Youth MHFA Champion – Windmill Training

Engaging, informative day with a great instructor.

Course parcipant, 2019

Girl writing The NHS aim to help an extra 345,000 children and young people to support services by 2023/24 as stated in their children and young people’s mental health long term plan (The NHS Long Term Plan, NHS, 2019)

This one day course, is designed to support organisations that work with children and young people, to equip as many staff as possible with mental health knowledge, including signs and symptoms of poor mental health. It has been found that early recognition of poor mental health and access to services can enable a quicker route to recovery.

Why Youth MHFA Champion?

The role of the Youth MHFA Champion is to act as a point of contact for the young person who is experiencing a mental health issue or emotional distress.

− Youth MHFA Champions are invaluable in providing early intervention to help a young person who may be developing a mental health issue

− Youth MHFA Champions are not trained to be therapists or psychiatrists but they can offer initial support through non-judgemental listening, reassurance and guidance

− Youth MHFA Champions are encouraged to take on a role as a mental health advocate within their school to encourage adoption of approaches to ‘whole school’ wellbeing and to build on such approaches that may already be in place

MHFA England

Course focus

Youth mental health
Depression
Anxiety
Suicide

With a introduction to;

Psychosis
Self-harm
Eating disorders

Course structure

The Youth MHFA Champion course is best delivered in one day, although 2 half days can be arranged.

The course consists of a mixture of group work, videos and practical exercise to enhance the skills and understanding of the course content.