For teachers

Teachers bear a great responsibility in fulfilling their duty of care towards the children and young people entrusted to them, and Tomoni mental health would like to encourage and support them in this. The specially developed training program tomoni.schools is designed to help teachers and all those involved in secondary schools to recognize warning signs o mental illness at an early stage and to provide initial support. A similar program for elementary schools is in preparation.

The focus here is on knowledge of how to recognize mental illness and how to deal actively and purposefully with those affected and their environment. Situations and questions from everyday school life are addressed: How do I approach young people whom I am concerned? How do I react in acute crises? Who do I refer to when I recognize warning signs? How do I involve the parents of those affected? Where do I bear responsibility as a teacher and where does it end? 

The digital and thus cross-locational training program is currently being piloted. In January 2023, we began preparing the scientific evaluation of the offer in collaboration with the University Hospital of Würzburg, with which we want to validate the effectiveness of the offer.

The offer is available nationwide to all teachers and school counselors as well as students. tomoni.schools takes place live on Zoom and is divided into eight modules, each lasting 90 minutes. The first module teaches general principles for recognizing warning signs and dealing with children and adolescents who may be affected but is not linked to a specific clinical picture. Based on this, six modules deal with the most common clinical pictures in children and adolescents aged twelve and older. The modules address anxiety disorders, eating disorders, addictive disorders, depression, self-injurious disorders, and suicidality. The eighth module combines a reflection on what has been learned with a focus on parent interviewing. 

Depending on the time available, participants can choose the dates for the module from a course schedule and also spread them out over several months.

As part of the pilot, we offer the training free of charge. Courses take place on an ongoing basis. If you are interested, please send a short email to social@tomonimentalhealth.org.