Mental Health First Aid is not unlike physical first aid: help offered for someone suffering from ill health, in this case mental ill health. MHFA courses will also teach you to spot earlier signs and symptoms of common mental health problems, such as anxiety,  depression, schizophrenia, etc. With the knowledge and tools learned in the course, individuals will be able to to deliver mental health first aid before professional medical treatment is available. The aims of mental health first aid are to:

• Preserve life
• Prevent further harm
• Promote recovery
• Provide comfort to the person who suffers  

Please note that as a qualified Mental Health First Aider, or someone who has undertaken a Mental Health First Aid course, you will not be able to diagnose or treat, but you can identify symptoms of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, amongst other challenges, and encourage someone to seek professional help. These courses do not teach you to be a counsellor or therapist, but will empower you to react and signpost when someone in mental distress may need professional help.

This course is designed specifically for people managers. It will help workplaces provide a consistent approach to mental health and wellbeing, promoting healthy performance across the whole organisation.  

The advantages of acquiring Mental Health Skills for Managers are numerous. Managers who can effectively support the mental health of their teams foster an environment where employees can thrive, leading to enhanced talent retention. By offering this training to all individuals with people management responsibilities, you establish a uniform approach to mental health and wellbeing across teams and departments. This, in turn, cultivates healthy performance throughout the entire organisation.

1. Identify if an employee may be experiencing mental health issues.
2. Feel confident having open conversations about mental health with their team members.
3. Appropriately signpost to available support and know where to go for support and guidance for themselves.
4. Role model good self-care practice, inspiring their teams to look after their own mental health and wellbeing.

The format of our Mental Health Skills for Managers course consists of a four-hour program delivered through the MHFA England Online Learning Hub. Participants will engage in an immersive live training session led by an experienced associate Instructor Member. Moreover, the course offers a flexible integrated platform that enables learners to actively practice and reinforce their skills through engaging in group activities and discussions, facilitating the sharing of best practices.

To ensure an ideal learning environment, the course is designed to accommodate a maximum of 16 individuals, facilitating rich discussions and fostering meaningful interactions among participants.

The immersive live training session is delivered either online or classroom based over four hours.  
There is an additional 30 minutes of self-reflective work to be completed before the course. 

The structure of our Mental Health Skills for Managers course encompasses the following vital areas of focus:

1. Mental health spectrum: Emphasizing the significance of understanding your team, self-awareness, and identifying early warning signs.
2. Stress and workplace stressors: Gaining insight into the Stress Container concept and recognizing obstacles to mental health conversations.
3. Preparing for mental health conversations: Equipping participants with techniques for effectively preparing for virtual conversations and managing remotely.
4. Mental health conversation cycle: Developing skills in asking effective questions, active listening, providing empathetic responses, and offering support and appropriate referrals.
5. Wellbeing and stress in the workplace: Applying the Stress Container model to proactively manage personal wellbeing within the work environment.
6. Commitments to change: Taking actionable steps to integrate newfound knowledge, fostering a culture of supportive mental health practices.

By exploring these comprehensive topics, participants will gain valuable insights and practical tools to enhance their ability to support mental health in their managerial roles.

Takeaways

Everyone who completes the Mental Health Skills for Managers course will receive:

1. A certificate of attendance, recognising their commitment to developing essential skills.
2. Tools to take care of their own mental health as managers and empower their teams.
3. A digital workbook to use during the course, enhancing their learning experience.
4. A digital support resource to help them continue their learning and development journey beyond the course.

The course will be delivered by an accredited Mental Health First Aid Instructor with managerial experience, including managing individual and team performance, wellbeing, and development.

Between 8-16 managers can attend per course

The Manager will receive a digital certificate of attendance from MHFA England to demonstrate they have completed the Mental Health Skills for Managers course. 

The certificate for this course does not expire. As this is a skills-focused course, managers may choose to complete this course again to refine the skills learnt. However, this is not a requirement.

We will try to explain it in a very simple way.

The MHFA England is an accredited body that trains trainers. Then various companies hire the trainers and deliver the courses.  Most likely you will get a very similar training and outcome whichever company you choose – we all use the same Online Learning Hub (a platform to deliver online courses) provided by the MHFA England. 

The same trainers (a trainer might work one week for us,  next week for another company). We carefully choose instructors who are providing Siren MHFA training courses. Most of the trainers have psychology/psychotherapy backgrounds. We thoroughly read our clients’ feedback, this way we were able to choose the best of the best trainers who work with us for years. We can proudly say that Siren is a leading provider of MHFA training. If you are not convinced simply check our reviews

All attendees receive MHFA England materials (manual and workbook, we deliver it to the attendee’s home).  You will get the same outcome whichever company you choose because we all follow MHFA England’s guidelines. 

We are all human beings before we are workers, and all of us have both physical and mental health. We know what can cause physical illness but we are not always aware of the reasons behind ill mental health. And when we see someone suffering mental health ill very often we don’t have right words or right actions to take, especially, in the workplace. It is very important  that all staff are aware of how to take care of their own mental health, as well as know how to support each other.

Positive mental health in the workplace not only helps your business goals, but also improves employee satisfaction and retention. Any mental health first aid courses can  improve wellbeing in the workplace. We highly recommend anyone interested in becoming a Mental Health First Aider attend the two day course, and implementing the one or half  day course for all of the employees in the organisation. The course will raise mental health awareness, start conversations in your workplace and teach employees to support each other. Additionally, the course will help you create an action plan for a positive climate in the workplace.

Recovering from mental ill health can vary amongst individuals, as does length of recovery. While some individuals respond quickly to treatment and recover quickly, recovery can often be episodic for others. Still others have a longer recovery journey which can involve medication, self-help, attending therapy. It is important for workplaces to support employees in their recovery, and the Mental Health First Aid courses are a great starting point to understand how to create inclusive environments for people in recovery.

We recommend having as many mental health first aiders in the workplace as you have physical first aiders.

Mental health first aid course is particularly recommended for line managers and their teams for several reasons:

•  You will be able to create a healthier environment in your workplace for your team.
•  To spot an employee suffering from mental health issue and support them at work
• And prevent further mental health illness development
• Finally, you will be able to maintain your own mental health and wellbeing.  

A mental health course is not a legal requirement yet. It is strongly recommended to have as many mental health first aiders as physical ones. the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) recent recommendation to include ‘mental health trained first aiders’ as part of employers’ first aid needs assessments.

It’s relatively easy to see the gaps we’ve been missing as a society, all generally aware of physical health. As such, it is good common sense to go to the doctor if you feel ill.