About Mental Health Midlands

Welcome to Mental Health Midlands, a training and workplace wellbeing company focusing on bettering the lives of individuals and businesses in the West Midlands. Learn more about the issues within workplaces, the services we offer and us personally.
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Mental Health in the Workplace

One in four people will suffer with mental health at some point in their life

Mental health is a broad term which includes our emotional wellbeing, how we behave and how we think. Your mental health is affected by all areas of your life from the number of hours you sleep a night to your personal relationships. There are also a wide variety of mental health conditions which can affect you – from depression to anxiety. In fact, one in four people will suffer from a mental health related illness in their lifetime.

Mental Health and Work

Did you know that most adults spend a third of their time at work? Naturally, work and the work environment therefore have a significant impact on the mental health and wellbeing of all employees in a business.

Whether it is a pre-existing mental issue that is being irritated by work related issues or a mental health condition which arises from the workplace, ensuring the continued positive mental health of employees is actually a legal responsibility of employers. As an employee your management have a responsibility to assist you in finding factors relating to mental health issues in the workplace, and as an employer you are required to find solutions to issues which may arise.

In order to effectively undertake this challenge, it is necessary for staff members to complete mental health training courses to help.

Mental Health in Wolverhampton

In Wolverhampton, access to public mental health services is deemed inadequate by members of the public. What services are available can entail long waiting periods which can severely exacerbate problems. The most reported problems in Wolverhampton include Depression, Anxiety-related disorders and bi-polar conditions. Other factors include isolation, negative relationships with family and friends and the lack of compassion and support from frontline services.

We are here to help

As part of the Mental Health First Aid group, a nationwide business network of mental health professionals led by our Chief Executive Simon Blake CEO, we provide first-rate courses for businesses. Our courses will help you to:

  • understand the potential triggers for mental health issues in the workplace,
  • understand the potential needs of those suffering with mental health issues,
  • be able to spot potential signs of mental health issues in staff members.

    I attended the two day Adult MHFA course in Wolverhampton. The course instructor Teresa was both knowledgeable and engaging. The content was not only informative, but delivered professionally and even made relatable to my specific work place. The use of activities helped break the content up into manageable sections, which helped with some of the more in depth topics. Overall the quality of training was very high. I would highly recommend to anyone seeking to learn more about how to support mental health in the work place.

    – Liam Dangerfield

    Who We Are

    Our Team & Leadership

    As a partner to “Mental Health First Aid” England, we are part of a mission to train one in ten of the population Mental Health skills. Based in Wolverhampton, we help , support and train individuals to bring Mental Health First Aid skills into their workplace. Emotional and mental health is important because it’s a vital part of your life. Mental health impacts your thoughts, behaviors and emotions. Being healthy emotionally can promote productivity and effectiveness in activities like your place of work, school or caregiving.

    Jim Brennan

    Jim Brennan

    Jim has been a trainer for the last 3 years. His experience is working with Charitable organisations helping people from difficult backgrounds overcome issues to either gain employment or move into self employment and start their own businesses.

    With a lifetime of running his own small business, advising and training people who seemed to be excluded from employment either for physical disability/social deprivation or poor mental health issues, brought home the need for a better understanding from employers and other employees.

    When Jim found the MHFA training programme, it immediately struck a chord and he saw the difference that the training could make, not only to the people involved, but also the day to day running of the business, after all “Healthy people are happier, more engaged and more productive” 

    Teresa Brennan

    Teresa Brennan

    Teresa has been a trainer and counsellor for the past 25years, most recently with Mental Health Midlands.

    Previously she worked for the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust for 24 years as a Tutor/Trainer for the Emergency Operations Centre (999 Ambulance Call Centre).

    Her role included delivering formal courses under licence NHS Pathways Triage, First Aid, and now MHFA courses.

    Teresa also has extensive experience training volunteers at clubs and schools in First Aid, Safeguarding, Mental Health and Awareness of Emergency Service i.e. what to do in case of Emergency.

    As a trained counsellor Teresa was involved in the setting up of what is now formally the Staff Ambulance Liaison Service but was initially a group of people getting whatever training they could to help support NHS colleagues in times of crisis.

    Over the years and particularly working within WMAS Teresa became more focused on Mental Health and specifically the self-care aspect and support with the early recognition. All of this has led her to MHFA. with an understanding that the world today is a very difficult place for even the toughest and fittest of us, none of us are immune to the rigours of life and yet few of us are equipped to cope when things get to much.

    F.A.Q.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Why is mental health so important?

    Third world mortality in a first world country’. This is how one expert in the field of psychiatry describes the disparity in mortality rates experienced by people with mental health problems in high-income countries like the UK.
    One in three of the 100,000 people who die prematurely each year in England have a mental illness2: on average, men with mental health problems die 20 years earlier, and women die 15 years earlier, than the general population.
    While this shortened life expectancy reflects higher rates of suicide, as well as accidental and violent fatalities, the majority of deaths in this group arise from preventable causes and could have been avoided by timely medical intervention. This is why training employees in the workplace is so essential to making a difference to the UK.

    Is mental health training on the rise in the UK?

    Research from Employee Benefits has highlighted the growing importance of mental health support to employers. The Employee Benefits/Staffcare Benefits research study surveyed 271 employers in 2017.  The research found that the popularity of counselling or employee assistance programmes (EAPs) is on the rise.

    In 2004, just 30% of survey respondents offered EAPs to staff – but in 2017, 70% of businesses now offered counselling or EAPs for employees. This growth follows increasing awareness of stress and mental wellbeing, and the impact of mental ill health on the workplace.

    What is the benefit of having training for Mental Health for the workplace?

    Mental Health First Aiders have:

    • An in-depth understanding of mental health and the factors that can affect wellbeing
    • Practical skills to spot the triggers and signs of mental health issues
    • Confidence to step in, reassure and support a person in distress
    • Enhanced interpersonal skills such as non-judgemental listening
    • Knowledge to help someone recover their health by guiding them to further support – whether that’s self-help resources, though their employer, the NHS, or a mix

    Should teachers consider attending a mental health training course?

    We know that 50% of mental health issues are established by age 14 and with the Children’s Commissioner for England reporting in 2017 that over 800,000 children experience mental health issues, the scale of the problem is clear. Is has become more popular for teachers to attend our courses to empower them with the knowledge and confidence to handle a child with mental health needs.

    Why don’t people talk about mental health?

    Awareness of mental health is increasing, but we still face a world where people with mental health problems face discrimination. Many people who experience distress try to keep their feelings hidden because they are afraid of other people’s responses.

    Fear of discrimination and feelings of shame are among the top reasons people give for not telling their colleagues about their mental health problems.

    Our mental health first aid courses are for businesses and individuals throughout the West Midlands, including but not limited to: Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall, Telford, Birmingham, Solihull, Shropshire. We hold our courses in Wolverhampton which can be easily accessed by train, bus or car.

    Contact Us

    81 Tempest Street, Wolverhampton, WV2 1AA

    07308 139 930