Mental Health First Aid North East - Sheffield & Liverpool

The early part of this week was spent in Sheffield in a presenting an MHFA course in a church hall. Most of the trainees were health education workers for Help the Aged and there were two ladies who worked as tutors in lifelong learning in the community. All were on the course because they had already recognised that they regularly met clients and students who were experiencing mental health problems and wanted to be better equipped with the knowledge of how to help these people, signpost them to appropriate professional help and also be able to advise them on how to make changes in their lifestyles that will lead them to be able to also help themselves. This was ideal as this is exactly the ground that Mental Health first aid covers.

The weather was cold and it took time to master the church's heating system but we all learned from each other and had some fun. That's the thing about a Mental Health First Aid course. Although we deal with some serious material; talking about depression, suicide, anxiety disorders, psychosis and more, it is more than possible for the 12 hour course to be a lot of fun. One in four people in the UK experience symptoms of a diagnosable mental health problem in any one year so we are talking about common expierence. Even if trainees have not experienced these things themselves they almost certainly know people who have. The stigma that surrounds the very phrase "mental health" often leads people to shy away from talking about the subject and the freedom to discuss this honestly can be very liberating.

On Friday I was in Liverpool in a meeting with regard to possibly presenting a series of courses there in the New Year. I'll post here if firm dates are booked. It was a bit of a blast from the past as I was born in Liverpool but have not been back for 25 years. A lot has changed and the centre of the city looks great, even in what felt like sub zero temperatures on a very windy Winter's day. Hopefully I'll have an opportunity to explore the city properly in 09.

If you would like to know more about Mental Health First Aid and MHFA courses the please visit my website at www.mentalhealthfirstaidnortheast.co.uk