A two- or four-day workshop
Mental Health First Aid (MHFAider®) is an internationally recognised training course that teaches people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis. We don’t teach people to be therapists, but we do teach people how to respond in a crisis, and how to reach out before a crisis happens. The training gives people tools to support themselves and each other, so everyone can talk about mental health and seek help when needed.
This programme will help to:
Reduce stigma around mental ill health
Give you increased confidence to have a supportive conversation about mental health
Promote equity and understanding around mental health from different perspectives
Help to build supportive communities and promote open conversations about mental health
Encourage self-care, giving you the tools to look after your own and others’ mental health
Promotes early intervention and recovery, which can prevent an individual’s mental health deteriorating
- Recognise those that may be experiencing poor mental health and provide them with first-level support and early intervention
- Encourage a person to identify and access sources of professional help and other support
- Practise active listening and empathy
- Have a conversation with improved mental health literacy around language and stigma
- Discuss the role in depth, including boundaries and confidentiality
- Practise self-care
Expert trainer
An enthusiastic developer of people, Wendy has been working as a Mental Health First Aid Instructor since August 2018. Her interest in mental health started in 2017 when she joined a student accommodation provider as the Learning and Development Advisor (L&D).
Session outline
1. Introduction to MHFAider® (3 hours 30 mins)
- MHFA and the MHFAider® role
- Introduction to the MHFAider® Action Plan ‘ALGEE’
- What is Mental Health?
- Helpful and unhelpful language
- Undersign our Frame of Reference, understanding how we make sense of the world
- Understanding stress & the Stress Container
2. Understanding Mental Health (4 hours)
- What influences mental health?
- The Mental Health Continuum
- What is anxiety?
- What is a traumatic event?
- Active listening and empathy
- What are eating disorders?
- What is self-harm?
- What is substance misuse?
- MHFA conversation practice
3. MHFAider® in practice (4 hours)
- Applying ALGEE
- What is depression?
- What is suicide?
- What is psychosis?
- MHFA conversation practice
4. Next steps (3 hours)
- Recovery and lived experience
- Applying ALGEE
- Boundaries in the MHFAider® role
- MHFA conversation practice
- Moving forward in the MHFAider® role and your MHFA action plan
- Self-care
