Mental Health Training for Helpline workers.
The ongoing lockdown and the spread of Covid outbreak is affecting the lives of millions of people living in the UK and Europe. There has been an increase in the number of people experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. The need for psychological support services and organisations offering professional mental health services is growing day by day. For helpline workers volunteering for a mental health service in Luton, the work they do can be quite challenging and there was a desperate need for a training program that would help the volunteers to strengthen their skills and enhance their knowledge. ‘Inspirited Minds’ designed and delivered a 6 hour training program for the helpline workers volunteering for ‘Seeking Sukoon’ in Luton on Sunday 7th of February 2020 from 11AM till 5PM. The volunteers who attended this training; provide mental health support over the phone to their local community by running a helpline service.
This training was designed to equip the helpline workers with necessary information and skills to handle calls from the most vulnerable members of the community. People who approach the organisation’s hotline number to seek help when they are experiencing mental health difficulty.
The helpline workers were given an opportunity to participate in role playing activities so as to enable them to handle real life situations where they come across someone who is going through any psychological distress. This webinar helped the trainees in getting a better understanding of mental health in general from a religious as well as secular perspective. There was a group of 18 people, from the age of 18 to 45 years belonging to different walks of life; such as university students, wellbeing practitioners, Civil servants, Teachers and Medical 7 science professionals.
There were 2 male and 16 female attendees. These volunteer workers are based in Luton, but due to Covid restrictions, this training was delivered online via zoom. It was an interactive session and everyone enjoyed the role-playing sessions as the scenarios presented in the session gave the trainees an insight into some challenging situations that they may come across as support workers.
Top tips:
- Show empathy and listen actively so you can offer the best support possibl
- Look after yourself first before you offer your support to others by following the 5 steps to well-being.
- Build trust and rapport with the caller.
Feedback:
“It was a great training session. I have a lot of admiration for Warisa; she is a natural at teaching!”. (Organiser)
“It was really beneficial and great presentation easy to follow with the visuals too maybe some more time for certain parts as felt a bit rushed in some would have been better and all but overall it was great Thankyou for facilitating this.” (Attendee)
“I have to confess I was not looking forward to that marathon Zoom session, never had such a long session virtually ! The time flew by, lots of information learnt ! Loved the role playing, would’ve benefitted more from further practice. I really enjoyed that !” (Attendee)
“Its was really beneficial but long would have been better if it was done in two days.” (Attendee)
“I found the practical role plays and then being advised how to deal with that situation really useful.” (Attendee)
“It was really good especially with the Islamic insight which makes it different to other MH training programmes. The hosts were lovely. I agree with the above points of the last part being a bit rushed but it was overall great, thanks for facilitating!”. (Attendee)
If you are going through a difficult time and are experiencing anything relevant to the above mentioned topic, then feel free to contact our support service including counselling. For further information please visit: Get Help
If you would like to get involved in raising awareness about mental health in your local community, we are looking to grow our outreach team to different cities around the country. We will ensure that you are fully trained and confident before running workshops & talks.
Please visit our website for more information: Vacancies
