Understanding Mental Health

Description

Recognise the signs. Respond with confidence.

3-Hour Workshop | $75 per person | Perth | Take-Home Resources | Certificate of Attendance

When should we be concerned?
School staff are often among the first people to notice when something isn’t quite right. Maybe a student who usually participates has become quiet and withdrawn. Attendance starts slipping. Their work changes. They’re more irritable, emotional or exhausted. Or perhaps there isn’t one obvious sign at all: just a sense that this student isn’t themselves.
Mental health doesn’t always look the way we expect it to, particularly in children and adolescents. This workshop introduces some of the more common mental health conditions affecting young people and looks at the ways they can present at school. We’ll explore early warning signs, changes worth paying attention to and the difference between the normal ups and downs of adolescence and something that may need further support.

Starting the conversation
Noticing something is one thing. Knowing how to approach the student is another.
What do you say? How much should you ask? What happens if they tell you something you weren’t expecting? And where does your responsibility as an educator begin and end?
We’ll work through practical ways to have supportive conversations, respond compassionately and maintain appropriate professional boundaries.

Knowing what happens next
Supporting a student’s mental health doesn’t mean becoming their counsellor. It means knowing how to create a psychologically safe environment, recognise when additional support may be needed and help connect that student with the right people.
You’ll leave with greater confidence to notice, respond and support, without feeling like you need to have all the answers.

Who is it for?
Teachers, Education Assistants, Student Services, Learning Support, Wellbeing Staff, Year Coordinators, School Leaders, Parents, Carers and Tutors.

Are you a teacher?
This workshop is mapped to relevant focus areas of the Professional Standards for Teachers in Western Australia and may contribute towards your professional learning requirements.

APST Focus Areas: 1.1 | 4.1