Workplace MH First-Contact Training
Design and practise first-contact conversations at work, without passing the cohort off as MHFA England instructor licensing.
Taught and assessed by
Ben WalkerProfile pending contract
- Live teaching
- 16h
- Self-study
- 32h
- Duration
- 8 weeks
- Weekly load
- ~6h
What you will be able to do
- Hold a first-contact conversation that signposts rather than treats
- Write a protocol your organisation could defend
- Map the conversation to HSE job-design duties, not only coping tips
- State that this pass is not MHFA England instructor licensing
- Name occupational health, EAP and crisis routes in the room
- Refuse the unofficial-therapist role
Who this is for
- HR, facilities and people-partner staff who will be asked to 'do something about mental health'
- Wellbeing leads who needed first-contact skill without borrowing a licensed brand
- Managers willing to be recorded in a helping conversation
- Anyone whose spec did not name MHFA England but still needed a defendable protocol
Who this is not for
- Anyone seeking Mental Health First Aid instructor licensing from MHFA England
- Anyone planning to treat colleagues as a therapist
- Anyone whose person spec named MHFA England instructor membership
What you need before you start
- A workplace context you can write about without identifying colleagues
- Willingness to be recorded
What you will actually learn
8 modules · 8 weeks · 16h live
The product we do not sellMHFA England licenses instructor training. We do not. First contact is still a real skill.
Covered in this module
- Who may train MHFA instructors
- What this pass will say
- Trademarks and passing off
- Who should leave now
First contact is not therapyListen, signpost, stop. The unofficial therapist is an insurance event.
Covered in this module
- The conversation
- Crisis routes
- When EAP owns the work
- Recorded practice
HSE duties still applyJob design, not a gratitude poster, is the employer duty.
Covered in this module
- Management standards
- Demands, control, support
- When first contact is a sticking plaster
- The sister wellbeing programme
Occupational health, GPs and the EAPThe routes you will name in the protocol.
Covered in this module
- What you may say
- What you must not diagnose
- Confidentiality at work
- Practice cases
Writing a protocol that can failIf it ignores workload, it fails. If it claims MHFA, it fails.
Covered in this module
- Audience
- Escalation
- Training records
- Assessment piece
Recorded conversationsA helping conversation under observation, not a script reading.
Covered in this module
- Silence
- Advice disguised as care
- Stopping
- Marked practical
When to buy MHFA anywayHow to commission the licensed product without pretending you already hold it.
Covered in this module
- MHFA England's own route
- Instructor eligibility they publish
- What we will not deliver
- Procurement language
Assessment clinicLive review of protocols and recordings against the rubric.
Covered in this module
- Common fails
- Passing off
- Resubmission
- Monday morning in HR
Dates and timetable
Workplace MH First-Contact Training runs as a live cohort over 8 weeks. Pick the start date that fits — every cohort gets the same tutor, curriculum and assessment.
| Starts | Live sessions | Cap | Status and action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ends | Fridays 12:00–14:00 UK, 8 weeks | 18 | Choose this date → |
| Ends | Fridays 12:00–14:00 UK, 8 weeks | 18 | Choose this date → |
How you are assessed
A recorded first-contact conversation, a written organisational protocol, and a scope note, marked by Ben Walker against a published rubric covering signposting, job design and the limit on treatment. Written feedback with one free resubmission. Work that claims MHFA instructor status, or that treats a colleague, does not pass.
Our accreditation applications are in progress. We do not display an accreditation mark before it is granted — see the current status.
After you pass
- Protocol templates that name MHFA as a licensed extra you may still buy
- Certificate wording that refuses the trademarked product
What is workplace mental-health first-contact training?
Live, assessed practice in listening, signposting and writing a protocol your organisation could defend. It sits beside Health and Safety Executive duties on work-related stress. It is not therapy. It is not Mental Health First Aid instructor licensing. MHFA England is the body that sells that licensed product.
Can this programme make you an MHFA instructor?
No. MHFA England states that it is the only organisation in England able to provide MHFA instructor training licensed by Mental Health First Aid International. A Guild cohort cannot be that programme. If instructor membership is what the spec named, apply to MHFA England. If you needed a first-contact protocol, that is the product here.
Sources
- MHFA England — Instructor programme — MHFA England
- HSE — Management Standards — Health and Safety Executive
Is Mental Health First Aid the same as this programme?
No. MHFA is a specific licensed curriculum. This programme is our first-contact and protocol design, mapped to job-design duties. You may still buy MHFA from MHFA England as a separate product. Completing ours does not authorise you to teach theirs, and we will fail a bio that says it does.
How is this different from Workplace Wellbeing Practitioner?
Workplace Wellbeing Practitioner assesses intervention design against HSE standards. This cohort assesses the first-contact conversation and the protocol around it. Many people will want both. Neither is MHFA instructor licensing. Neither is occupational-health training. Choose by the job you were actually asked to do.
Common questions
Why not just teach MHFA?
Because we are not licensed to. MHFA England is. Passing off their product would be the Centre of Excellence error in trademark form.
Is this a counselling qualification?
No. First contact signposts. Counselling is a different career with placement hours.
Can an internal first-contact person treat a colleague's depression?
No. Occupational health, the EAP or a GP. A longer helping conversation is not treatment.
Can I pay in instalments?
Yes. Interest-free plans total exactly £399.
Related reading
Workplace wellbeing training in the UK
What workplace wellbeing training should cover in the UK, how it differs from therapy, and why a happiness diploma is usually the wrong buy for an HR role.
SubjectWorkplace mental-health first contact
What workplace mental-health first-contact training can cover, why it is not MHFA England instructor licensing, and when to buy that product instead.
ProgrammeWorkplace Wellbeing Practitioner
An 8-week live workplace-wellbeing programme with an assessed intervention design, taught by a CIPD-chartered people professional.
CareerWorkplace mental-health first-contact roles
What a workplace mental-health first-contact role can honestly do, why it is not MHFA instructor licensing, and how it differs from being a therapist.
AnswerCan you become an MHFA instructor online?
MHFA England is the only organisation in England able to license MHFA instructor training. A generic wellness diploma cannot confer that status.
ProgrammeCounselling Skills
An 8-week live counselling-skills programme with marked recordings, taught by a BACP-registered counsellor, explicitly not counsellor training.