Youth Mental Health First Aid
Develop skills and confidence to spot the signs of mental health issues, listen and reassure, offer mental health first aid and guide young people towards the support they need.
This is a 2 day in-house course (we come to you).
Aimed at anyone who supports young people 8-18, this course develops understanding and confidence to spot the signs of mental health issues, respond effectively, and link young people to resources and services that can help.
You will leave with a handbook and tools to support early intervention, promote wellbeing, respond to crisis, look after your own mental health and create a mentally healthy environment in your family, school, service or community.
This training is available for individual staff members on our open programme in Bristol (you come to us).
Also currently available (online for individuals) and (online for teams).
Course aims
To develop skills and confidence to spot the signs of mental health issues in a young person, offer first aid and guide them towards the support they need
Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) courses are for everyone who works with, lives with or supports young people aged 8-18. YMHFA won’t teach you to be a therapist, but it will teach you to listen, reassure and respond, even in a crisis – and even potentially stop a crisis from happening
Course objectives
By the end of the course participants will have had opportunities to:
- Gain an in depth understanding of young people’s mental health and factors that affect wellbeing
- Explore practical skills to spot the triggers and signs of mental health issues
- Develop confidence to reassure and support a young person in distress
- Enhance interpersonal skills such as non-judgemental listening
- Gain knowledge to help a young person recover their health by guiding them to further support – whether that’s through self-help sites, their place of learning, the NHS, or a mix – engaging with parents, carers and external agencies where appropriate
- Improve their ability to support a young person with a long term mental health issue or disability to thrive
- Identify tools to look after your own mental wellbeing
Venue info:
In-house courses (we come to you)
We would ask you to arrange a suitable venue and refreshments for the training. Contact us for more information.
Trainer: Suzanne Pearson
"The course content and the way the training was structured and delivered was very useful and informative."
Jason Dyer, Teacher, Cambian Group (Orchard School), July 2019
"The shared experience from other candidates brought the course material alive. Suzanne was really helpful and open to discussion giving insight and again bringing the course material to life."
Jo Crosby, Residential Support Worker, IDEM Living, July 2019
"Working and learning alongside learners from varied organisations to support youth mental health, safe space to discuss and share experiences and understanding and learning. ALGEE process. Lunch and flapjack was lovely thank you."
Student Support Assistant – SEMH, ELSA, July 2019
"Getting a clearer understanding of the causes of mental health problems. Approach (ALGEE). Sharing good practice. Appropriately targeted for young people and all questions were answered. Thank you."
Head of year, Sixth form, July 2019
"Suzanne was brilliant - very calm, engaging, with a great sense of humour. She involved us all and when talking about difficult subjects was very thorough and aware of emotions. A really informative and thought-provoking course. I feel more confident supporting children and young people's mental health."
"This is one of the best training sessions I've ever been to, in terms of content and delivery. The resources are also excellent. Suzanne was absolutely amazing. Really enjoyed the two days. Would recommend to other colleagues."
