What will I learn on the course?

The Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid: Young People (SMHFA:YP) is a 14-hour evidence-based blended learning course for adults who support young people between the ages of 11-17. Participants will gain an increased knowledge and awareness of mental health issues, as well as improved confidence in:

• Being able to detect problems early
• Helping to reduce stigma around mental health issues
• Helping young people to recognise problems
• Providing guidance and immediate assistance to a young person is crisis.

The course does not train you to become a counsellor or mental health professional. It is designed to teach you to better understand mental health and how it affects young people, as well as to learn mental health first aid skill such as: 

• how to recognise the signs of mental health problems or distress
• how to ask about mental distress
• how to provide initial support
• how to guide a person towards appropriate professional help.

The course also aims to show how mental health first aid can be applied in a crisis situation involving a range of common mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm, suicide and substance misuse.