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Mental Health First Aid Training
About 40% of adults experience a mental illness at some point in their lives. Unfortunately, despite this high prevalence of mental illness, only about 20% of people who have a mental illness seek help.
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an internationally recognised course, licensed by MHFA Australia, that teaches lay people how to give help to those experiencing mental health problems before professional help is obtained if required. We employ a number of the MHFA instructors who are either in training or approved by MHFA England (or UK country licensee).
The 12-hour minimum programme standard aims to:
- Preserve life where an adult may be a danger to themselves or other
- Provide help to prevent the mental health problems developing into a
more serious state - Promote the recovery and maintenance of good mental health
- Provide comfort to a person experiencing a mental health problem
We provide the MHFA course in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in line with the official MHFA guidelines in these countries. If you would like to learn more, please contact us.
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The course teaches the symptoms, causes and evidence-based treatments for: depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis and substance use disorder. It also addresses the possible crisis situations arising from them and steps to help.
Just as conventional first aid courses teach a series of actions under the acronym DRABC, MHFA teaches mental health first-aiders to use the acronym ALGEE:
Our course can be tailored (by addition) to meet the learning needs of participants of different age groups and professional status. We will research into your needs pre-course and ensure we address your specific issues.
who for
MHFA Training Courses
MHFA does not teach people to be therapists. However, it does teach people how to recognise the symptoms of mental health problems, how to provide initial help and how to guide a person towards appropriate professional help. If you are responsible for staff, interact with the public, or just want to improve your knowledge MHFA is for you.
Some key groups include staff working with NHS Trusts, independent service providers, voluntary organisations, local authorities, employment support and community services, colleges and local employers. The course is for service staff not specialising in mental health.
“The KSL training was excellent. It was delivered in a relaxed but informative manner. We all learnt a great deal about ourselves, colleagues and the young people we work with. Since the training we have set up a working party and are writing a mental health policy for our students along with providing in house training for our staff. I would definitely recommend it to colleagues and other agencies.”
Shellie Willis, Director of Student & Parent Support, Astor College for the Arts, Dover, 2009.
costs
We offer course places to individuals
We offer courses for organisations
Individual course fees are £200+VAT per person; residential rates are £240+VAT (residential rates include B&B in the venue). For voluntary/third sector organisations purchasing five or more places on a course, our rates are reduced to £170+VAT per person. These rates include everything, including catering for the two days, manuals to take away and follow-up certification.
Organisations can purchase MHFA courses tailored exclusively for their staff, volunteers or partners, for £145 to £195 +VAT per person, depending on participant numbers and venues.
To purchase MHFA course or to find out more, please contact us. You can also find more information in the MHFA flyer Frequently Asked Questions.
dates
Our next 2-day MHFA dates for individual bookings:
- Thursday July 15 & Friday July 16 near Euston and Kings Cross-St Pancras in Central London – Register here with code MHFA07
“I have just completed a two-day MHFA training course delivered by KSL. I found this incredibly useful and, more importantly, so did the frontline hostel workers on the course. As such I wonder whether more courses would be available for frontline staff, as I think these would be invauable to both the individuals and the project in general.”
James Lee, Strategy & Commissioning Manager, Supporting People Programme, Camden Council, London, 2009.
Download our
brochure
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