• Older Person Mental Health First Aid (OMHFA)

The 12-hour Older Person Mental Health First Aid course is for any interested adult, particularly those who work with, live with or care for older people, including families and carers. You will learn how to assist a person aged 65+ who may be experiencing a mental health problem or mental health crisis until appropriate professional help is received or the crisis resolves, using a practical, evidence based action plan. This course is based on guidelines developed through the expert consensus of people with lived experience of mental health problems and professionals.

All instructors of this course are trained by MHFA Australia.

• Counselling First Aid (CFA)
  Please Note: This course will be available from July 2021

Be prepared with greater confidence, skills and strategies so you can assist friends, family and co-workers experiencing emotional issues. What is counselling 1st Aid? Counselling 1st Aid is for you to use in your workplace, with your friends or at home with your family. You don’t need to be a trained counsellor to use these skills. Counselling 1st Aid gives you the skills and knowledge needed to support someone who may be in crisis or in need of emotional support, until they can get the appropriate professional help they need.

What will you learn?

• Some common signs and symptoms of mental illness
• Crises overview-what is a crisis and how to respond when you’re a first aid counsellor
• Trauma overview-simple strategies for first responders
• Values, ethics and beliefs and how they affect your response to people
• Basic counselling skills for everyday conversations-skills including building rapport, active listening and questioning
• Conversational reframing
• Introduction to Narrative Practice
• De-escalation strategies
• Suicidal thoughts and behaviours – how to respond as a first aider
• Referring to appropriate professional help
• Boundaries & self-care
• Role plays and skills practice included throughout the training.