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Connecting with People (4 Mental Health Ltd)
4 Mental Health is the organisation behind the Connecting with People training programs and free self-help resources. These programs are designed to meet the differing mental health training needs across a broad spectrum of sectors: health and social care; statutory bodies; further and higher education; workplaces and the wider community. We are proud of our international reputation for delivery of high-quality training and delighted that our approach has been adopted by numerous organisations and sectors, both in the UK and overseas. Additionally, our approach has been recognised by gaining several awards in the UK and Australia.
Our work in suicide prevention
Our Connecting with People training programmes offer flexible, modular training informed by evidence-based principles, lived experience, and best practice. The modules cover a wide range of topics, from emotional resilience and workplace compassion to suicide and self-harm mitigation, incorporating assessment and safety planning frameworks for health and social care professionals.
Our free resources and training aim to make suicide awareness and prevention accessible to all, supporting a whole-organisation approach to responding to people in distress. Peer-reviewed by an Expert Reference Group of international experts, practitioners, people with lived experience, and third-sector specialists, our training is rooted in collaboration and expertise.
We deliver training using facilitation, lectures, discussions, and group work to break down unconscious barriers, enhance compassion, and build confidence in identifying and supporting people in emotional distress.
The Suicide Mitigation Modules focus on reducing stigma, promoting a consistent approach across sectors, and fostering collaborative assessments. This includes developing personalised risk mitigation and co-produced Safety Plans. Our SAFETool framework complements existing clinical practices to enhance safety planning.
Connecting with People training was created to:
> Provide a simple, consistent approach for statutory care, third sector, community, service users, and carers.
> Address low uptake of suicide prevention training by offering flexible delivery options, including face-to-face sessions, virtual groups, webinars, and online modules.
> Our ‘Train the Trainer’ programme enables in-house sessions tailored to CPD time or shift patterns.
> Compassion and collaboration are at the heart of everything we do.
Our current priorities
We will continue to work closely with our collaborators and organisations who deliver the Connecting with People training, to ensure that emotional wellbeing, suicide and self-harm prevention is given the highest priority and that practice is based on compassion, as well as latest thinking and best practice.
Our current challenges
Recent months have been extremely challenging for everyone and some people have been particularly affected. We are especially grateful to the members of our Expert Reference Group and trainers for their continued support, as we have developed new modules and delivery modalities to help meet current challenges. By harnessing technology, we also co-produced and developed two free self-help websites, StayingSafe.net and WellbeingAndCoping.net to ensure they are accessible to all who would benefit.