Psychological First Aid Training

It is uncertain times for us all and we need to remember that it is vitally important that we protect the health, safety and well being of our workforce. This is especially important for key workers who are working on the front line in order to keep all of us safe. Our Psychological First Aid training is now being delivered via live webinar sessions to NHS Trusts and a large number of organisations across the United Kingdom to ensure we are safeguarding and supporting our heroes wherever and whenever we can.

Psychological First Aid Training

Psychological First Aid Training is delivered as a stand alone course and also forms part of our 5 Day Post Critical Incident Stress Debrief Training.

Psychological first aid (PFA): Humane, supportive response to a fellow human being who is suffering and who may need support. It entails basic, non-intrusive pragmatic care with a focus on listening but not forcing talk, assessing needs and concerns, ensuring that basic needs are met, encouraging social support from significant others and protecting from further harm (WHO, 2010).

Stress management: Psychological treatments that use cognitive or behavioural techniques (e.g. relaxation, stress inoculation training) that do not focus on the traumatic event (Bisson & Andrew, 2007).

Symptoms of acute stress: Psychological symptoms in the first month after exposure to potentially traumatic events.

This training introduces a range of practical techniques that individuals can use to deal with stress and reduce it to a manageable level.

This training is delivered over 12 hours and focuses on identifying and managing stress and the effects of stress upon people at work and in their own lives.

Programme objective and content

The aims of this programme are to facilitate an appreciation of the complex range of symptoms that a person can experience when stressed whilst also examining the reasons why people experience and deal with stress differently.

It will then enable the learners to recognise and manage their own stress through a range of validated techniques that build both resilience and improve coping.

This programme includes content on: understanding stress and an individual’s response to stressful situations, coping with stress, stress at work, emotional intelligence, mindfulness, stress, negative thinking and psychological first aid.

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

• Define what stress is
• Explain what is meant by stress and work-related stress.
• Identify the symptoms of stress
• Explain the typical causes of stress in the workplace and at home.
• Undergo a stress risk assessment.
• Understand the importance of controlling stress and know how to cope with stress when it arises
• Identify what changes can be made in the workplace and at home in order to deal with the causes and effects of stress
  

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Psychological First Aid 

Day 1

• Define stress
• Explain the difference between distress and eustress
• List the symptoms that may result from distress
• Assess own vulnerability to stress
• Describe positive coping methods for dealing with stress
• Outline the relaxation techniques of controlled breathing, progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery
• Practice controlled breathing, progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery

Day 2

• Describe the factors that can produce stress at work
• Assess own work-related stress
• Explain the concept of emotional intelligence
• Assess own emotional intelligence
• Describe the concept of mindfulness
• Practice breath meditation