With a little guidance, most of us can have a supportive conversation about how someone else is feeling and what might help.

Supportive conversations:

  • help people to feel listened to and less isolated.

  • help people to think about who and what else might help e.g., a therapist or GP

  • help people to consider ways in which they can support themselves.

In my experience of training Mental Health First Aiders, the biggest barriers to supportive conversations are:

  • confidence, as in not knowing what to say

  • worrying that you will have to fix the problem.

Increasing your knowledge and experience

Mental Health First Aid training isn’t about being a therapist and it doesn’t make you a mental health or wellbeing expert.

Training helps to increase your knowledge and confidence to have conversations that matter with the people you care about.

The Mental Health First Aider role mainly involves:

  • listening without judging
  • being supportive
  • signposting to help and resources.

You’re not expected to be a therapist

We leave the complex matters to the experts.

Also, just knowing that you are not responsible for fixing the situation can make a conversation seem a lot less daunting.

If you have any questions about Mental Health First Aid, feel free to get in touch.

If you’d like to train with me: