Mental Health Training for Managers: What you need to know:
Equip your people leaders to lead well. A 90-minute manager-only workshop that gives line managers the practical confidence to spot mental health concerns early, hold the conversation skilfully, and know when to escalate.
This 90-minute manager-only workshop equips your people leaders to spot mental health concerns in their teams early, hold the wellbeing conversation skilfully, and know when to escalate. Designed and delivered by highly accredited coaches and mental health professionals with corporate experience — not generalist trainers reading from a deck.
Built on the ALGEE framework (the globally-recognised five-step approach underpinning Mental Health First Aid), the session combines proven structure with sector-specific case studies and a pre/post measurement layer that most workplace mental health training simply doesn’t include.
90 minutes. In-person UK or virtual worldwide. Tailored to your sector.
Who this manager mental health training is for:
This is a manager-only session. It’s designed for:
- Line managers with one or more direct reports — the front line of mental health support in any organisation
- Senior managers who manage other managers — they need both the skills themselves and the confidence to model them
- People Leads and HRBPs who coach managers through difficult conversations
- Leadership teams who want to set the tone for how mental health is handled across the business
We typically deliver to groups of 15–25 managers per session — small enough that everyone gets to practise the harder bits, large enough to make the economics work. Larger organisations often run the workshop two or three times across cohorts.
For whole-team sessions, see Mental health awareness for everyone.
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What your managers will learn:
The workshop is built around the ALGEE framework — the globally-recognised five-step approach to recognising and supporting mental health concerns at work, originally developed for Mental Health First Aid and now widely used in workplace mental health training. Each step gets practical tools, language, and case-based practice.
Before ALGEE, we start with the manager.
You can’t support others from an empty cup. The session opens with a private manager wellbeing self-assessment, the thriving / coping / struggling / crisis mental health continuum, and the C.I.A. filter (Control / Influence / Accept) as a tool for managing mental overload. Manager wellbeing is the foundation — not an add-on at the end.
Then we explore the five ALGEE steps:
A — Approach, Assess, Assist.
Recognising the early signs in your team. The behavioural patterns that precede a mental health concern — changes in mood, energy, engagement, behaviour, concentration, communication. Specific signs to look for in remote and hybrid teams (camera off more often, slower replies, withdrawal, late-night messages, irritability). Plus the “burnout hidden behind performance” pattern, where the person struggling most is still delivering on the surface — and how to spot it.
L — Listen non-judgementally. The single skill most managers say they wish they had. Why managers avoid the conversation (the five common barriers), how to open it without being clumsy, what to listen for, the language that helps versus the language that closes things down. Includes ready-to-use opening phrases and what to say when someone discloses something difficult.
G — Give reassurance and information. What reassurance sounds like, what information actually helps (clarifying priorities, reviewing workload, explaining next steps), and how to support without over-promising. The skill of reducing anxiety with clarity rather than platitudes.
Next we explore:
E — Encourage appropriate professional support. The boundary between line management and clinical support — where managers most often go wrong, either over-stepping or under-stepping. We map your specific escalation routes (EAP, HRBP, occupational health, internal wellbeing resources) so managers leave with a clear decision tree for “what’s mine, what’s HR’s, what’s clinical.”
E — Encourage self-help and other support strategies. What managers can actually do at the team and workload level — clearer priorities, real breaks, reduced out-of-hours pressure, earlier conversations, healthier extra-mile habits. Plus what GOOD support looks like in practice (notice early, listen, encourage; not fix, carry, solve everything).
A case study to close
The session closes with a bespoke case study relevant to your specific industry, where managers apply all five ALGEE steps to a realistic scenario, and a personal commitment exercise. Every manager leaves with one specific action they’ll take differently.
How it’s different from generic manager training
Three things that matter to L&D and People teams when they’re comparing providers:
1. Built on the ALGEE framework, not invented theory.
The session uses ALGEE — the globally-recognised five-step approach (Approach/Assess, Listen, Give reassurance, Encourage professional support, Encourage self-help) that underpins Mental Health First Aid worldwide. Generic manager mental health training often relies on unbranded models cobbled together by trainers; we use the framework HR teams already trust.
2. Designed by accredited specialists, not generalist trainers.
The workshop is built and delivered by accredited mental health professionals and coaches who hold this content with the right expertise. Generalist trainers can deliver awareness; they often can’t safely handle the harder material when it surfaces in the room — and it always does. Our facilitators can.
3. Built around your escalation routes and your sector.
Most manager mental health training references “your EAP” without naming what it means in practice and uses the same generic case studies for every client. We brief carefully on your specific escalation routes — EAP provider, HR contacts, occupational health, return-to-work process — and bring case studies from your sector into the session so the content lands as directly relevant. This is where managers most often disengage from generic training; we fix it in design.
4. Measurable, not vibes-based.
Pre-session pulse measures baseline confidence on the five competencies. Post-session pulse measures shift. 90-day check-in measures application. You get a one-page report showing where confidence moved most, where it didn’t, and what to focus on in any follow-up.
Often booked alongside team wellbeing training, this is the manager-specific skill layer that turns wellbeing strategy into manager capability.
What Clients say
Mental Health for Managers was by far the most insightful and useful workshop we’ve ever had. I think it’s brilliant to take the time to talk about mental health in the workplace.
The trainer was brilliant, and the session was super engaging (with her energy and the interaction encouragement). I believe that everyone found it helpful and it was invaluable to have guidance on dealing with mental health and wellness at work. There are so many things that we can take into our HR conversations too.
One of the best presentations of this type I have ever been to. Loved how interactive it was.
When this training is the right fit:
- You’re seeing the cost of unsupported managers. Disclosure happening too late, sickness absences escalating, exit interviews citing manager support, EAP referrals coming in only at crisis point.
- Mental Health Awareness Week or World Mental Health Day is approaching. Manager training is the most-asked-for MHAW/WMHD investment by HR teams who’ve moved past the “raise awareness” stage.
- You’re rolling out a new wellbeing strategy. Manager training is the multiplier — without it, the strategy stops at HR.
- You’ve done team mental health workshops and want to go further. Team workshops build literacy; manager training builds recognition, conversation, and escalation skill. They complement each other.
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Particularly relevant for: financial services and professional services firms with high-pressure cultures; tech and growth-stage companies where managers were recently promoted into the role; healthcare and public sector with high frontline pressure; charities where vicarious trauma is part of the work
How this workshop pairs with others
Manager training is the multiplier. It pairs naturally with:
- Book with the Mental Fitness Hour for the whole-workforce companion piece. Manager training builds the recognition + conversation + escalation skill; Mental Fitness Hour builds the literacy across the team. Most-booked combination for MHAW programmes.
- Pair with the Employee Burnout Workshop — burnout is one of the most common mental health concerns managers need to spot and respond to. Pairing them gives managers both general training and a specific deep-dive.
- Have with Psychological Safety at Work — the conditions that determine whether team members actually disclose to their manager. Manager training without psychological safety underneath it doesn’t reach the people who need it most.
- Pair with Stress Management for teams where workload pressure is the primary mental health driver.
A common configuration: Mental Health Training for Managers + Mental Fitness Hour (whole team) + Employee Burnout Workshop as a complete mental health programme. Tell us your context on the discovery call.
Curious about the role managers play in shaping workplace wellbeing?
Research consistently shows that leadership behaviour has one of the biggest influences on employee mental health, engagement and psychological safety.
Read our blog: Why Managers Are the Biggest Lever for Workplace Wellbeing to explore why manager capability is so critical — and how organisations are supporting leaders to navigate these conversations with confidence.
Unsure how to spot the signs of burnout amongst your teams? Read our blog: How to spot burnout in your team — the signs HR often misses.
Mental Health Training for Managers: FAQs
About the training methodology
Is this Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training?
Not the full MHFA accredited programme — but we use the ALGEE framework that underpins it. ALGEE is the most widely-validated framework for first-line mental health support, originally developed by Mental Health First Aid International. Our 90-minute session is built around ALGEE in a manager-specific format, distilled for everyday line management rather than designated first aiders. Many organisations run both: STC’s session as the whole-manager-population skill layer, MHFA for designated first aiders. The two complement each other.
Do managers need to disclose anything personal during the session?
No. There’s a brief private manager wellbeing self-assessment near the start — a silent scoring exercise on energy, boundaries and personal support. It’s private; nobody is asked to share unless they choose to. Beyond that, managers practise the conversation skills on case scenarios rather than their own situations. We’re explicit about this at the start so the room stays comfortable.
Integration and impact
How does this fit with our existing wellbeing strategy?
Most organisations layer this as the manager-skill component alongside team-level mental health workshops, EAP provision and (if relevant) MHFA. We can run this as a standalone session, as part of a broader manager development programme, or as a cohort series timed around Mental Health Awareness Week or World Mental Health Day. The workshop slots cleanly into whatever wellbeing infrastructure you already have.
What happens after the workshop?
Every manager leaves with a one-page reference card and the conversation framework. A post-session pulse measures confidence shift across the five ALGEE competencies. We follow up with you within a week with a summary of pulse results and any specific themes that came up. For organisations who want ongoing reinforcement, we run quarterly manager office hours as part of a signature programme.
Can this be tailored to our specific sector?
Yes — and we recommend it. We brief carefully on your escalation routes (EAP, HRBP, occupational health, return-to-work processes) and adapt case studies to your sector: financial services, professional services, tech, healthcare, public sector, retail, media, charities. Tailoring typically adds 2-3 days to the lead time and lands significantly better with participants than generic examples.
Delivery and cost
Can you deliver this to global manager cohorts?
Yes. Virtual delivery is available globally — we’ve delivered manager mental health training to teams across North America, Europe, the Middle East and APAC. For organisations with very dispersed leadership, we typically run the same session twice in different time zones rather than asking everyone to attend one slot. In-person delivery is UK-focused.
How much does Mental Health Training for Managers cost?
Pricing depends on delivery format (virtual vs in-person), cohort size, level of tailoring and whether you’re booking standalone or as part of a programme. Multi-cohort bookings are priced more favourably than one-off sessions. Book a discovery call and we’ll send a specific quote within 48 hours — no hidden fees.
BOOK MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING FOR MANAGERS
If you’re investing in your managers (and you should be, because manager support is the single biggest determinant of whether your wellbeing strategy actually reaches the team) let’s talk.
Part of a wider Workplace Mental Health Conversation
Many clients book this workshop alongside our Mental Health Training for All Employees. With more senior members of staff joining Mental Health for Managers and all other employees attending the ‘All employees’ training.
This training also pairs naturally with:
Psychological Safety at work:
The leadership-level workshop that complements this one. Manager training is about supporting individual mental health; psychological safety is about building the team conditions where mental health is sustainable