Mental Health First Aid is exactly what it suggests, a first aid approach to mental health. Originally conceived by Betty Kitchener and Professor Tony Jorm in Australia, the introduction of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) has become an international activity: Hong Kong, Finland, Singapore, Canada and Scotland have all introduced mental health first aid. Wales and Ireland are currently working on introducing MHFA, so along with the introduction to England, UK wide coverage will be achieved.

MHFA does not teach people to be therapists. However, it does teach people how to recognise the symptoms of mental health problems, how to provide initial help and how to guide a person towards appropriate professional help.

If you are responsible for staff, interact with the public, or just want to improve your knowledge MHFA is for you.

In England MHFA is licenced to the National Institute for Mental Health in England. This is a government body. All our instructors are accredited by NIHME.

The national website for MHFA is here. This provides more informatino about MHFA and a national register of instructors.