Free Mental Health First Aid Course

A training program called Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) trains participants how to recognize, comprehend, and assist someone who may be struggling with a mental health issue.

Although MHFA won’t prepare you to become a therapist, it will educate you on how to respond, reassure, and listen even in times of crisis, and perhaps even prevent a crisis from occurring. You’ll get the knowledge and confidence to contact and help someone while keeping yourself safe, as well as the ability to recognize the warning signs of mental illness.

Additionally, you’ll discover ways to enable someone to get the assistance they may require for healing or effective symptom control.

This could include self-help publications or websites, therapy services accessed through a general practitioner, a school or place of employment, online self-referral, and support.

Mental Health First Aid Certification Online

Below, you will find the mental health first aid certification online;

1. Youth Mental Health First Aid

The goal of Youth Mental Health First Aid is to provide parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, members of the health and human services industry, and other concerned citizens with the knowledge and skills necessary to assist an adolescent (age 12–18) who is having difficulty with their mental health or addictions or is in crisis. The Youth Mental Health First Aid program is primarily intended for those who frequently work with children and adolescents.

This seminar discusses typical teenage growth, prevalent mental health issues for youth, and a 5-step action plan for helping adolescents in both crisis and non-crisis settings. Anxiety, depression, substance abuse, mental illnesses that can lead to psychosis, disruptive behavioral disorders (such as AD/HD), and eating disorders are among the subjects discussed.

Why Youth Mental Health Matters

One in five young people will struggle with their mental health at some point in their lives.
More children than those with cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined, 17.1 million youth under the age of 18 have or have had a psychological disorder.
In the United States, 7.4% of kids contact a mental health professional in a given year.

How Youth Mental Health First Aid helps

educates adults on prevalent issues with mental health that affect young people.
decreases stigma.
teaches adults how to spot the warning signs and symptoms of adolescent substance use and mental health issues.
gives adults the knowledge and abilities to apply a 5-step action plan to assist a young person who may be experiencing a crisis or mental health issue, such as suicide.

2. Adult mental health First Aid

Anyone 18 years of age or older who wants to learn how to assist someone who could be going through a crisis or other issue linked to their mental health is welcome to enroll in the Adult Mental Health First Aid course.

Anxiety, sadness, psychosis, and addictions are among the subjects covered. Both English and Spanish are available for the adult course.

Participants in the course come from different backgrounds and fill a range of roles in the community, and the teachers may specialize in teaching the course to particular groups, like police officers or religious leaders. Look for icons for public safety, rural, higher education, and faith on instructor profiles.

Why Adult Mental Health Matters

In a single year, one in five American individuals will develop a mental health issue.
In America, about half of all individuals will battle a mental illness at some point in their lives.
Addiction will affect more than 20 million Americans aged 12 and older.

How Adult Mental Health First Aid Can Help

Addresses issues with common mental health that adults face.
Decreases stigma.
Teaches techniques so that loved ones, friends, and peers can spot the indicators of mental health or substance use issues and provide help.
Provides self-help tips for maintaining mental health.

3. Teen mental health First Aid

Many teenagers lack adequate mental health literacy, stigmatizing views toward those who suffer from mental illness, and the ability to provide peers with the best Mental Health First Aid.

Training could help to enhance these, enabling better social support and boosting appropriate help-seeking among teenagers with newly developing mental health issues. A new project of Mental Health First Aid International, teen Mental Health First Aid (teen MHFA), is a 3-hour, 75-minute classroom-based training course for teenagers between the ages of 10 and 15.

High school students in years 10 through 12 and in years 7-9 are taught how to provide their peers mental health first aid in the Teen MHFA Course. Research showing that young people prefer to share difficulties with peers led to the development of the course.

The course material is based on research done to identify the most effective steps a young person may take to support a peer who is experiencing mental health issues.

What the program includes

Students are taught the Teen MHFA Action Plan as well as details regarding various mental health issues, young people’s mental health crises, and the connection between ideas, feelings, and actions.

The following emerging mental health issues are covered:

Anxiety conditions
Depressive illnesses
disorders of eating
problems caused by drug and alcohol use
Psychotic illnesses

Cases involving mental health crises are covered such as:

Suicidal ideas and actions
Self-harm that is not suicide (sometimes called deliberate self-harm)
being really drunk or high on drugs or booze
abuse or harassment

Assessments of the Teen MHFA course have revealed:

A GROWTH IN CONFIDENCE: Students’ confidence to assist a peer with a mental health issue has grown.
DIMINISHMENT OF STIGMA: decreased stigmatization of those with mental health issues
GROWING NEED FOR HELP SEEKING SKILLS: increased desire to get treatment for a mental health issue
IMPROVED SKILLS IN SUICIDE PREVENTION: increased awareness of the signs of a peer at risk of suicide and superior first aid knowledge

What You learn from the courses

The instruction shows you how to:

Teach the Mental Health First Aid course, which includes the 5-step ALGEE Action Plan, options for self-help and therapy that are supported by science, and statistics on prevalence.
Display the program according closely to the validated core model.
Use a variety of adult learning approaches with the application.
Adapt your presentations to different learning contexts and audiences.
Population-focused material is included in module-specific courses.

Online format for the training

Before the first day of instruction, participants will complete prework that will take them about 8 hours to complete. An online course that walks you through a number of MHFA modeling videos is part of the pre-work. This is a self-paced assignment that you can finish before the course at your convenience. As soon as you have completed your registration for the course, you will have access.
Once their registration has been confirmed, participants will order the essential materials for the course. The cost of the course materials will not increase.
The three days of the online course run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The MHFA National Trainers are teaching this live, interactive course. Once your registration has been verified, a complete agenda will be made available.
After the live training, participants have about two hours of post-work to complete. The post-work contains virtual teaching hints and a platform overview with a quick test. A certificate and full instructor qualifications won’t be given to the candidate until all post-work has been finished.

IT Requirements for Virtual Training

Computer: A Windows, Apple, or Android tablet, or an iOS, Android, or Windows desktop or laptop. Chromebook is not advised for the live training sessions due to compatibility difficulties with Zoom.
speakers and microphone for computers

Due to its limitations, joining via the Zoom mobile app is not permitted. You can utilize your phone’s dial-in feature to access audio if your computer lacks a microphone and speakers.

HD webcam, internal or external
Internet accessibility

Zoom is usually used to host the course. For individuals who are not familiar with the platform, a how-to manual is always provided.

All participants may not receive certification. Participants must finish the entire online course, be present for the entire training, deliver the presentation satisfactorily, and pass a written exam in order to be certified.

Conclusion on the Free Mental Health First Aid Course

We all have physical and mental health, just like everyone else. People from all walks of life are susceptible to mental illness, which can strike at any time.

Even while things are getting better, the stigma surrounding mental illness still lingers. As a culture, we frequently lack the knowledge necessary to properly care for our mental health.

This implies that people might not know where to turn for help with their own mental health or how to support a friend, family member, or work colleague who is struggling with a mental health issue.