Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care
Sorry you missed this course in 2026. Register your interest below for 2027: Gain youth-specific skills and strategies to support young people experiencing mental ill-health.
$990.00 (inc GST)
What you will learn
Gain contemporary skills and knowledge for your job now.
There is a growing need to upskill Australia's primary care workforce with youth-specific skills and expertise for working with young people experiencing mental ill-health.
Designed and delivered in collaboration with leading experts in the field, and young people with lived experience, this micro-credential is for qualified or trainee general practitioners, social workers, paediatricians and qualified nurses who are seeking best-practice biopsychosocial approaches when supporting young people accessing primary care for their mental health.
Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care counts for 42.5 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). If you are a GP, you will be eligible to claim RACGP CPD hours for completing this activity.
Explore key factors that contribute to mental ill health in young people
Build your understanding of common factors and developmental issues contributing to mental ill-health in young people, such as access to services, living conditions, and adverse childhood experiences and trauma. You'll gain valuable insights from expert-led discussions on assessing and enhancing the mental health of young people.
Learn effective strategies to appropriately assess risk of suicide and self-harm in young people
Explore critical components for conducting a developmentally appropriate assessment of suicide and self-harm risk in young people experiencing mental ill-health. You'll also learn the key elements for constructing collaborative risk management plans with and for young people.
Gain an evidence-informed approach for conducting interventions with young people
Access real-world case studies and world-class teaching resources designed to enhance your skills in conducting youth-friendly biopsychosocial assessments and case formulations. Learn to utilise a strengths-based approach that tailors interventions to an individual's unique strengths and capabilities. You'll also gain necessary brief intervention strategies for managing mental ill-health in young people.
Write a brief mental health assessment of a young person experiencing mental ill-health
Develop a biopsychosocial assessment and case formulation of a young person experiencing mental ill health that applies best practice practical approaches to clinical care in youth mental health. You'll incorporate an effective safety management plan to manage psychological distress and gain valuable professional feedback on your work.
Who you will learn from
Learn from skilled academics and professional experts who will share invaluable knowledge you can use in your job.
Anthony Hurst
Lecturer
Anthony is a Lecturer at the University of Melbourne, with experience teaching across postgraduate programs in youth mental health, genetic counselling, health communication and psychology. He is a registered psychologist and family therapist, with clinical experience working therapeutically with young people, families and people impacted by trauma. External to the University, Anthony serves as Board Chair of the EMDR Association of Australia.
Dr Simone Craig
General Practitioner and Lecturer, Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Melbourne
Dr Simone Craig (she/her) is a General Practitioner, and lecturer for the Victorian Government Doctors in Secondary Schools Program, within the Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Melbourne. She has extensive experience working with marginalised young people, families and their communities, in a variety of primary care settings including government and non-government organisation funded youth health services, private practice and school-based health services.
More from this series
The Youth Mental Health in Primary Care suite empowers GPs, nurses and paediatricians with advanced skills, tailored specifically for working with young people presenting with mental health concerns.
The Youth Mental Health in Primary Care series
The Youth Mental Health in Primary Care suite empowers GPs, nurses and paediatricians with advanced skills, tailored specifically for working with young people presenting with mental health concerns in primary care settings. Both micro-credentials are designed to extend prior knowledge and skills in mental health clinical practice to the application of therapeutic assessment and intervention strategies when supporting young people accessing primary care. You'll have access to world-class resources that are informed by the latest evidence-based research specific to youth mental health.
Explore more from the Youth Mental Health in Primary Care series:
- Diagnosing and Managing Youth Mental Illness in Primary Care (Micro-credential)
Fees
For individuals
To take Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care as a stand-alone micro-credential, you'll pay the normal course price.
Please contact Student Support to discuss discounts and payment options for University of Melbourne staff or alumni, or to pay by invoice.
$990.00 (inc GST)
For teams
If you have three or more team members who are keen to upskill with Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care , get in touch to discuss pricing. For large groups, we can also deliver and contextualise this course exclusively for your organisation.
Pricing on request
Dates
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Course details
Designed for fully qualified or trainee general practitioners, social workers, paediatricians and fully qualified nurses working in private and public settings across Australia, this course will equip you with essential skills in providing best-practice mental health care to young people in the primary care setting.
Learners are expected to hold one of the following qualifications: a Nursing degree (or equivalent), a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree, a Bachelor or Master of Social Work or an MBBS (or an internationally recognised equivalent). In addition, nurses should be working in primary care, and medical practitioners should have either commenced or completed an accredited training program in general practice (family medicine or equivalent) or paediatrics.
Learning in Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care is equivalent to Level 9 of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).
By the end of this course you'll have a greater understanding of best-practice biopsychosocial assessment, suicide and self-harm assessment and management, as well as case formulation frameworks for working with young people experiencing mental ill-health:
You'll be able to:
- Apply knowledge of evidence-based, best practice approaches to clinical care in youth mental health, including brief intervention strategies.
- Devise a youth-friendly biopsychosocial assessment and case formulation of a young person experiencing mental ill-health.
- Develop a safety management plan for a young person that considers deliberate self-harm or suicide.
This micro-credential runs over eight weeks.
Your total time commitment will be approximately 42 hours max, which includes:
- 10 hours guided study
- 18 - 22 hours self or peer learning
- 10 hours for assessment tasks
Assessment:
- Quizzes on Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care: Weekly quiz comprising 5 questions to assess learning throughout the program (30%)
- Biopsychosocial assessment and case formulation: Written report comprising of a biopsychosocial assessment and case formulation of a young person experiencing mental ill-health based on case study material (70%).
Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care can be taken as a standalone micro-credential or you can complement it with the course Diagnosing and Managing Youth Mental Illness in Primary Care, which explores the youth-specific approaches and skills required to work with young people presenting with mental health concerns in clinical settings.
This suite includes:
- Assessing and Enhancing Youth Mental Health in Primary Care
- Diagnosing and Managing Youth Mental Illness in Primary Care
Delivered fully online, this course provides a convenient way to develop your skill set from a location that suits you. Within our digital learning environment, you'll engage with other professionals and leaders and take part in synchronous and asynchronous learning activities.
You'll have access to videos of industry leaders discussing key topics relating to the best-practice approaches to working with young people experiencing mental ill-health, drawing on case studies. You'll also take part in live online workshops, contribute to discussion boards with your peers, and complete independent study to deepen your understanding.