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Our Courses
Mental Health Crisis Support for General Practice
Home > Mental Health & Patient Distress Training >
Summary
In General Practice, reception and admin teams need to be empowered to provide mental health crisis support for primary care patients when they are struggling to cope. They are often the first point of contact, answering the phone when someone is in distress and helping them access the right help quickly and safely.
This course equips GP receptionists, administrators and telephone staff to understand mental health crises so they can respond with compassion, empathy and clear boundaries. It builds confidence and skills to offer calm emotional support, provide effective mental health crisis support in primary care settings, follow escalation pathways and signpost to specialist mental health services.
The course is delivered by an experienced trainer who is a qualified mental health first aider, who will ensure the psychological safety of all who attend the course.
Aims
By the end of the session, you will be able to
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Recognise signs of emotional and mental health crisis in general practice patients.
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Respond safely and compassionately using CALM strategies during a mental health crisis.
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Use supportive, trauma‑informed language with patients in distress on the phone and in person.
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Follow clear escalation pathways for patients in mental health crisis in GP surgeries.
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Signpost patients appropriately to NHS and community mental health crisis support services.
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Understand professional boundaries between reception support and specialist mental health care.
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Protect and prioritise your own wellbeing when supporting patients in emotional crisis.
How Long Is The Course?
This is a 3 hour course that can be delivered online or onsite.
Who Should Attend?
All receptionists, care navigators, administrators and telephonists working in General Practice.
Additional Information
If you would like to learn more about our team who deliver mental health training for Striding Edge, please head to our About page.
This course makes an excellent in-house training session, but will work less well for PLT sessions due to the nature of the conversations.
Delegate Feedback
Mental Health Crisis Support for General Practice
Avon LMC - 4th March 2026
12 delegates completed evaluations, each scoring 4 domains out of 6
| Learning Goals Met? | 97.2% | (70/72) |
| Effectiveness of Trainer? | 100.0% | (72/72) |
| Training Materials | 98.6% | (71/72) |
| Enjoyable? | 95.8% | (69/72) |
| Overall Over Four Areas | 97.9% | (282/288) |
Key Feedback
I found the course very helpful and informative - (LP)
I found the conversation very insightful and will be using these guidelines in my work going forward. I appreciated hearing from other colleagues ideas that they use in their own practice - (ND)
I think this session was very effective with lots of useful key points that anyone working within a GP surgery could benefit from. I attended with some colleagues which worked well for the activities as it allowed us to write our answers but then also discuss amongst ourselves during the allocated time. - (EB)
A very good course. I found it very helpful and informative. I walked away feeling a lot more confident about my skills to deal with these types of situation. It also helped to marshal my own struggles with mental health and to see them in others. - (CS)
Thank you - (MV)
Very helpful, I did learn some interesting facts, tips and ways to communicate with patients who are suffering with MH or a crisis. - (CP)
Thank you for your time, the training was very informative - (KF)
Great Course. Lots of nice ideas and time to reflect and think about how I would handle a situation when it arises. - (KS)
Katherine is a brilliant trainer, spoke clearly and listened to comments. - (LW)
Thank you - (LR)
I am feeling more confident to know how to handle a mental health crisis call - (LM)
£750 (online) / £875 (on site*)
(Displayed prices are subject to VAT)
For private group bookings of up to 15 delegates**
Prefer to book onto one of our open courses as an individual? Click here
*excluding travel cost, which can be calculated below.
**if you wish to book for a larger group, please contact us directly to discuss your requirements and get a quote.
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97%
We have an overall satisfaction score of +97% from our attendees of this course.
AI Feedback Summary
'Previous delegates have found the course to be incredibly insightful and informative, leaving them feeling more confident and equipped with valuable skills and strategies for effectively handling mental health situations in their work.'