The MHFA England Mental Health First Aid Course can be delivered face to face or online.
Train as a Mental Health First Aider (or MHFAider®) and receive three years of certification plus access to ongoing benefits.
This course is ideal for those who want to become an MHFAider® to gain knowledge and skills to spot signs that people may be experiencing poor mental health – and to have more confidence to start a conversation and signpost people on to appropriate support.
In addition to the course you will become part of the largest MHFAider® community in England, gaining access to resources, ongoing learning and 24/7 digital support through the MHFAider Support App®, to give you the tools and knowledge to carry out the role effectively and confidently whether that be in your workplace, a volunteer role, or in the community.
Your Instructor
Your course is delivered by Sarah Long, an experienced Mental Health First Aid Instructor and Associate Instructor for MHFA England. Sarah combines experience from all angles of mental health:
- personal lived experience of mental ill health,
- 16 years managing a team,
- working with HR and high level organisations on policy and adjustments in the workplace,
- counselling and positive psychology training
This brings deep insight and authority to her training – recognising the many competing perspectives which are involved in supporting mental health in workplace settings. Read more about Sarah here.
Cost:
MHFA England Standard Rate : £325 per person
Discounts may be available for early booking, groups or special circumstances.
Please contact me for more details or a quotation.
Course Outcomes
As an MHFAider® you will be able to:
- Recognise those who may be experiencing poor mental health and provide first level support and early intervention
- Encourage people to identify and access sources of professional or other help.
- Practice active listening with empathy.
- Have a conversation with improved mental health literacy around language and stigma.
- Discuss the MHFAider® role in depth, including boundaries and confidentiality.
- Practise self-care
- Know how to use the MHFAider Support App®
- Know how to access a dedicated text service provided by Shout and ongoing learning opportunities with MHFA England.
Format
- The course can be delivered online or face to face structured across four sessions.
- Each session’s content is a maximum of 3hrs 45minutes (though I generally round up to give us 4 hours in case of technical problems or extra questions).
- Sessions can be delivered over a period of time up to four weeks (i.e. one session per week) – however the ideal is over two weeks.
- Live Sessions are delivered by Sarah Long – Accredited Instructor Member of MHFA England (and/or Associate Instructor for MHFA England), covering 14 hours of content in total.
- Learning takes place through a mix of instructor led training, group discussions, individual and group activities.
- Each session builds on the previous, enabling the learner to gain confidence in supporting others with a Mental Health First Aid Action Plan.
- Numbers are limited to 16 people per course so that we can keep people safe and supported while they learn.
- We strive for all learning content to be as accessible and inclusive as possible.
Takeaways
Everyone who completes the course gets:
- A hard copy workbook to support their learning throughout the course
- A digital manual to refer to whenever they need it after the course
- A wallet-sized reference card with the Mental Health First Aid Action Plan
- A digital MHFAider® certificate
- Access to the MHFAider Support App® for three years
- Access to ongoing learning opportunities, resources and exclusive events
- The opportunity to be part of the largest MHFAider® community in England
Course Outline:
Session 1:
Mental Health First Aid and the Action Plan
The MHFAider® role and self-care
Helpful and unhelpful language
Useful models to support the role
Session 2:
What influences mental health?
What is anxiety?
Crisis first aid
Active listening and empathy
What are eating disorders?
What is self harm?
What is substance misuse?
Session 3:
Applying the Mental Health First Aid Action Plan
What is depression?
What is suicide?
Crisis first aid continued
What is psychosis?
Session 4:
Recovery and lived experience
Boundaries in the MHFAider® role
Moving forward in the MHFAider® role
My MHFA Action plan