Mental Health First Aid Training

Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based training course that teaches participants how to identify, understand, and respond to mental health and substance-use issues. Just as CPR helps you assist an individual having a heart attack, Mental Health First Aid helps you assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis. In the Mental Health First Aid course, you learn risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, strategies for how to help someone in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and where to turn for help. Topics covered include depression, anxiety, trauma, and substance use.

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. 

Summer and Fall 2025 Training Dates

We are currently taking sign-ups for Summer and Fall 2025 MHFA trainings! Trainings are currently scheduled for the following dates:

• Wednesday, June 25, all day
• Thursday, June 10, all day
• Thursday June 17, all day
• Friday, August 8 & Friday, August 15, 8am-noon
• Tuesday, August 12, all day
• Thursday, September 18 & Friday, September 19, 8am-noon
• Thursday, September 25th, all-day
• Wednesday, October 22nd and 23rd, 8am-noon
• Wednesday, October 29th, all-day
• Thursday, October 30th, all-day
• Wednesday, November 19th, all-day
• Thursday, November 20th, all-day
• Monday, November 24th, all-day

To see dates, methods of delivery, and submit interest in scheduled dates, please fill out our form: https://www.eiu.edu/herc/machform/view.php?id=106571

Mental Health First Aid Training Interest Form

Questions?

Contact herc-mphr_marketing@eiu.edu with any questions!