This online course trains you as a Youth Mental Health First Aider (MHFAider®), 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
Format
This is an online course delivered through the MHFA England Online Learning Hub
Learning takes place through four live training sessions spread across one to two weeks, with self-learning activities in between. See course structure section below for more detail
Each session is built around a Youth Mental Health First Aid action plan
We limit numbers to 16 people per course so that the instructor can keep people safe and supported while they learn
Takeaways
Everyone who completes the course gets:
A certificate of attendance to say you are a Youth MHFAider®
A Youth MHFAider® manual to refer to whenever you need it
A workbook including some helpful tools to support your own mental health
Live Session 1
Youth Mental Health First Aid and mental health:
• Why Youth Mental Health First Aid?
• The Youth MHFA action plan: ALGEE
• What is mental health?
• The Mental Health Continuum
• Stigma and language
• Risk and protective factors
• The Stress Container
• Frame of Reference
• Live session 2 outline
• Depression and anxiety:
• Recap of depression
• Signs and symptoms of depression
• Recap of anxiety
• Signs and symptoms of anxiety
• The MHFA action plan for depression and anxiety: ALGEE
• Self-care
• Live session 3 outline
• Suicide and psychosis:
• Recap of suicide
• First aid for suicidal crisis
• Recap of psychosis
• Crisis first aid for acute psychosis
• The MHFA action plan for psychosis: ALGEE
• Live session 4 outline
• Self-harm and eating disorders:
• Recap of self-harm
• The MHFA action plan for self-harm: ALGEE
• Recap of eating disorders
• The MHFA action plan for eating disorders: ALGEE
• Recovery
MHFA Youth Course Classroom Info
This two-day course trains you as a Youth Mental Health First Aider (MHFAider®), 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
Format
Two-day face-to-face course delivered across four manageable sessions
Each session is built around a Youth Mental Health First Aid action plan
Learning takes place through a mix of presentations, group discussions and workshop activities
We limit numbers to 16 people per course so that the instructor can keep people safe and supported while they learn
Takeaways
Everyone who completes the course gets:
A certificate of attendance to say you are a Youth MHFAider®
A Youth MHFAider® manual to refer to whenever you need it
A workbook including some helpful tools to support your own mental health
Youth Mental Health First Aid
Session 1
Youth Mental Health First Aid
• About Youth Mental Health First Aid
• Context: England’s child health care policy
• About mental health – facts and figures
• Risk factors for mental ill health
• Protective factors for mental health
• Preventing mental health issues and promoting wellbeing
• The Youth MHFA action plan: ALGEE
Session 2
Depression and anxiety
• About depression – facts and figures
• Signs and symptoms
• Risk factors
• About anxiety disorders – facts and figures
• Signs and symptoms
• Risk factors
• The MHFA action plan for depression and anxiety: ALGEE
Session 3
Suicide and psychosis
• About suicide
• Risk factors and warning signs for suicide
• First aid for suicidal crisis
• About psychosis
• Risk factors and warning signs of psychosis
• Types of psychotic disorders
• Crisis first aid for acute psychosis
• The MHFA action plan for psychosis: ALGEE
Session 4
Self-harm and eating disorders
• About self-harm – facts and figures
• Risk factors
• Signs and symptoms
• The MHFA action plan for self-harm: ALGEE
• About eating disorders – facts and figures
• Different types of eating disorders
• The MHFA action plan for eating disorders: ALGEE
• Recovery