10th Oct 2022
Sam Wise, Emberson Group’s Administration and Marketing Assistant, and Claire Bridges, Emberson LeadGen’s Account Director, undertook the training, provided by Bath Mind over four days in September. The course is designed to empower people to notice signs of mental ill health, encourage them to break down barriers, listen in a non-judgemental way, and signpost to support for recovery.
Claire commented, “The course was really good with an excellent course leader. At times the content was quite emotionally hard, but it has given me the confidence to have conversations around mental health and the knowledge to provide information on where to find support. I think it’ll help me spot signs earlier if people are struggling or may need to talk, and the confidence to approach them and have a conversation around mental health, to help them until they get the professional support they need”.
Sam added, “I took the MHFA course to help give me the confidence to support friends, family and colleagues with their mental health and wellbeing as well as to learn more about how to look after my own mental health. The course has given me the knowledge and tools I need to help me spot the signs if someone is struggling, be able to start the conversation with them and listen, support and signpost them to the different areas of professional help available if that is the route they choose to take”.
Clare Emberson Pratt, Emberson’s Group Managing Director, who qualified as a MHFAider a couple of years ago said, “To have qualified Mental Health First Aiders in our business is very important. We are a distributed team, so we’re not together face to face on a regular basis, so having people trained to spot the smallest sign and feel confident to reach out to somebody is very valuable. Although we are not qualified to offer advice or make any diagnoses, signposting that initial support could make all the difference to a colleague’s wellbeing. Often just knowing that someone has noticed is a massive deal”.
Details of upcoming mental health first aid courses with Bath Mind can be found on their website.