How To Support Young People Living with Parental Mental Illness

Understand how parental mental illness can impact child

development

On this course, you’ll build a deeper understanding of the impact a parent’s mental illness can have on a child, and learn how to deliver the support they need.

This support is designed to help children and young people develop resilience, overcome adversity and avoid a range of negative outcomes in later life, such as mental ill health.

Learn how to support children living with a parent who has a mental illness

The course begins by teaching you how to identify children living with a carer suffering from mental illness. Given their vulnerability, they may not have the confidence to open up and discuss the issue and the course will equip you with the skills you need to approach and help them open up.

You’ll be introduced to various strategies you can share with young people that they can implement in their daily lives to build their resilience.

Explore society’s attitudes towards mental illness

As part of this course, you’ll also explore society’s attitude and perception towards mental health, including the phenomenon of unconscious bias.

You’ll feel empowered by the knowledge and skills to critically reflect on the challenges that children who have a parent with a mental illness face and how this impacts their childhood.

Learn from Our Time’s and UCL’s experts

This course is taught by global experts from Our Time, an organisation founded by Dr. Alan Cooklin – an internationally recognised expert on children of parents with a mental illness – in collaboration with Professors from UCL.

Our Time is the leading organisation in supporting children living with parents suffering from mental illness, and you’ll benefit from their wealth of expertise on the topic and learn using evidence-based, global research.

This course is designed for health professionals, teachers, counsellors, social workers, and anyone else working with young people. No prior experience is or knowledge is required.

• The context and impact of parental mental illness
• Introduction
• Understanding the impact of parental mental illness
• Contributing factors of mental illness
• Summary, reflection and assessment
• Supporting Young People and and their families
• Understanding and supporting children and young people who have a parent with a mental illness
• Schools Programme
• KidsTime
• Summary, reflection and assessment
• Recognising children who have a parent with a mental illness and understanding their needs
• Identifying children who have a parent with a mental illness
• Stigma and barriers
• Addressing the needs of children who have a parent with a mental illness
• Summary, reflection and assessment
• Offering practical support and building resilience
• The power of communication
• Supporting children who have a parent with a mental illness to build their own coping and resilience strategies
• Summary, reflection and assessment
• Reflection on the course and next steps