Matthew Rico

Matthew Rico, RN, CPMHN(C), Psychotherapist Matthew has over 11+ years of experience in mental health and is a person with lived experience. He has worked with various populations and mental health disorders at many different settings. This includes young adolescents to older adults, receiving care as an inpatient, in crisis, or in forensics. He has been involved with many activities and projects such as research, quality/accreditation, and education. Matthew is a Registered Nurse (RN) by trade, specialized in mental health, and has attained knowledge and training in psychotherapy, teaching, and leadership. Outside of his own business, What MattRs, there have been many work and volunteer positions held over the years including: multiple hospitals in Ontario as an RN, with RNAO Durham-Northumberland branch as Communications ENO, and Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) as a steward. Matthew has been teaching non-violent crisis intervention for 8+ years, delivered Mental Health First Aid to 2000+ Canadians since 2018, and is one of the first Canadians certified to provide Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR) training from the Zero Suicide Institute. His experience with education also includes creating workshops, presentations, and material. For instance, co-developing and delivering mindfulness education for hospital staff, co-creating a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) microcredential at Ontario Shores in collaboration with Ontario Tech, and teaching on culture and mental health bi-annually for nurses preparing to take their CNA exam. Additionally, he trained many private groups over the years, both in-person and virtually. These were on specific mental health topics that the groups requested and ranged from 1 to 4 hours long with as many as 47 people in the audience.