Mental Health
first aid training
Mental health first aid training
Pathlight’s mission is to provide organisations with excellent, heart-centred, empowering Mental Health First Aid training and post-training support. As an independent instructor member of MHFA England, Pathlight’s training is fully accredited and quality assured. We offer a range of courses from half-day to two days, both online and in person throughout England. All of our courses are suitable for employees aged 16 and over.
What is Mental Health First Aid?
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is the mental health equivalent of physical first aid. It is an internationally recognised training course, which teaches people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis.
Benefits of training as an Mental Health First Aider (MHFAider®):
- Boost your knowledge of mental health conditions
- Spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and deal with crises
- Gain the confidence and skills to hold supportive conversations
- Offer information, reassurance and hope to empower recovery
- Signpost to appropriate further support
- Fight the stigma around mental illness
- Learn self-care techniques to promote positive wellbeing
- Help create a more compassionate and profitable corporate culture
- Optional post-training support and CPD
The return on investment of workplace mental health interventions is overwhelmingly positive, with an average return on investment (RoI) of 4:1 and up to 9:1 when a suite of holistic interventions are employed.
Why invest in MHFA training?
Mental health issues cost UK companies vast sums of money every year. In the UK:
- 1 in 4 people will report experiencing a mental health issue in any given year.
- Stress, anxiety and depression are the biggest causes of sickness absence from work.
- 91 million working days are lost each year due to mental health issues.
- This equates to £34.9bn p.a. due to absence, reduced productivity and staff turnover.
- While there are more people at work with mental health conditions than ever before, 300,000 people with a long term mental health problem lose their jobs each year, and at a much higher rate than those with physical health conditions.
These costs could be cut be 30% by improving the management of mental health in the workplace. Having sufficient Mental Health First Aiders is a key step to achieving these savings.
Independent research and evaluation shows that taking part in an MHFA course:
- Raises awareness around mental health.
- Reduces stigma around mental ill health.
- Increases confidence when guiding people towards appropriate support.
- Accelerates early intervention around mental health issues.
- Encourages approaches to a person who may be experiencing a mental health issue.
Embracing MHFA is considered best practice by the Health & Safety Executive and it is looking like it will become a mandatory requirement for UK companies in the near future
Finally, learning the skills to support others who are experiencing a mental health issue is surely a positive step towards nurturing a more compassionate, caring, inclusive world. Sadly, mental health doesn’t get anything like as much focus and funding as physical health, but I believe they are equally important. I find MHFA to be a really powerful and inspiring course. We all have mental health and most of us will have to deal with mental health issues at some point in our lives – whether that be our own challenges or those of a friend, family member or colleague.
Farmer, P. and Stevenson, D. (2017). Thriving at Work: The Independent Review of Mental Health and Employers. [online] Thriving at Work. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/658145/thriving-at-work-stevenson-farmer-review.pdf
Which Mental Health First Aid Course is Right for You?
We specialise in providing in-house MHFA training courses for organisations based in England. We love working with companies that proactively respond to their corporate culture and ethical responsibilities around employee wellbeing.
All of our courses are suitable for any employees aged 16 or over.
Check out our case studies to learn just how impactful our support can be.
info@pathlight.org.uk
Adult Mental Health First Aider Two-Day Course
The two-day course qualifies you as a Mental Health First Aider. It is the only Mental Health First Aid training programme that is accredited by the Royal Society of Public Health.
This training will give you:
- 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 and communication
- Tools to help someone recover their health by guiding them to appropriate further support.
- An understanding of how to tackle stigma in the world around you and how to support positive wellbeing for yourself and others.
Everyone who completes the course will get:
- A copy of the official MHFA England manual to refer to whenever required;
- An MHFA workbook, including a helpful toolkit to support their own mental health;
- A quick reference card for the Mental Health First Aid action plan;
- A certificate from MHFA England showing that they are a qualified Mental Health First Aider; and
- A branded tote bag, pen and lanyard (optional).
Adult Mental Health First Aider One-Day Course
This one-day course qualifies you as an MHFA Champion. It will give you an understanding of common mental health issues and an ability to spot the signs of mental ill health, the confidence to advocate for mental health awareness and skills to support positive wellbeing.
Everyone who completes the course will get:
- A copy of the official MHFA England manual to refer to whenever required;
- An MHFA workbook, including a helpful toolkit to support their own mental health;
- A quick reference card for the Mental Health First Aid action plan;A certificate from MHFA England showing that they are a qualified MHFA Champion; and
- A branded tote bag, pen and lanyard (optional).
Adult Mental Health First Aider Half-Day Course
This introductory 4-hour session raises awareness of what mental health is, how to challenge the stigma around it, a basic knowledge of some common mental health issues and how to support people who are experiencing a mental health issue, plus an introduction to looking after your own wellbeing.
Everyone who completes the course will get:
- A copy of the official MHFA England manual to refer to whenever required;
- An MHFA workbook, including a helpful toolkit to support their own mental health; and
- A certificate from MHFA England to say you are Mental Health Aware.
Refresher
Just like physical First Aid, MHFAiders® need to refresh their skills every three years. This half-day course refreshes mental health knowledge, awareness and skills so that MHFAiders® can continue to support themselves and others as the mental health landscape evolves.
This course is designed for individuals who are already certified Mental Health First Aiders or who have completed a Level 3 Qualification in Mental Health.
Investing in the MHFA Refresher course doesn’t just benefit you. By keeping your skills sharp, you help create a healthier, more supportive environment where everyone can thrive. Better understanding of mental health and less stigma ripples out into communities, with the potential to improve and save lives.
Completing the MHFA Refresher gives you ongoing membership to the Association of Mental Health First Aiders® – England’s first and only membership body of its kind – plus 3 years of access to ongoing learning, expert support and the MHFAider® Support App.
Ongoing support - MHFA Plus+
Organisations and individuals can enjoy valuable ongoing support from Pathlight’s unique Mental Health First Aid PLUS+ scheme.
We offer post-training CPD and supervisory support to qualified Mental Health First Aiders.
Our MHFA PLUS+ support can be tailored to meet your needs. Benefits include:
- Individual CPD and emotional support – Suitable for those who may have been emotionally affected by an incident in their role as a Mental Health First Aider. Also suitable for in-role CPD: honing communication skills, working through case studies, developing best practice and addressing ad-hoc queries.
- Group CPD and emotional support – Suitable for sharing and developing MHFA best practice, reviewing real-world and fictional case studies and working through issues raised whilst carrying out the role of Mental Health First Aider in your organisation.
- Organisational reviews – Regular or ad hoc reviews to optimise how MHFA is embedded into your workplace. We can provide support with any issues that may arise on the corporate level and offer CPD upskills and refreshers.
With our experience in psychotherapy, mental health and wellbeing, we guarantee to provide you with excellent support and insight.
Why choose Pathlight?
Pathlight embodies my passion for positive mental health, mindful relationships and fostering inclusive, compassionate, empowering workplaces.
Passion and Experience
This work is my calling.
I do all I can to support, enlighten, inspire and empower others in the fields of mental health, workplace wellbeing, psychotherapy and relationships.
Excellent Service and Learning Environment
A collaborative, professional, respectful and confidential training environment is guaranteed, along with warm, friendly, inclusive facilitation.
Bespoke Training Solutions
Pathlight offer bespoke workplace wellbeing support and training to meet your needs, helping your business to develop and embed a positive corporate culture.
Ongoing
Support
We offer ongoing support to individuals and organisations that have attended one of our training programmes. This includes the unique, valuable benefits of our MHFA PLUS+ scheme.
Testimonials
Contact Pathlight
Please contact me to arrange a free, 20-minute phone or video call if you have any questions about how we might work together:
Paul Wolstenholme (Pathlight Ltd)