Themed around Burnout
We recently hosted our quarterly MHFA Meet-Up, led by our MHFA lead trainer Nicky Morgan.
We welcomed 15 Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAider) from a range of different organisations, who have all trained with POINT3 Wellbeing over the years.
Our MHFA Meet-Ups are free-to-attend and are designed to provide a safe environment for individuals from different organisations to share the challenges and successes they’ve experienced in their role as an MHFAider.
Prior to everyone in the group having the opportunity to share, we kicked off the session by exploring burnout and its impact in the workplace at this moment in time. An important topic when the data is suggesting that at least 1 in 2 of us will have experienced burnout in the past year.
Some of those who joined the session did flag that they had indeed spotted the signs of burnout in their colleagues. Whilst we may not always be able to encourage our colleagues to open up – certainly a frustration felt by some – the role of the MHFAider is to show you are a compassionate and caring person who is there to listen if and when the time is right and to be able to signpost the individual on to further support as required.
On to some of the challenges felt by our MHFA community. Some shared the feeling that their company had just “ticked the box” on mental health by training MHFAiders and the difficulty when it comes to supporting remote workers.
Others in the session shared that they’ve faced similar challenges within their organisation and ways that they have overcome this. This really is the power of these sessions. It’s rare that there’s someone that hasn’t experienced a similar challenge, and it’s inspiring to hear how others deal with these challenges, helping to embed the training into the culture of an organisation.
This was also an opportunity to share some of the successes, which included regular MHFA meet-ups, lunch and learn initiatives, and how small moments of compassion and connection do contribute to culture change.
We wrapped the session by discussing the main role of the MHFAider – which we hope removes some of the pressure that people will feel with the responsibility of the role. Simply put, the MHFAider is firstly looking to help normalise the conversation around mental health, in turn breaking down the stigma that still shrouds it. And secondly, to support those in need. The impact we hope is that collectively the MHFA community encourages psychologically safe workplaces which provides a foundation for people to flourish.
A huge thank you to all who joined the session and for the invaluable and vulnerable contributions.
For those of our MHFA community who are yet to join a session – this is an opportunity to meet up with fellow MHFAiders, to learn from each other and most importantly to remember that you are not alone. Most of all we hope it helps you feel supported and empowered in your role as a Mental Health First Aider.
We look forward to hosting our next MHFA Meet-Up in the near future and hope to welcome you along then.
If you have any questions or challenges in your MHFAider role then we’re here to help. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of the POINT3 Wellbeing team.
To find out more about our Mental Health First Aid courses, click here.