Youth MHFA Course

NEW! Youth Mental Health First Aid Course

This online 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. It will also give you the 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

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.

In an average group of 30 15 year olds:

• Seven are likely to have been bullied
• Six may be self-harming
• One could have experienced the death of a parent

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.

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

This online 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 ​

For more information on this course, download a copy of the course breakdown here.