Mental Health First Aid

As career professionals, we often interact with students who are wrestling with deep questions about their identity and their future, which can at times bring up some strong emotions.  With mental health concerns on the rise, it can be helpful for us to have some tools to assist us when supporting students experiencing mental health challenges or mental health crises.  Several years ago, I attended a training called Mental Health First Aid and it has had such a profound impact on me that I became a certified instructor.  My colleague, Dr. Amy Horton (licensed Psychologist), and I have gradually been working to offer this training to faculty, staff and students at Duquesne and it has been very well-received by the participants thus far!

What is Mental Health First Aid?

• Mental Health First Aid is skills-based training that teaches people how to identify, understand and respond to signs and symptoms of a mental health or substance use challenge.

• Similar to physical First Aid and CPR, MHFA helps you assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis until professional assistance is obtained or the crisis is resolved.

Mental Health First Aid is an approximately 7.5–hour training that is broken into 2 hours of asynchronous online “pre-work” and 5.5-hour instructor-led session in person.  Each in-person training can have a minimum of 5 participants and a maximum of 30 participants.

If your staff team would be interested in receiving Mental Health First Aid training, please contact Bethany Gary (garyb@duq.edu) to discuss cost, logistics and scheduling!