Youth Mental Health First Aid
Ranges TEC provides a range of short courses which include First Aid, White Card, Food Safety, and Youth Mental Health First Aid.
Youth MHFA was developed by Mental Health First Aid Australia for adults to support young people aged 12-18. Youth MHFA deals with broad areas such as anxiety, depression, psychosis, as well as more predominantly youth areas such as non-suicidal self-injury, eating disorders and substance abuse.
Today, the number of young people facing mental health issues and mental illness is higher than ever. According to Beyond Blue, “Over 75% of mental health problems occur before the age of 25.” With the prevalence of mental illness, this course is valuable for any adult working with young people in a range of settings. It is encouraged for teachers, school leaders, sport coaches, scout leaders, youth leaders, and so on.
RTO Manager, Tim Allchin, facilitates this course with experience and passion.
“There’s a sense of people being disconnected and unsure of the way they fit into the world and part of that disconnection is an anxiety about mental health itself’.
Tim explains, “I think for me, it’s the same theory as physical First Aid. You are helping people stay safe and secure, until professional help comes. Mental Health First Aid, for me, it’s exactly the same. We’re providing a safe space until professional help can be sought, whatever that is, and enabling that to be the case”.
At Ranges TEC, we want to empower our students to be who they are, and our staff and teachers are equipped to care for, teach, and guide them. We allow a safe environment for mental health to be discussed and an opportunity to seek help from trusted adults. As Tim works with our students daily, he brings understanding and experience when facilitating the course for adults.
It is run as a blended program, with online pre-work and a single face-to-face session. Tim highlights, “the way that it’s put together is about bringing people’s lived experience into it. It is relatable. We discuss: What does anxiety mean for me? How do I actually make it work at our scout group? How do I actually make it work in school?”.
Some feedback we have received from past participants is the ‘sense of knowing what to do’ when prior to this training, individuals didn’t have the tools to help with mental health in young people.
“It’s about being able to engage with young people in a way that enables them to explore their feelings and identity, but doesn’t get them into unhealthy patterns that aren’t helpful. Instead, it allows them to look outside those patterns and see themselves for who they are.”
Enrolment information regarding the Youth MHFA course can be found in the ‘Youth Mental Health First Aid’ tab on our website, under ‘Short Courses.
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