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In partnership with New Vista, a nonprofit mental health organization that has community centers across the state, the Jessamine County Health Department (JCHD) will be hosting an event that walks participants through creating a safety plan they can have ready for their “very worst day.”

The event will be held on Monday, Dec. 2, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Jessamine County Health Department in its new community room on 210 East Walnut Street in Nicholasville. Kinsey Swafford, prevention specialist with New Vista, will be hosting the event. 

Anna Kenion, JCHD health educator and coalition coordinator and organizer of this event, said that this workshop was strategically scheduled to give participants coping mechanisms for holidays that can be quite stressful for some. It can be a reprieve for people after Thanksgiving, or a way to prepare for the December holidays. 

The workshop is titled CODE RED, which is an acronym that stands for COntact, DElay decisions, RElax, and Distract. According to the JCHD website, it is a straightforward approach to handling your own mental health crises and fostering resilience within yourself. Participants will be able to fill out their own worksheet to keep and utilize in their own times of mental health challenges, since it can be difficult to persevere through these times without tools.

Event facilitator Kinsey Swafford will walk participants through the process. In doing so, according to the JCHD website, participants will gain a clear and actionable crisis plan, build a strong support network, learn effective relaxation and distraction techniques, and improve decision-making processes in high-stress situations.There is no need to sign up ahead of time for this free-of-charge event. This event also has an online option through zoom, which can be accessed through this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86371660033?pwd=KbxjZlcKFOOa7sZyOAniAIUQxHrO73.1