Teen Mental Health First Aid

teen MHFA

The 3.5 hour teen MHFA Course teaches high school students in years 10, 11 & 12, how to provide mental health first aid to their friends.  The course was developed in response to research indicating that young people have a preference for sharing problems with peers.  The course curriculum is based on a study undertaken to determine the best actions a young person can undertake to support a peer developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis.

What the course covers

Students learn the teen MHFA Action Plan, as well as information about different types of mental health problems and mental health crisis situations in young people, and the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

Developing mental health problems covered are:

· Anxiety disorders · Depressive disorders · Eating disorders · Alcohol and other drug use disorders · Psychotic disorders
 
Mental health crisis situations covered are:

· Suicidal thoughts and behaviours · Non-suicidal self-injury (sometimes called deliberate self-harm) · Being very intoxicated from alcohol and other drugs · Bullying or abuse
 

Course format and delivery

The delivery format is 3 interactive classroom sessions of 75 minutes each, totalling 3.5 hours. Class size is a maximum of 25 students. The course has been specifically designed to be engaging for this age group.  Course participants receive a copy of the teen MHFA Manual to keep and a Certificate of Completion. As this course is three sessions of 75 minutes teaching time it requires an 80 minute class period, to allow for stragglers, etc.
 

Teen Mental Health First Aid Trainer

Judy Beven is a Principal Master MHFA Instructor and the Brain Ambulance Coordinator for teen MHFA.  On November 3rd, Judy commenced roll out of the first teen MHFA to go into a Government School in W.A.  This pilot was funded by the Mental Health Commission.  Details on the success are available and you are welcome to contact us for more information.

for more information on Teen MHFA go to https://mhfa.com.au/teen-further-info#schools and then check out https://mhfa.com.au/courses/public/types/teen

We welcome enquiries from schools and any youth groups and associations.

Please contact us for a quote and more information.