How Mental Health First Aid can help holistic, wellbeing and non-clinical practitioners recognise mental health problems, respond with confidence and guide people towards appropriate support.
Holistic, wellbeing and non-clinical practitioners are regularly told to work within their scope of practice and refer when someone needs support beyond their training. It is good advice, but there is an important question sitting underneath it: how do you know when it is time to refer if you haven’t been given enough understanding of mental health to recognise when someone may need additional help?
People don’t arrive neatly separated into categories of physical health, mental health and wellbeing. Someone might see a naturopath for help with their health, a coach because they feel stuck, a hypnotherapist because they want to change a behaviour, or a meditation teacher because they are struggling with stress. That same person might also be experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma or another mental health problem.
The practitioner doesn’t need to diagnose them. But they do need enough understanding to recognise when something may be going on that needs a different kind of support.
Knowing your scope is only part of it
Most practitioners understand the basic idea of scope of practice. Work within your training and competence, and when something falls outside that, refer to someone appropriately qualified.
Professional associations reinforce this. Meditation Australia, for example, states that meditation teachers need to recognise the limits of their competence and refer to appropriate health practitioners when necessary (Meditation Association of Australia, n.d.-b).
But being told to “refer when necessary” assumes that a practitioner can recognise when it is necessary.
Someone can be very responsible about their professional boundaries and still not recognise that a client may be experiencing a mental health problem. They may have no intention of working outside their scope, but if they have had very little mental health education, how confident would they be recognising when someone’s anxiety may be more than everyday stress? Would they notice signs that someone isn’t coping as well as they appear to be? Would they know what to do if someone disclosed suicidal thoughts? Would they feel confident starting a conversation when they were concerned?
These aren’t questions about turning non-clinical practitioners into mental health professionals. They are about giving practitioners enough understanding to recognise when somebody may need more help than they can provide.
What does the research tell us?
Australian research suggests this is a real issue for at least some parts of the practitioner community.
A 2024 study looked at 257 complementary medicine practitioners who were caring for people with a mental health diagnosis. It found that 59.1% had no formal mental health qualification, and more than half felt their original education hadn’t included enough mental health content to prepare them for practice. Practitioners also felt less confident when it came to more complex mental health problems and suicide risk (Harnett et al., 2024).
The study focused on complementary medicine practitioners, so it doesn’t represent every holistic, wellbeing or non-clinical profession. But it does highlight something important. People with mental health problems are already seeking support from practitioners outside the traditional mental health professions, and some of those practitioners don’t feel adequately prepared for it.
That becomes particularly important when practitioners are also expected to recognise their professional boundaries and refer appropriately.
Think about how physical First Aid works
Physical First Aid is already a normal requirement across a number of Australian complementary and wellbeing professions.
The Naturopaths & Herbalists Association of Australia requires practising members to maintain First Aid certification. The Australian Natural Therapists Association requires members to maintain HLTAID011 Provide First Aid, and Meditation Australia also requires members to maintain current First Aid training (Australian Natural Therapists Association, n.d.; Meditation Association of Australia, n.d.-a; Naturopaths & Herbalists Association of Australia, n.d.).
Mental Health First Aid Training – National Accreditation
REGISTER YOUR INTEREST.
Nobody expects a practitioner to become a doctor or paramedic because they have completed a First Aid course. The purpose is much more practical. They learn enough to recognise when something may be wrong, provide initial support and know when further help is needed.
Mental Health First Aid follows a similar idea. It teaches people how to recognise signs and symptoms of common mental health problems, how to approach someone they are concerned about, how to provide initial support and how to encourage someone to seek appropriate professional help.
For practitioners already working closely with people, that knowledge can help fill the space between knowing they should refer and knowing when a referral may actually be needed.
Recognising when someone needs more help
A coach might notice that what looks like a lack of motivation could be connected to something more serious. A meditation teacher may become concerned about changes in someone’s behaviour or mental state. A naturopath may have a client disclose that they are struggling emotionally. A hypnotherapist may realise that a client’s needs have moved beyond the work they originally came for.
These situations aren’t unusual simply because the practitioner works outside a clinical mental health setting. Mental health can enter the room regardless of why somebody originally sought support.
This is where greater mental health knowledge can make a practical difference. Recognising possible signs of a mental health problem, knowing how to approach the person, being able to offer initial support and understanding how to encourage appropriate professional help can make it easier for practitioners to respond without moving beyond their role.
Some areas of the wellbeing sector are already recognising this. The Yoga Foundation requires teachers working with people experiencing mental illness, significant anxiety or depression, or trauma to hold Mental Health First Aid certification alongside their yoga training and experience (The Yoga Foundation, n.d.). Coaching organisations have also developed guidance to help coaches recognise when a client’s needs may have moved beyond coaching and when referral to a mental health professional may be appropriate (International Coaching Federation, n.d.).
Further education isn’t always about doing more
Further practitioner education is often about adding something: another modality, another technique, another qualification or another way of helping people. But becoming better equipped doesn’t always mean expanding what a practitioner does.
It can also mean becoming better at recognising the edges of the work already being done.
For holistic, wellbeing and non-clinical practitioners, greater understanding of mental health can help make those edges clearer. It can help practitioners recognise when something may be beyond their role, feel more confident having a conversation when they are concerned and know how to guide someone towards appropriate support.
Mental Health First Aid offers one practical way of developing that knowledge. It isn’t about expanding what a practitioner treats. It is about being better prepared for the people who are already walking through the door.
If practitioners are going to be told to work within their scope and refer when necessary, they also need the knowledge to recognise when necessary has arrived.
References
Australian Natural Therapists Association. (n.d.). Frequently asked questions.https://www.australiannaturaltherapistsassociation.com.au/about/frequently-asked-questions/
Harnett, J. E., Leach, M. J., Karzon, R., & McIntyre, E. (2024). Mental health literacy and education of complementary medicine practitioners: A cross-sectional study. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 51(2), 217–225. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-023-01339-x
International Coaching Federation. (n.d.). Referring a client to therapy or other helping professionals.https://coachingfederation.org/
Meditation Association of Australia. (n.d.-a). Code of ethics, conduct and rules of association.https://meditationaustralia.org.au/membership/code-ethics-conduct-rules-association/
Meditation Association of Australia. (n.d.-b). Formal scope of practice. https://meditationaustralia.org.au/formal-scope-practice/
Naturopaths & Herbalists Association of Australia. (n.d.). Full membership application. https://nhaa.org.au/why-join/full-membership-application/
The Yoga Foundation. (n.d.). Teachers. https://www.theyogafoundation.org.au/teachers
Mental Health First Aid Training – National Accreditation
COMING 2027. REGISTER YOUR INTEREST.
FIRST AID mental health education for individuals, practitioners, teams and organisations.