- Rhode Island’s Bradley Learning Exchange provides behavioral health training to various professionals, including clergy, teachers, and first responders.
- The program aims to equip individuals with skills to recognize and address mental health challenges and crises, particularly among youth.
- With rising mental health concerns exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bradley Learning Exchange seeks to bridge the gap in mental health services by empowering individuals in various fields.
Rev. Tracey Griffing feels confident she would know how to talk to somebody contemplating suicide and how to get them more help.
But didn’t always feel that way.
After taking a course addressing suicide prevention through the Bradley Learning Exchange, she said she’s better equipped to recognize the signs that somebody is considering dying by suicide, and she knows what to say to them.
“I would be more confident and more likely to step up,” Griffing said. “It becomes a pointed conversation.”
As minister of community prayer for the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, Griffing often attends rallies, parades and demonstrations – settings where emotions frequently run high – in the hopes she can serve as a helpful, calming influence.
Over the last few years, Griffing, also the pastor at Mount Vernon Church in Foster, has taken several courses in behavioral health through the Bradley Learning Exchange, and she credits those courses with helping her become better at her job.
“My job there is to be a peaceful presence,” Griffing said. “You never know when something is going to blow up. You never know if somebody is going to be out of sorts.”
“Bradley definitely has a way of instilling that confidence in you,” she said.
What is the Bradley Learning Exchange?
The Bradley Learning Exchange is a department of Bradley Hospital, a psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents that is part of Brown University Health. The exchange offers programs to people who work in a variety of fields, including Brown University Health’s own hospital staff members, staff at other hospitals, clergy, teachers, police officers and firefighters. The programs address the behavioral health needs of children, adolescents, and adults, Brown University Health says on its website.
Kelly Brennan, a senior public relations officer for Brown University Health, said, “They work with all our hospitals to provide mental health training. They also work in the community providing training to non-clinical staff who may encounter citizens with mental health challenges.”
“Bradley Hospital’s clinical expertise, internationally renowned research, and academic affiliation with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University make the hospital a unique resource in all areas of behavioral health care,” Brown University Health says.
“We are confident that the exchange of creative ideas, leading-edge research, passion, and experiences results in enhanced services to our most vulnerable populations,” Brown University Health says.
In the past year, the Bradley Learning Exchange has trained some 10,000 people. Costs vary based on curriculum and contracts, and scholarships are available in some cases, she said.
How are mental health challenges being addressed?
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. With a shortage of mental health professionals in Rhode Island and around the country, it’s important that people from other fields and walks of life better understand behavioral health issues, according to Margaret Paccione, director of clinical innovation for Bradley Hospital.
“We’re all mental health providers,” Paccione said in an interview.
Stress and anxiety are high, particularly among young people, with one in five youth experiencing diagnosable behavioral health concerns, Paccione said, citing a 2023 study. In 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the same percentage of youth had seriously considered suicide in the previous year, she said.
“We just don’t have the services to keep up with the demand. It’s been developing for years and years,” Paccione said.
The isolation, fear and loss delivered by the COVID pandemic exacerbated brewing problems.
“Before COVID, youth mental health was already in crisis, then along came COVID, which certainly didn’t help,” Paccione said.
People who take the Bradley courses learn how to “better support kids and others around us,” as well as “understanding ourselves better,” Paccione said.
Here is a fundamental question addressed by the programs: “How do you identify trauma? How do you intervene and get the person help?” Paccione said.
Among the programs offered is Mental Health First Aid. That course helps people recognize if someone is developing a mental health challenge or experiencing a mental health crisis, according to a course description on the Brown University Health website.
“Just as CPR training helps a person with no clinical training assist an individual following a heart attack, Mental Health First Aid training helps a person assist someone experiencing a mental health crisis such as contemplating suicide,” the course description says. “In both situations the goal is to help support an individual until appropriate professional help arrives.”
How are classes taught?
The programs address “skill development in a lot of different ways,” according to Paccione. There’s instruction, but there’s also coaching and role playing. In some cases, instructors work with schoolteachers in their classrooms.
Griffing believes she’s now better equipped to de-escalate potentially volatile situations, and she has used her new skills.
“The idea is to stop any escalation before it starts. Nobody wants to break up a fight,” she said.
The program has also provided her with hands-on training in self-protection and reminded her to take care of her own mental health.
“If your mental health is not well, you really can’t help somebody else with their mental health,” Griffing said.
Many clergy members have taken the Bradley courses and Griffing hopes to develop a course with Bradley that works specifically with the clergy. She said, “They have been a good partner to the council of churches.”
Griffing says members of her LGBTQ+ community feel like they’re under attack. The same is true of other groups, such as immigrants, she said.
Paccione said, “You can almost touch the level of stress” in society.
“We’re all in this together,” Paccione said. “We can all benefit from more understanding of ourselves, our friends and neighbors.”
