Mental Health First Aid
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an evidence-based training created by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing designed to provide participants with the skills to identify, destigmatize, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorder, enabling those trained to offer immediate, concrete support.
MHFA has shown to be effective internationally. Peer-reviewed studies show that individuals trained in the program:
- Grow their knowledge of signs, symptoms, and risk factors of mental illnesses and addictions.
- Can identify multiple types of professional and self-help resources for individuals with a mental illness or addiction.
- Increase their confidence in and likelihood to help an individual in distress.
- Show increased mental wellness themselves.
MHFA is not designed to replace the work of mental health professionals. Those who successfully complete the MHFA training will become a certified Mental Health First Aider. Mental Health First Aiders’ professional roles and responsibilities will not change as a result of this training. They are also under no obligation to publicly disclose that they have been trained in MHFA.
Program Information
Learn about the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training.
Register
Mental Health First Aid is offered to faculty and staff.
Dates | Time | Format | Campus | Location | Register |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Friday, October 27* | 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. | Virtual | Online | Zoom | Register |
Tuesday, November 14 | 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. | Hybrid | Evanston | Norris University | Register |
- *This training is a Mental Health First Aid Overview session. MHFA certification is not provided and no pre-work is required.
- Additional dates will be added to the schedule throughout the academic year.
- Contact wellbeing@northwestern.edu with questions.