One in ten young people experience a mental health issue at any one time. Suicide is the leading cause of death for those aged 5-19.

Record levels of young people are struggling. Academic pressure, social media, bullying, poverty, lack of availability of professional mental health support – all have been named by various sources as contributing to this epidemic of poor mental health in our young people.

It’s clear that young people are not getting the support they need. Key figures in a young person’s life – parents, family members, teachers, tutors, carers, youth workers – can often spot when a young person is struggling but may not know how best to help.

Duration

This is a 2-day face-to-face training which we are now also delivering virtually split over 4 x 2 hour sessions. The virtual delivery is made up of both individual learning and a series of live sessions.

Learning outcomes

This course qualifies you as a Youth Mental Health First Aider, giving you:

• 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 content

The course 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.

Everyone who completes the course gets:

• A certificate of attendance to say you are a Youth Mental Health First Aider
• A Youth MHFA manual to refer to whenever you need it
• A workbook including some helpful tools to support your own mental health

Who is it for?

Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) courses are for everyone who works with, lives with or supports young people aged 8-18.

Location: we will come to you in your organisation or delivery it virtually using your preferred online platform.

Group size: minimum of 8 and maximum of 16 participants

For more information: