Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) courses are for everyone who works with, lives with or supports young people aged 8-18. They will teach you the 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. In doing so, you can speed up a young person’s recovery and stop a mental health issue from getting worse.
Our courses won’t teach you to be a therapist, but we will teach you to listen, reassure and respond, even in a crisis – and even potentially stop a crisis from happening.
But more than that, we aim to give you the information and skills to look after your own mental health so that you can set an example for young people. By giving you the tools to have these conversations, we hope to empower you to create a mentally healthy, supportive environment in your family, school, peer group or community.
Let’s create a future where mental health is treated as a normal part of life, in the same way as physical health. A future where every young person has access to support if they need it.
There are 3 options with Youth MHFA Course.
Two Day Course
The course is divided into 4 sections.
- What is Mental Health?
- Depression & Anxiety
- Suicide & Psychosis
- Self Harm & Eating Disorders
You will also cover topics specific to young people that include child and adolescent development, bullying/cyber bullying, substance misuse and promoting preotective factors, resilience and wellbeing.
OVERVIEW
Our Youth MHFA Two Day course qualifies you as a Youth Mental Health First Aid.
Youth Mental Health First Aiders have:
- An in depth understanding of young people’s mental health and factors that affect wellbeing
- Practical skills to spot the triggers and signs of mental health issues
- Confidence to reassure and support a young person in distress
- Enhanced interpersonal skills such as non-judgemental listening
- 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
- Ability to support a young person with a long term mental health issue or disability to thrive
- Tools to look after your own mental wellbeing
COURSE STRUCTURE
Session 1 – Youth Mental Health First Aid
- The Youth MHFA action plan
- Definition of mental health
- Adolescent development
- Common youth mental health disorders
- Preventing mental health issues
- Promoting wellbeing and protective factors
Session 2 – Depression and Anxiety
- What are depression and anxiety disorders?
- Signs and symptoms
- Possible causes
- Youth MHFA action planning
Session 3 – Suicide & Psychosis
- The facts about suicide
- Possible warning signs
- Crisis first aid for suicidal behaviour
- What is psychosis?
- Signs of psychosis
- Youth MHFA action planning
- Treatment and resources for psychosis
Session 4 – Self-harm and Eating Disorders
- What are they?
- Why are they important?
- Possible causes
- Signs and symptoms
- Treatment and resources
- Youth MHFA action planning
INFORMATION
You will need a minimum of 8 people for this course and a maximum of 16. This is so we can keep people safe and supported whilst they learn.
Learning takes place across four manageable sessions. Through a mix of group activities, presentations and discussions, each session is built around a Youth Mental Health First Aid action plan. You will get an MHFA manual to keep and refer to whenever you need it.
When you complete the two days you’ll get a certificate to say you are a Youth Mental Health First Aider.