IAMI Launches New GUEST Mental Wellbeing Course

We hear a lot these days about mental health. For good reason: It’s finally receiving the attention it’s owed, and the yachting industry is making moves to incorporate training that can help prepare captains and crew to handle mental health issues that arise on the job with the introduction of the IAMI GUEST Mental Wellbeing Course, which launched officially at the 2024 Monaco Yacht Show.

The new IAMI GUEST Mental Wellbeing Course was developed to find long-term solutions for the gap in industry mental health awareness training and is tailored specifically for the onboard and land-based superyacht community.

The course focuses on emotional well-being and the importance of mental health. It arms participants to recognize behaviors, foster open communication, and manage emotional well-being. It’s offered in a safe environment that enables crew to identify their areas of concern and potential trigger points. As an intermediate training level, it’s open to all crew.

This first course is designed to lay the groundwork for further mental health studies, such as the Mental Health First Aid course.

“By developing yacht-specific training in the mental health and wellbeing stressors, triggers, and issues the industry is experiencing within our onboard yacht environment, we hope to provide both onboard crew (at all levels), as well as land-based personnel who deal with crew management, HR, and recruitment, to gain a better awareness on the subject, as well as the knowledge of how to recognize the signs and behaviors associated with anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts,” said Joey Meen, director IAMI GUEST program and president of the Superyacht Alliance for Professional Standards. “The GUEST working group is optimistic that this course will help in some way towards providing a long-term solution to mental health issues within the yachting industry.”

The GUEST Mental Wellbeing Course development working group is represented by a union of welfare and mental health groups, including Changing Tack, Raising the Bar, PYA Crew Welfare, and Seas The Mind to drive tangible change through education. The course (Unit 44) is accredited by IAMI.

The working group also plans to monitor course feedback to ensure continuous course improvement and updates.

Read more about Raising the Bar and Seas The Mind.