Youth Mental Health First aid

Youth MHFA is an internationally recognised training programme designed specifically for those people that teach, work, live with or care for young people aged 11 – 18 years. 

Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) is exactly what you might think – a first aid approach to mental health. In virtually every setting and organisation where young people are present, there are people trained in first aid for physical injuries. Youth MHFA does the same for a young person experiencing mental ill health. In teaching people how to give initial care, the course also dispels the fears people often have when they come across a young person they suspect is experiencing mental ill health or is in distress.

Youth MHFA provides information, tools and techniques to promote a young person’s mental and emotional wellbeing and to enable participants to support a young person who might be experiencing mental and emotional distress.

The Youth MHFA course will enable you to:

• Spot the early signs of a mental health problem in young people
• Feel confident helping a young person experiencing a problem
• Provide help on a first aid basis
• Help protect a young person who might be at risk of harm
• Help prevent a mental health illness from getting worse
• Help a young person recover faster
• Guide a young person towards the right support
• Reduce the stigma of mental health problems