Responding to mental health crisis

Course overview:

For those staff who are the first point of contact for service users, this course develops face-to-face and telephone communication skills to respond safely, appropriately and confidently to people experiencing a range of mental health crises.

Participants reflect on challenging situations and learn the key principles of supportive responses to people thinking about suicide.

Aim(s):

To develop confidence and skills in responding to people in crisis.

Objectives:

By the end of the course participants will have had opportunities to:

Take time to reflect and consider their own responses and wellbeing in a supportive environment
Connect with colleagues about the current mental health picture for the people they are supporting who may be experiencing distress and crisis
Consider the underlying causes of mental health distress, and how to respond to a range of distress helpfully
Learn the key principles of supporting a distressed person, and explore the requirements for active listening (remote support if required)

Maximum group size: 12

Online course - delivered over Zoom.

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Your trainer(s)

Sal Ball

Sal Ball is a mental health practitioner with approaching 30 years’ experience of developing and delivering mental health projects and support groups in the voluntary sector. She has built an expertise in training and developing good practice for volunteers, frontline staff and specialist mental health professionals in supporting individuals in distress, both remotely and in person.

Her areas of specific interest are around supporting those in emotionally demanding roles, including peer-led and grassroots projects, to gain resilience, confidence, and satisfaction from the challenging work they undertake. She has worked extensively in the fields of peer support, trauma, personality disorder, and self-harm.

She is currently developing these skills and interests further working as a Nature Connector and Forest Therapy Practitioner.

What people say

"Group discussions and reflections of experiences. Graph example with body language and talking. Enjoyed the examples Sal gave to support group discussions."

Course participant, May 2023

"This training gives helpful strategies & responses. I enjoyed learning about the 5 ways to wellbeing, key skills and the Boundary Seesaw Model. The delivery of this training was excellent and I found the trainer very engaging."

Social worker, June 2022

"Sal was amazing, so open and honest. Sal's personality made it easy to open up. Gorgeous person! An engaging approach to the groupwork and several comfort breaks."

Course participant, May 2023

"Discussing causes of crisis and possible responses. Ability to chip in, interrupt and ask questions and clarify issues was very good."

Course participant, September 2024

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