NIPE
All resources
Core skill6 min read

What Is Emotional First Aid?

The Look → Listen → Link frame, adapted from the WHO's public Psychological First Aid guidance, written for students.

Download this guidePractise in a scenario

Peer support is not treatment. If someone may be at risk of harm, involve a trusted adult, your school's safeguarding lead, a qualified professional or emergency services. See our safeguarding statement.

Emotional First Aid — A Peer Supporter's Handbook

Adapted for NIPE from the WHO's public-domain "Psychological First Aid: Guide for Field Workers" (2011), and open guidance from SAMHSA and the NIH.

The three-step frame: Look → Listen → Link

1. LOOK

  • Is the person safe? Are you safe?
  • What are they showing (crying, shutting down, panicking)?
  • What do they seem to need right now — quiet, company, water, an adult?

2. LISTEN

  • Sit or stand beside them, not over them.
  • Ask permission: "Do you want to talk, or should I just sit with you?"
  • Reflect feelings before facts.

3. LINK

  • Connect them to a trusted adult, counsellor, or family member when the situation is beyond peer support.
  • Stay with them until help arrives if they are in distress.

Red flags — get an adult now

  • Talk of ending their life or hurting themselves.
  • Disclosure of abuse or violence.
  • Sudden inability to speak, move, or respond.
  • Any medical emergency.

Green practices — every day

  • Co-regulate: match the calm you want them to feel.
  • Name it to tame it: labelling emotions reduces their intensity.
  • Small acts, repeated: a check-in message tomorrow matters.

Sources (public domain):

  • WHO, Psychological First Aid: Guide for Field Workers (2011).
  • SAMHSA, Disaster Distress Helpline public materials.
  • NIH / NIMH, Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Traumatic Events.

Keep reading