Mental Health Academy – the largest provider of continuing professional development (CPD) education for the mental health industry in Australia – have just released a comprehensive program focusing on Psychological First Aid in disaster relief settings or situations of narrower-scale adversity.

The Psychological First Aid program is a quality 10-hour course developed by MHA in partnership with the Australian Institute of Psychology and the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors.

The program content is referenced from dozens of international, peer-reviewed publications in the areas of disaster relief, social support and critical incident counselling, and framed around the internationally accepted principals of the NCTSN Field Operations Guide.

What you will learn

The Psychological First Aid course will equip you to successfully enter a disaster relief setting or situation of narrower-scale adversity, and offer Psychological First Aid, promoting safety, calmness, empowerment, connectedness, and hope to survivors. It assumes that you know the basics of sitting with someone in distress – that is, the counselling micro-skills – although many experienced disaster volunteers are not trained mental health professionals, and indeed, those who are will see that the skill set required to successfully offer Psychological First Aid is quite different from that needed in “regular” practice.

How to access the PFA program

The PFA program (valued at $595.00) is now included as a complimentary resource exclusively to Mental Health Academy Premium members as part of their ongoing membership benefits – which also includes unlimited, unrestricted access to over 100 specialist courses and 100+ hours of video content available on-demand, 24/7.

To learn more and join, visit www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au/premium.