--- title: Workplace MH First-Contact Training url: https://thestudyguild.com/programmes/workplace-mh-first-contact type: programme published: 2026-08-13 last_reviewed: 2026-08-13 reviewed_by: ben-walker publisher: The Study Guild --- # Workplace MH First-Contact Training An 8-week live first-contact programme for workplaces, taught by an occupational psychologist who will not sell MHFA England's licensed product. ## Programme facts - Price: £399 (payment plans available, never discounted) - Format: Live online + self-paced - Live contact hours: 16 - Expected self-study hours: 32 - Duration: 8 weeks - Level: All levels - Tutor: ben-walker ## Learning outcomes - 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 ## Curriculum 1. **The product we do not sell** — MHFA England licenses instructor training. We do not. First contact is still a real skill. Topics: Who may train MHFA instructors; What this pass will say; Trademarks and passing off; Who should leave now 2. **First contact is not therapy** — Listen, signpost, stop. The unofficial therapist is an insurance event. Topics: The conversation; Crisis routes; When EAP owns the work; Recorded practice 3. **HSE duties still apply** — Job design, not a gratitude poster, is the employer duty. Topics: Management standards; Demands, control, support; When first contact is a sticking plaster; The sister wellbeing programme 4. **Occupational health, GPs and the EAP** — The routes you will name in the protocol. Topics: What you may say; What you must not diagnose; Confidentiality at work; Practice cases 5. **Writing a protocol that can fail** — If it ignores workload, it fails. If it claims MHFA, it fails. Topics: Audience; Escalation; Training records; Assessment piece 6. **Recorded conversations** — A helping conversation under observation, not a script reading. Topics: Silence; Advice disguised as care; Stopping; Marked practical 7. **When to buy MHFA anyway** — How to commission the licensed product without pretending you already hold it. Topics: MHFA England's own route; Instructor eligibility they publish; What we will not deliver; Procurement language 8. **Assessment clinic** — Live review of protocols and recordings against the rubric. Topics: Common fails; Passing off; Resubmission; Monday morning in HR ## Assessment 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. ## Upcoming cohorts - 2027-01-22 to 2027-03-12 — Fridays 12:00–14:00 UK, 8 weeks (open, cap 18) - 2027-04-16 to 2027-06-04 — Fridays 12:00–14:00 UK, 8 weeks (open, cap 18) ## 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](https://mhfaengland.org/instructors/programme/) — MHFA England - [HSE — Management Standards](https://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/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. --- Source: https://thestudyguild.com/programmes/workplace-mh-first-contact · The Study Guild