What is Mental Health First Aid?

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an internationally recognised training course which teaches  people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis.

MHFA won’t teach you to be a therapist, but just like physical first aid, it will teach you to listen,  reassure and respond, even in a crisis.

Adult MHFA courses are for everyone aged 16 upwards. Every MHFA course is delivered by a quality assured instructor who has attended our Instructor Training programme accredited by the Royal Society for Public Health, and is trained to keep people safe and supported while they learn.

What will I learn?

Learning takes place through a mix of group activities, presentations and discussions.

Two Day – Mental Health First Aiders

A practical skills and awareness course designed to give you:

• A deeper understanding of mental health and the factors that can affect people’s wellbeing, including your own.
• Practical skills to spot the triggers and signs of mental health issues.
• Confidence to step in, reassure and support a person in distress.
• Enhanced interpersonal skills such as non-judgemental listening.
• Knowledge to help someone recover their health by guiding them to appropriate support.

How will attending an MHFA course help?

Research and evaluation shows that taking part in an MHFA course:

• Raises awareness and mental health literacy.
• Reduces stigma around mental ill health.
• Boosts knowledge and confidence in dealing with mental health issues.
• Promotes early intervention which enables recovery.

What to expect

Learning takes place across four manageable sessions. Through a mix of group activities, presentations and discussions, each session is built around a Mental Health First Aid action plan. We limit the number of people per course from 8-16 so that the instructor can keep people safe and supported while they learn.

Everyone who completes the course gets:

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

Session 1

• Why Mental Health First Aid?
• The Mental Health First Aid action plan
• What is mental health?
• Impact of mental health issues
• Stigma and discrimination
• What is depression?
• Symptoms of depression
• Risk factors for depression
• Depression in the workplace

Session 2 

• Suicide figures
• Alcohol, drugs and mental health
• First aid for suicidal crisis
• Non-judgemental listening skills
• First aid for depression
• Treatment and resources for depression
• Self-care

Session 3

• What is an anxiety disorder?
• First aid for anxiety disorders
• Crisis first aid after a traumatic event
• Alcohol, drugs and anxiety disorders
• Treatment and resources for anxiety disorders
• Cognitive distortions and CBT
• Personality disorders
• Eating disorders
• Self-harm