thinking;
Session 12: Practice and Application
Meet Your Lead Facilitator
Course Developer and Lead:
- Dr. Tat-Ying Wong (MD, MTS, MDiv., AAMFT, CACFT Clinical Fellow and Supervisor, ICEEFT Certified Therapist, Supervisor and International Trainer, Family Physician with Focused Practice in Psychotherapy)
Dr. Wong is a General Practitioner who earned his Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Toronto and has extensive experience and training in marital, family, and sexual therapy. Dr. Wong is also the only Cantonese speaking certified EFT International Trainer, training thousands of social workers, counsellors, couple and family therapists, clergy, psychologists, physicians and nurses in Asia and North America. His special interests include premarital counselling, couples therapy, emotional disorders, trauma, neurodiversity, families in ministry, cultural contextualization of family therapy to Chinese families, family therapy related to medical problems and training and supervision of lay and professional helpers.
Over the past three decades, Dr. Wong has trained thousands of non-professional and professional caregivers in North America and Asia, teaching in local and overseas faith communities, seminaries, medical schools and in the Cantonese Emotionally Focused Therapy Community. Dr. Wong is a founding member of the Grace Health Centre and Grace Chinese Gospel Church of North York.
Dr. Wong published the first and only EFT outcome study with Chinese couples based on Hold Me Tight and Created for Connection, showing couples improved their attachment security, dyadic adjustment and family functioning after the program.
Co-Facilitators:
- Dedicated mental health practitioners
Participant's Agreement
- This is an educational program group that does not replace the need for professional help and medications. Participants need to continue their current treatment during the course. Even though the facilitators are trained and licensed mental health professionals, they are not acting as an individual therapist in their role as group facilitator. The course materials are presented from a scientific perspective.
- Participants need to be stable, able to commit the time required, concentrate, absorb the key concepts, complete the basic exercises and not be at risk to themselves or others so that a safe, productive and supportive learning environment can be maintained. The facilitators will ask participants who need additional help to consult their help professionals. Participants are required to attend an in-person or virtual screening appointment at the clinic. The virtual screening requires a referral from the participant’s family physician whereas the in-person screening does not require a referral and is recommended for participants who do not have a current family physician.
- Attendance of all the online sessions, engaging with the audio-visual and written course material for each session and participation in the in-class discussions, sharing, self-reflection and skill building exercises are required for maximum benefit and growth. For optimal learning, participants are encouraged to review each lesson and other learning materials.
- Participants will share what they are comfortable sharing and discussing since the sessions are recorded for members paying for access to recordings. Please refrain from sharing anything that you may have concerns about group members knowing about you through the group or watching the recording. The group members in the group and watching the recording will commit to confidentiality to protect each other’s privacy.
- Participants who are absent for emergencies, illness and other reasons beyond their control are expected to notify the facilitator as soon as possible and complete the work for the session that they have missed to the best of their ability.
- I acknowledge that my personal and relational growth is my own responsibility and am willing to take this responsibility by facing myself, engaging and renewing my way of thinking, beliefs, attitudes, values, behavior and experience without avoiding, blaming myself or others. I understand that I am fully and solely responsible for the results and decisions that I make regarding my use of this course. I release the facilitator, the program developer and all related institutions and organizations from any and all liability and accept full responsibility for my involvement in this course and the use of any related materials.
- Participants can support each other through mutual acceptance, understanding, validation, empathy and encouragement.
- Participants are also required to complete self-assessments before and after the group to gauge their progress and encourage self-awareness and self-reflection, which is the first step in personal and relational growth.
- In emergency situations or times when the participant is at imminent risk of hurting him/herself or others, then he or she will need to go to the closest emergency department or call 911 for immediate assistance or 988 for suicide crisis.
- Participants agree to be involved in photographs, recording, testimonies, and the production of short audio- visual clips for promotion, distribution at discretion of course facilitators, record-keeping for the purposes of helping other course participants.
- Participants understand the risks of using electronic communication and that Grace Health Centre (GHC) Team will use reasonable means to protect the security and confidentiality of information sent and received using email and/or text messages. However, because of the risks outlined below, the GHC Team cannot guarantee the security and confidentiality of electronic communications.
- Use of electronic communications to discuss sensitive information can increase the risk of such information being disclosed to third parties.
- Despite reasonable efforts to protect the privacy and security of electronic communication, it is not possible to completely secure the information.
- Employers and online services may have a legal right to inspect and keep electronic communications that pass through their system.
- Electronic communications can introduce malware into a computer system and potentially damage or disrupt the computer, networks, and security settings.
- Electronic communications can be forwarded, intercepted, circulated, stored, or even changed without the knowledge or permission of the GHC Team or the patient.
- Even after the sender and recipient have deleted copies of electronic communication, back-up copies may exist on a computer system.
- Electronic communications may be disclosed in accordance with a duty to report or a court order.
- Videoconferencing using services may be more open to interception than other forms of videoconferencing.
Participants acknowledge and understand that despite recommendations that encryption software be used as a security mechanism for electronic communications, it is possible that communications with the GHC Team using the Services may not be encrypted. Despite this, I agree to communicate using video conferencing, email and/or text messages with a full understanding of the risk.
- The course fee is non-refundable. If participants cancel before/after the first session, the course fee will be prorated and can be kept as “credit” for future courses. A “credit’ will be valid for 24 months, starting from the date of your cancellation.