As Pride Month is wrapping up this month, For All Seasons has created a free, one-hour mini-course to help participants better understand LGBTQIA+ mental health, recognize barriers to support, and respond with practical care in everyday moments. This year's theme for Pride Month is “For All of Us.” LGBTQIA+ individuals are part of every community, family, workplace, school, and faith setting.

While mental health affects everyone, LGBTQIA+ people can face added stressors that shape how they experience safety, belonging, support, and care. For All Seasons’ Real Talk: Mental Health & Support in LGBTQIA+ Communities mini-course introduces participants to mental health and support within LGBTQIA+ communities. The course looks at how stress, trauma, rejection, isolation, fear of judgment, and barriers to care can affect mental health and make it harder for LGBTQIA+ individuals to ask for help.

Participants will explore:

· what struggling can look like in real life

· why someone may not reach out even when they need support

· how adolescence can add another layer of vulnerability for LGBTQIA+ youth

· how supportive relationships, safer spaces, respectful responses, and connection to mental health can offer additional support

“This mini-course is designed for both community members and professionals. The goal is to build practical awareness and help participants feel more prepared to show up with care, respect, and support,” comments Lauren Weber, For Seasons' Chief Strategy Officer.

This course is self-paced and accessible online. After registration, participants will receive instructions to begin. The course is designed for community members, parents/ grandparents/caregivers, classroom school personnel, youth-serving professionals, health or human services professionals, faith leaders, employers, supervisors, or workplace leaders, students, and LGBTQIA+ allies.

“Mental health is shaped by experience, environment, and response. For LGBTQIA+ individuals, experiences such as rejection, isolation, fear of judgment, bullying, or barriers to care can make it harder to feel safe, supported, or ready to ask for help. This course strengthens our understanding and helps us respond with care in everyday moments,” she adds.

Participating Maryland Social Workers and Professional Counselors are eligible to receive 1 Category II CEU for completion of this asynchronous online course, issued by For All Seasons, Inc., an approved continuing education provider for Maryland Social Workers and Professional Counselors.

To register, visit https://centerforlearning.forallseasonsinc.org/lgbtqia-mini-course/.

For All Seasons Behavioral Health & Rape Crisis Center offers mental health services, victim and crisis support, and education and outreach on Maryland’s Mid-Shore and throughout the state. The agency’s unique model of care ensures that anyone can receive high-quality, trauma-certified mental health care when they need it – regardless of language or ability to pay. For information about For All Seasons’ walk-in hours, call 410-822-1018 or visit ForAllSeasonsInc.org.