Mental Health First Aid courses

Heavily subsidised to support Education Settings

Individual places & In house courses

Online /

Face-to-Face

2 Day, 1 Day & 1/2 Day Courses

Subsidised by at least 50% to support education settings

Costs

Mental Health First Aid Course Costs & Booking

All of our courses can either be delivered live-online remotely or face-to-face (in-house at your school or college) depending on your preference. Alternatively, if you only require a few places you can also book individual places on any of our ‘open’ courses which are delivered live-online.

Individual places on 'open' courses

Youth & Adult Mental Health First Aid (Two Day Course) - £160 + VAT per delegate ( Standard MHFA England® cost is £320 +VAT).
Youth Mental Health Champion (One Day Course) - £100 + VAT per delegate ( Standard MHFA England® cost is £200 + VAT).

Exclusive In-house courses

Youth & Adult Mental Health First Aid (Two Day Course) - £1840 + VAT (for up to 16 delegates, equivalent to £115 per delegate).
Youth & Adult Mental Health Champion (One Day Course) - £1200 + VAT (for up to 16 delegates, equivalent to £75 per delegate).
Youth & Adult Mental Health Awareness (Half Day Course) - £775 + VAT (for up to 25 delegates, equivalent to £31 per delegate).

Please contact us here to arrange suitable dates.

Upcoming Live Online Courses

The Course

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA®) is an internationally recognised training course, designed to teach people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis. We offer both Adult and Youth MHFA England accredited courses.

The two-day Youth MHFAider® course is tailored for people who teach, work, live with, support and care for young people aged 8 to 18. This mental health first aid course can be attended by anyone from age 16 upwards. A lot of the education settings we work with have now trained a number of Youth MHFAider®’s to support their colleagues as part of their whole-school/college approach to mental health and wellbeing.

The two-day Adult MHFAider® courses are tailored around supporting adults, and again can be attended by anyone from age 16 upwards. A lot of the education settings we work with have now trained a number of Adult MHFAider®’s to support their colleagues as part of their whole-school/college approach to mental health and wellbeing.

Each and every MHFA course is delivered by a qualified and quality assured instructor and at the end of the course the trainee will be fully qualified as a Youth/Adult MHFAider®.

Aside from the Full Two-Day Mental Health First Aider Courses, we also offer the One Day - MHFA Champion Courses*, to support schools and colleges. This one-day accredited course teaches you how to identify when a person might be experiencing a mental health issue and how to guide them to get the help they need.

Practical skills and awareness course designed to give delegates:

A deeper understanding of mental health and the factors that can affect people’s wellbeing, including their 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

For full details of the content for each individual course, please see the relevant section below

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Youth Mental Health First Aid - Two-Day course

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

What to expect

We limit numbers to 16 people per course so that the instructor can keep people safe and supported while they learn.

Learning takes place across four manageable sessions (two per day). Through a mix of group activities, presentations and discussions, each session is built around a Youth Mental Health First Aid action plan.

When you complete the course, you will get:

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

Course Structure

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

Youth Mental Health First Aid: One-Day MHFA Champion Course

The one-day course qualifies you as a Youth MHFA Champion. The Youth Mental Health Champion course equips delegates with:

• An understanding of common mental health issues and how they can affect young people

• The ability to spot signs of mental ill health in young people and guide them to a place of support

• The knowledge and confidence to advocate for mental health awareness

• Skills to support positive wellbeing

What to expect

Again, we limit numbers to 16 people per course so that the instructor can keep people safe and supported while they learn. Learning takes place across two sessions. The day includes a mix of presentations, group discussions and workshop activities.

When you complete the course, you will get:

• A Youth MHFA Champion manual to refer to whenever you need it

• A workbook including some helpful tools to support your own mental health

• A certificate of attendance to say you are a Youth Mental Health Champion

Course Structure

Session 1

Why Youth MHFA One Day?
What is mental health and mental ill health?
Stigma and discrimination
The Mental Health First Aid action plan
Depression
Suicide

Session 2

Anxiety
Self-harm
Eating disorders
Psychosis
Recovery
Resilience

Youth Mental Health Aware - Half Day Course

This introductory three hour session raises awareness of young people’s mental health. It covers:

Some of the common mental health issues affecting young people, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders and psychosis
Skills to work more effectively with young people living with mental health issues
Ways to support young people with a mental health issue and relate to their experiences

What to expect

This is a three hour course delivered either face-to-face or via online video conferencing
Learning takes place through a mix of presentations, group discussions and workshop activities
We limit numbers to 25 people per course so that the instructor can keep people safe and supported while they learn

Course Structure

Higher or lower activity
What is mental health?
Protective and risk factors
Stigma and discrimination
Mental Health Continuum
Protective and risk factors case studies
Self-harm and suicide
Signs and symptoms of mental ill health in young people
Stress Container
Hand Model of the Brain
Take Time Together
Signposting to professional and self-help
Safeguarding
Recovery
Self-awareness and self-care
Action for Happiness: GREAT DREAM
Personal pledge
Wider perspective

Adult Mental Health First Aid - Two-Day course

As an MHFAider® you will be able to:

Recognise those that may be experiencing poor mental health and provide them with first-level support and early intervention
Encourage a person to identify and access sources of professional help and other supports
Practise active listening and empathy
Have a conversation with improved mental health literacy around language and stigma
Discuss the MHFAider® role in depth, including boundaries and confidentiality
Practise self-care
Know how to use the MHFAider Support App®
Know how to access a dedicated text service provided by Shout and ongoing learning opportunities with MHFA England

What to expect

Online or face-to-face course structured across four flexible sessions. Each session is a maximum of 3hrs 45mins and sessions can be delivered within a two week period.
Learners will be trained over four live sessions with an MHFA England Instructor Member, covering 14 hours of content in total.
Learning takes place through a mix of instructor led training, group discussions, individual and group activities.
Each session builds on the previous, enabling the learner to gain confidence in supporting others with a Mental Health First Aid action plan.
We limit numbers to 16 people per course so that instructors can keep people safe and supported while they learn.
We strive for all of our learning content to be as accessible and inclusive as possible.

Everyone who completes this course gets:

A hard copy workbook to support their learning throughout the course
A digital manual to refer to whenever they need it after completing the course
A wallet-sized reference card with the Mental Health First Aid action plan
A digital MHFAider® certificate
Access to the MHFAider Support App® for three years
Access to ongoing learning opportunities, resources and exclusive events 
The opportunity to be part of the largest MHFAider® community in England

Course Structure

Session 1

Mental Health First Aid and the action plan
The MHFAider® role and self-care
Helpful and unhelpful language 
Useful models to support the role

Session 2

What influences mental health? 
What is anxiety? 
Crisis first aid
Active listening and empathy 
What are eating disorders? 
What is self-harm? 
What is substance misuse?

Session 3

Applying the Mental Health First Aid action plan
What is depression? 
What is suicide? 
Crisis first aid continued

Session 4

What is psychosis?

Recovery and lived experience 
Boundaries in the MHFAider® role
Moving forward in the MHFAider® role 
My MHFA action plan

Adult Mental Health First Aid: One-Day MHFA Champion Course

This one day course trains you as an MHFA Champion, giving you:

An understanding of common mental health issues
Knowledge and confidence to advocate for mental health awareness
Ability to spot signs of mental ill health
Skills to support positive wellbeing

What to expect

This is a one day course delivered either face-to-face or via online video conferencing
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

Everyone who completes the course gets:

A certificate of attendance to say you are an MHFA Champion
A manual to refer to whenever you need it
A quick reference card for the Mental Health First Aid action plan
A workbook including a helpful toolkit to support your own mental health

Course Structure

Session 1

About Mental Health First Aid
About mental health and stress in the workplace
Stigma and discrimination
Depression
Anxiety disorders
Other mental health issues (eating disorders, self-harm, psychosis)
Early warning signs of mental ill health
Alcohol, drugs and mental health

Session 2

Applying the Mental Health First Aid action plan
Action 1: Approach the person, assess and assist with any crisis
Suicide
Action 2: Listen and communicate non-judgementally
Action 3: Give support and information
Action 4: Encourage the person to get appropriate professional help
Action 5: Encourage other supports
Recovery
Building a mentally healthy workplace
Action planning for using MHFA

Adult Mental Health Aware - Half Day Course

This course raises awareness of mental health. It covers:

What mental health is and how to challenge stigma
A basic knowledge of some common mental health issues
An introduction to looking after your own mental health and maintaining wellbeing
Confidence to support someone in distress or who may be experiencing a mental health issue

What to expect

This is a half day course delivered either face-to-face or via online video conferencing
Learning takes place through a mix of presentations, group discussions and workshop activities
We limit numbers to 25 people per course so that the instructor can keep people safe and supported while they learn

Everyone who completes the course gets:

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

Course Structure

What is mental health?
Mental Health Continuum
Factors which affect mental health
Stigma
Stress and stress management
Spotting signs of distress
Mental health conditions:
- Depression
- Anxiety disorders
- Psychosis
- Eating disorders
- Suicide
- Self-harm
Recovery
Take 10 Together - starting a supportive conversation
Supporting mental health in the workplace
Useful statistics
Helpful resources

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Mental Health First Aid courses

Mental Health First Aid Course Costs & Booking

Upcoming Live Online Courses

The Course

Practical skills and awareness course designed to give delegates:

For full details of the content for each individual course, please see the relevant section below

Youth Mental Health First Aid - Two-Day course

What to expect

Course Structure

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Session 1

Session 2

Session 3

Session 4