Mental Health Training
Every day here at our charity, we support people who are struggling with poor mental health and wellbeing.
People across Wokingham Borough rely on us to support them with issues around welfare benefits, debt, housing, employment law, relationships & family, consumer, immigration and much more.
We know that these issues can, and often do, have a huge impact on our mental health and wellbeing. People living with mental ill-health can be disproportionately impacted by issues around money, for example, which can affect many parts of daily life, including employment and housing. You can find out more information about this here.
Poor Mental Health affects 1 in 4 of us every year. In order to more effectively support our communities and our teams, we have made mental health a key focus of our strategy.
We deliver all the Mental Health training courses, listed below, to anyone living and/or working in England. Our courses are mainly delivered online.
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Our courses
Mental Health First Aider
Delivered online over two-days
This online MHFA England course trains you as a Mental Health First Aider, giving you:
- An in-depth understanding of mental health and the factors that can affect wellbeing
- Practical skills to spot the triggers and signs of poor mental health
- Confidence to step in, reassure and support a person in distress
- Enhanced interpersonal skills such as non-judgemental listening
- Knowledge to help someone recover their health by guiding them to further support – whether that’s self-help resources, through their employer, the NHS, or a mix
Format
- This is an online course delivered through the MHFA England Online Learning Hub and Zoom
- Learning takes place through four live training sessions, spread across two days, with self-learning activities in between
- Each session is built around a Mental Health First Aid action plan
- We limit numbers to 16 people per course so that we can keep people safe and supported while they learn
Takeaways
Everyone who completes this course gets:
- A certificate of attendance to say you are a Mental Health First Aider
- A manual to refer to whenever you need it
- A quick reference card for the Mental Health First Aid action plan
- A workbook including a helpful toolkit to support your own mental health
Cost
MHFA England value this course at £300 per person.
We are offering this course at subsidised rates:
- Charity/non-profit – £120 per person
- Individuals, businesses, local authority – £150 per person
We can also deliver a full course for your organisation with a minimum of 12 delegates and a maximum of 16 delegates.
MHFA Champions (focused on the workplace)
Delivered online in one-day
This online MHFA England course trains you as an MHFA Champion, giving you:
- An understanding of common mental health conditions
- Knowledge and confidence to advocate for mental health awareness
- Ability to spot signs of mental ill health
- Skils to support positive wellbeing
Format
- This is a one day course delivered online via Zoom
- Learning takes place through a mix of presentations, group discussions and workshop activities
- We limit numbers to 16 people per course so that we can keep people safe and supported while they learn
Takeaways
Everyone who completes this course gets:
- A certificate of attendance to say you are an MHFA Champion
- A manual to refer to whenever you need it
- A quick reference card for the Mental Health First Aid action plan
- A workbook including a helpful toolkit to support your own mental health
Course structure
Session 1:
- About Mental Health First Aid
- About mental health and stress in the workplace
- Stigma and discrimination
- Depression
- Anxiety disorders
- Other mental health conditions (eating disorders, self-harm, psychosis)
- Early warning signs of poor mental health
- Alcohol, drugs and mental health
Session 2:
- Applying the Mental Health First Aid action plan
- Recovery
- Building a mentally healthy workplace
- Action plan for using MHFA
Cost
MHFA England value this course at £200 per person.
We are offering this course at subsidised rates:
- Charity/non-profit – £100 per person
- Individuals, businesses, local authority – £120 per person
We can also deliver a full course for your organisation with a minimum of 12 delegates and a maximum of 16 delegates.
MHFA Mental Health Aware (an introduction course)
Delivered online over half a day (4 hours)
This online MHFA England course raises awareness of mental health. It covers:
- What mental health is and how to challenge stigma
- A basic knowledge of some common mental health issues
- An introduction to looking after your own mental health and maintaining wellbeing
- Confidence to support someone in distress or who may be experiencing poor mental health
Format
- This is a half day course delivered online via Zoom
- Learning takes place through a mix of presentations, group discussions and workshop activities
- We limit numbers to 25 people per course so that we can keep people safe and supported while they learn
Takeaways
Everyone who completes this course gets:
- A certificate of attendance to say you are Mental Health Aware
- A manual to refer to whenever you need it
- A workbook including a helpful toolkit to support your own mental health
Course structure
- What is mental health?
- Mental Health Continuum
- Factors which affect mental health
- Stigma
- Stress and stress management
- Spotting signs of distress
- Mental health conditions including depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis, eating disorders, suicide, self-harm
- Recovery
- Take 10 Together – starting a supportive conversation
- Supporting mental health in the workplace
- Useful statistics
- Helpful resources
Cost
MHFA England value this course at £125 per person.
We are offering this course at subsidised rates:
- Charity/non-profit – £60 per person
- Individuals, businesses, local authority – £80 per person
We can also deliver a full course for your organisation with a minimum of 12 delegates and a maximum of 16 delegates.
Our instructor
Jake Morrison is our Chief Executive here at Citizens Advice Wokingham – he leads the organisation on a day-to-day basis and supports the board of trustees with setting and driving the charities strategy. At Citizens Advice national annual conference in November 2020 he received the ‘excellence in leadership’ award for his work during the pandemic, supporting other Citizens Advice services and work on mental health and wellbeing across the service.
Jake is passionate about supporting mental health and wellbeing in our communities and workplaces. He has lived experience of a number of mental health conditions and also has ADHD.
He delivers our Mental Health First Aid courses as an independent instructor of MHFA England alongside his day-job here. He is accredited to deliver the two-day MHFA, one-day Champion and half-day Mental Health aware courses.
If you are interested in attending one of our courses please log your interest via the form above or email mhfa@citizensadvicewokingham.org.uk if you have any questions or want to make a group booking.
Feedback from delegates
“Jake is a naturally gifted communicator and trainer / instructor. His passion and commitment to increasing mental health awareness and reducing stigma is self-evident and infectious. Jake has been able to draw on and share his lived experience in a powerful and impactful way which enhances the delivery of the course. MHFA is highly interactive and collaborative. Jake was highly skilled in ensuring that everyone was included and had an opportunity to contribute and ask questions.”
“Jake is a very good mental Heath trainer. One of the best trainers that i have had”
“Jake is absolutely brilliant – I struggle with the on-line training but Jake made it feel easier although I wish I could have done this course face to face. And this course in particular, I believe would be better face to face. It would have suited me better.”
“This has been the most valuable training I’ve ever undertaken, and I am very confident that it will have a beneficial impact on my work. I thought the trainer was excellent. He made difficult material feel easy to digest and accessible. He was extremely supportive, and he encouraged questions while keeping the training flowing really smoothly.”
“The course was excellent, it ran at a really good pace and even though we overran it did not feel like you wanted it to end. Some courses you sit at the end of the day clock watching but this was not the case here. Both instructors were engaging and pleasant to listen to.“
“The course was delivered extremely well and lots of open communication was facilitated. I was never belittled or made to feel silly for asking a question or getting something wrong. The course was structured very well and easy to follow. The resources are of high quality and there is opportunity for further learning after the course. Jake, Lauren and all of the delegates made this a very enjoyable learning experience and I will be recommending it to anyone who has an interested in becoming a MHFA.”
“Hi Jake, thank you for the training last week. You have a very calming way of teaching which is very good for this type of course.“
“I have had an excellent experience on the course with excellent opportunity for discussion with others, case studies, and practising use of ALGEE. The course really has given me hope for a better future for everyone, and will greatly increase my confidence supporting my customers.”
“Jake was very knowledgeable on the topic and really brought things to life when talking about his examples. He delivered the course excellently and kept the pace going throughout the 2 days.“
“brilliant course, brilliant instructor – highly recommended“
“Very useful and practical course, in which I have learned some really helpful skills and knowledge to help approach and support people in crises and people with mental health problems. Really well led by Jake, with his personal experiences, background and expertise providing us with great opportunities to learn and ask questions to ground our learning.”
“In my opinion, this was an excellent course. It was delivered clearly and the instructor really knew ‘his stuff’. He was approachable and non-judgemental. I really enjoyed the course.”
“I just wanted to say thank you again for a fabulous course. You have a lovely delivery style.”
Our first 16 local charity staff and volunteers trained via funding from Berkshire Community Foundation and The National Lottery Community Fund.