Mental Health Symposium - Mountaineers Seattle Program Center

Whether you are a seasoned professional or new to outdoor adventures, this symposium is for you! Investing in mental health is foundational to successful risk management and necessary for fostering resilience.

The Mountaineers in partnership with The Wilderness Chaplains and other local organizations, are pleased to announce that we will be putting on our first ever Mental Health Symposium in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month! This will be a time to engage in hands on mental health related practices, as well connect with professionals in the field on topics such as Psychological First Aid, Resilience, and Community Support.

The Mental Health Symposium is meant to offer a breath of fresh air to our community (think of it as a cross between a conference and a retreat). Our hope is that every attendee would leave the symposium having learned more about the value of mental health in the outdoor industry, practiced tools to help foster their own mental health journey, and connected with fellow Mountaineers and real-world professionals who understand that investing in mental health is vital for thriving. 

Hope to see you there! See below for more details. 

Session Descriptions

9:15 - 10:15am - Psychological First Aid

KATJA HURT

Learn the fundamentals of supporting someone through a crisis using psychological first aid. This two-hour course provides an introduction to Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) and includes recognizing the signs/symptoms of stress injuries and how to respond when someone experiences a traumatic event. We will also discuss special considerations for supporting a friend or family member through grief following a traumatic loss. This training is appropriate for all levels of experience, from professional responders to caring community members.

10:30am - 11:30Am - Befriending Your Nervous System: A Body-centered Approach to Managing Difficult Situations

STACY EARLYWINE

Have you ever felt paralyzed by fear in the mountains?  Or felt the need to agree with others against what your intuition was telling you? Have you experienced a difficult or terrifying situation that has been hard to deal with, even months or years after the event? When crisis situations arise in the mountains, our brains sense the stress and the nervous system reacts, often without our conscious input. These reactions may be unhelpful in a crisis. Instead, when we can connect - to our body, our environment and others - we will respond more calmly and effectively. 

Join Stacy Earlywine in an experiential exploration of the nervous system and how we can harness it’s power to help us stabilize any situation in the mountains and beyond.

1:30 - 2Pm - Psychological Strategies for Severe Outdoor Injury Recovery

ROBIN SMITH

Stay tuned for more info!

2 - 2:30Pm - Breakout Activities

Stay tuned for more info!

Presenters

Katja Hurt

Katjarina “Katja” Hurt (she/her/hers) is the Founder and Director of the non-profit organization, Wilderness Chaplains. She is a master-level trainer with a background in behavioral health and public safety and volunteers as a chaplain with the King County Sheriff's Office. With over eight years as a member of The Mountaineers and 17 years as a Ski Patroller, you will most likely find her in the mountains.

Stacy EarlyWine

Stacy is a dynamic and engaging presenter with a passion for creating a safe space for anyone she works with. Her background is in movement, outdoor program management, bodywork and trauma healing. All of this, along with her own trauma journey, blend together to provide a framework for the exploration of how understanding and befriending the nervous system is a powerful tool when addressing difficult experiences in the mountains and beyond. Stacy is a Structural Medicine Specialist, Board Certified Structural Integrator and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. She loves travel, climbing, skiing and wandering the wilds of the PNW with her husband and two boys.

RObin Smith

Robin Smith is a mental health therapist with a passion for evidence-based care and expanding access to high-quality mental health treatment. Robin volunteers as a behavioral health disaster responder in Washington and abroad. She graduated from Basic Alpine in 2022 but unfortunately broke her leg later on a Mountaineers trip. She is excited to be back!