Free Mental Health Resources: Essential Guide for Schools

How do you know if free mental health and wellbeing resources are any good?

The internet is awash with free resources for mental health and wellbeing, especially those for teachers and schools. A quick google and you will find a whole load of resources for school mental health and wellbeing.  

It can be hard to know which ones will be helpful to use, or how to tell if these resources are any good at all. This can be very annoying especially if you are a busy senior mental health lead or teacher tasked with running a mental health and wellbeing lesson, workshop or programme. When all you just want is to find some resources you can use quickly and easily that you know will work.

We're here to help you separate the wheat from the chaff. In this article, we'll give you some practical tips on how to evaluate free mental health resources making sure they are evidence-based and fit your needs and the needs of the children and young people you support.

Here are our top tips to consider when evaluating free mental health resources for your school:

Focus of the resource

When you're looking for mental health resources, it's important to consider how you want to use them to find something helpful and that will work. Do you need to help teenagers to manage anxiety? Or are you looking for ways to help children improve their overall wellbeing?

Some mental health resources are designed to focus on specific mental health conditions, while others take a more general approach to mental wellbeing. It's important to find resources that fit the specific needs of your school or setting. Not all free wellbeing resources will be appropriate for your needs so understanding the focus will help you use them more effectively.

Credibility and evidence base

When it comes to mental health, it's important to make sure the resources you're using are evidence-based. That means they are backed by research and proven to be effective.

You can check if a resource is evidence-based by looking for information about the research that has been conducted on it. The best mental health resources are based on research that has been developed and rigorously tested in scientific and psychological studies.

For example, our free mental health resources are all based on the science of wellbeing positive psychology and coaching psychology that has been applied in educational settings. This is known as positive education.

Our free wellbeing resources draw upon my published academic research and the work of other positive psychologists and coaching psychologists. The framework we use the most is the SEARCH pathways to wellbeing by Professor Lea Waters and her team. This wellbeing framework has been adapted from research with over 18000 participants and 10 years of work in 100s of schools globally.  It is the most robust framework for developing positive mental health and wellbeing in educational settings and schools.

Aspects of mental health and wellbeing

As we mentioned before, mental health is unique to each individual. What works for one child, may not work for another. This is why it's important to have a range of mental health resources at your disposal, so you can find what works best for the children and young people you support.

Wellbeing is what is known as a multidimensional construct. This means there are several dynamic processes involved that enable someone to develop good wellbeing or positive mental health. In the field of positive psychology, this is known as flourishing. The video below (a wellbeing resource - see what we did there!) explains the aspects of wellbeing that develop flourishing.

Resources that help develop wellbeing

The 4 areas of the dynamic model of wellbeing can help you understand the aspect of wellbeing you will be improving with that resourse and if that resource is suitable for your school or setting.

You can review resources to see if they fit into these 4 areas.

• Resources that help you feel good, day to day and overall, these include positive emotions, the ability to feel joy and contentment
• Resources that help you function well, include strategies that help you to meet personal needs and make decisions and behaviours that are good for you and the people around you.
• Teachable strategies for wellbeing and positive mental health such as helpful thinking strategies, coping strategies, and how to be resilient or optimistic. This is where the SEARCH pathways to wellbeing can support the teaching of strategies for wellbeing and mental health.
• Resources that support the context or environment children are in that enable children to thrive and flourish. Resources that support schools to develop a culture of mental health, wellbeing and mental health curriculum are ideally applied as part of a whole school approach. Accessing our DfE-assured Wellbeing Club enables schools to use mental health tools and resources that develop a whole-school approach.
  

Quality mental health and wellbeing resources

When it comes to mental health resources, quality is just as important as evidence-base. That means checking

• The qualifications of the author. Do they have any relevant qualifications or experience in the field of children and young people's mental health? If not, then it's likely that the resource isn't going to be as helpful as one from a qualified professional.
• The content of the resource. Is it well-written and informative? Are there any glaring errors or omissions?
• How up-to-date the resource is. Mental health knowledge changes over time, so you want to make sure you're getting information that is current and relevant.
  

Format and accessibility

The format is another important consideration. Some people prefer downloadable pdfs, while others prefer watching videos or listening to podcasts. There are also mental health apps and online programme available such as our Wellbeing Resource Toolkit which provides 20 downloadable resources and a train-the-trainer course to share wellbeing activities with children and young people. Consider what format you would prefer to use and what would be most helpful in your practice.

Appropriate for children and young people's ages and needs

When it comes to mental health and wellbeing, one size does not fit all. What works for one child or young person might not work for another. It's important to find resources that fit the unique needs and preferences of your role or school. Consider these tips

• The tone of the resource. Is it respectful and sensitive to different cultures and experiences? Or is it judgmental and shaming?
• Do you have an idea of how the resource has been designed to support use and the aspect of mental health and wellbeing it aims to support?
• What age group is the resource appropriate for? And is it appropriate for different mental health needs? For example, developing gratitude is a popular activity you can find in many free wellbeing resources for schools however research tells us that using gratitude as an intervention for people with trauma or depression can make them feel worse. Another popular approach that has recently been found not to be effective as a universal approach secondary schools in the UK is mindfulness, whereas mindfulness can be used successfully with children and adults.
• Some mental health resources are better than others. It's important to find ones that are high quality, evidence-based, and appropriate for your needs. Mindful colouring maybe easy to use as a resource, but it is it filling time with busy work rather than something effective?
• How easy the resource is to use. Can you implement the tips and advice in your work with children and young people?  Do you understand or can you identify the aspect or wellbeing or mental health it is supporting with?
  

Quantity

When it comes to supporting mental health and wellbeing you may want to find ALL the free resources, but we always advocate quality over quantity. Just because something is free it doesn't mean it is good or useful.

Less can be more impactful when applied strategically and consistently. When we work with schools we advise they develop 1-3 approaches that protect mental health and promote wellbeing at any one time. We advise they choose an approach that fits their needs and develop this across the school culture so it becomes embedded, some suggestions include:

• kindness
• compassion
• active listening
• empathy
• trust
• belonging
• positive relationships
• strengths
• coaching
  

Who is using the resource?

It's critical to know how to make the most of a resource if you want it to work effectively. This includes using wit with a nuanced understanding. Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet mental health resource that is going to miraculously 'fix' someone's mental health. Resources are merely a tool to build effective strategies (of which there should be a range). Usually, the reason a resource works is that the relationship the person has with the child or young person is an amplifier of the ideas or strategies that the resource provides.

There are a lot of free mental health resources available online, but it can be tricky to know which ones are helpful. By considering the factors mentioned above, you can weed out the less helpful resources and find ones that are more likely to be helpful for the children and young people you work with.

Wellbeing resources for schools

If you're looking for wellbeing resources for schools, we've got you covered. All of our mental health and wellbeing resources are specifically designed to be used in educational settings with children and young people.

If you're looking for our free mental health resources, check out our resource hub.  If you would like to use our toolkit of evidenced base positive education resources then access our wellbeing resources toolkit.