Have you thought about becoming a Mental Health First Aider?
I trained as a Mental Health First Aider with Bath Mind in 2017, and highly recommend taking the two days to get the skills that allow you to feel confident supporting someone experiencing mental health difficulties. The course teaches in depth skills for providing first aid to people experiencing mental health issues such as depression, anxiety disorders and psychosis. In the workplace, home or community, it’s good to have people around who have some skills up their sleeve to help others in times of need or crisis.
The MHFA two day course qualifies you as a Mental Health First Aider.
Mental Health First Aiders have:
- An in depth understanding of mental health and the factors that can affect wellbeing
- 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 further support – whether that’s self-help resources, through their employer, the NHS, or a mix
Mental ill health costs UK employers £34.9 billion each year
Having Mental Health First Aiders in your workplace is good for business as well as for your team. By skilling your organisation in MHFA you can:
- Give your people the tools to keep themselves and their colleagues healthy
- Encourage them to access support when it’s needed, for a faster recovery
- Empower people with a long term mental health issue or disability to thrive in work
- Stop preventable health issues arising by building a supportive culture around mental health
- Embed positive, long term cultural change across your organisation through robust policy
Interested in finding out more about training as an MHFA? Interested in having mental health awareness training at your workplace? I work with Bath Mind as an Associate Trainer in workplace mental health. Contact me here for more information on how I can help you create a resilient workforce.