Matthew has over 11+ years clinical experience in mental health nursing, 8+ years teaching non-violent crisis intervention, has delivered Mental Health First Aid to 1700+ Canadians since 2018, and a member of the first group of Canadians certified to provide Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR) training from the Zero Suicide Institute. He has been involved in various in-hospital activities/projects including implementing mindfulness education for staff, research on managing aggression, and assisting with hospital accreditation. Matthew was the Communications Officer for the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) Durham-Northumberland chapter from 2019 to 2021 and a former Union Steward for OPSEU Local 331. He has spoken publicly on mental health at various settings, hosted events, done advocacy work for mental health, and presents twice annually on cultural competency at Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) workshops for helping nurses preparing to write their mental health specialty certificate.
Matthew brings his courses to life using both his personality, passion, and years of experience in facilitating courses/classes to maintain attention. This includes use of examples, stories, and providing tips/strategies that conceptualize and compliment the MHFA content. This is drawn from his service in mental health care and his own lived experience with mental illness.