Please note that this course is now fully booked. Please email SDaniels@rjuk.org if you are interested in joining our next course in January

Accredited Youth Mental Health First Aid Training

The pandemic accelerated the already increasing rates of youth mental health problems. For those with pre-existing mental health problems, it made them worse. 50% of mental health problems start before the age of 14. Yet only 1 in 3 young people with a diagnosable mental health condition get access to NHS care and treatment. (stats from Young Minds)

What can we do as a community?

Join us online for a 4-part accredited Youth Mental Health First Aid Course. Learn about what factors influence the mental wellbeing of young people and where we as a Jewish community can help, as well as how to help young people get access to professional support. This course is ideal for anyone engaging with young people aged 8-18 in communities. It is open to anyone aged 18 and over.

The course is 4 online sessions with some preparatory work for each – you have to complete it all to gain the qualification.

What’s Youth MHFA?

This nationally-recognised qualification will develop your skills and confidence to spot the signs of mental health issues in a young person, offer first aid and guide them towards the support they need. In doing so, you can speed up a young person’s recovery and stop a mental health issue from getting worse. The course won’t teach you to be a therapist, but we will teach you to listen, reassure and respond, even in a crisis – and even potentially stop a crisis from happening. But more than that, we aim to give you the information and skills to look after your own mental health so that you can set an example for young people. By giving you the tools to have these conversations, we hope to empower you to create a mentally healthy, supportive environment in your family, school, peer group, at RSY-Netzer events and in your synagogue community.

What’s involved?

The course involves 4 online sessions, each lasting 2-2½ hours, and you will be expected to do 1-1½ hours prep before each session – this includes some reading and short films. In total the course is about 15 hours, which is the same as the two-day in-person course. You will need to attend all 4 sessions in full and complete the online preparatory activities to complete the course and gain your certificate.

Who is this for?

Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) courses are for everyone who works with, lives with or supports young people aged 8-18. RSY-Netzer and Reform Judaism are committed to promoting wellbeing and positive mental health, and are delighted to be able to offer this FREE to our leaders – madrichim, youth workers, cheder teachers, Rabbis and anyone else working with young people. We hope that at the end of the course you will feel comfortable to act as a Mental Health First Aider in RSY-Netzer or your community, and offer support as a physical first aider would do. This course is open to anyone aged 18+ who has led with us before – we will run the course again so if you can’t do it this time, hopefully there will be another opportunity.