Mental Health First Aid® Instructor Training (HBCU)

This training is intended for staff, faculty, and select students at Maryland’s HBCUs. Capacity is very limited.

 

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an international public awareness curriculum that works to destigmatize conversations around mental health while providing a tangible action plan for participants to address crisis and non-crisis mental health situations – much like CPR/first aid supports physical health situations. MHFA is proven to increase the likelihood of bystander helping behaviors, but also increases the learners own mental health literacy. Win-win!

Interested in bringing Mental Health First Aid to your organization or community by becoming a certified instructor? The multi-day instructor training uses the train-the-trainer model and fully prepares you to teach Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) classes. MHFA is specifically designed for adults assisting other adults (+18 years old) and is a great tool for high education staff and students, first responders, employers, hospital staff, and community members who spend time with other adults.

Already an instructor? Consider dual certification to teach both the adult and youth courses.

Training includes…

Physical materials and teaching kit

8-hours of self-paced prework

3-days of live, online instruction

Postwork with optional self-paced module for in-person instruction

Ongoing instructor support through the Mental Health Association of Maryland

Please note…

It is HIGHLY RECOMMEDED to take a one-day Mental Health First Aid class prior to registering for instructor training.

That all instructors are required to conduct classes in alignment to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing standards of fidelity. Instructors are required to teach three times per year to maintain their certification.

Attendance in class does not guarantee successful completion of the training program. An unsatisfactory score during Day 3 Teachback Presentations may result in provisional or non-certified status.

If candidates miss more than 45-minutes of instruction, they cannot be certified.

A Mental Health First Aid class contains 5-6 hours of content, not including breaks. This will require instructor candidates to study and practice the materials beyond the 3-day instructor training. To become proficient in teaching, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing recommends an extra 40-hours of review prior to teaching. This time commitment may differ between instructors, but please keep this in mind as you move forward with this training.

This grant funded training is hosted in partnership with the Maryland Department of Health Behavioral Health Administration, the Mental Health Association of Maryland, and Maryland’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities:

Bowie State University

Coppin State University

Morgan State University

University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Please email Leah Bentfield at LBentfield@mhamd.org or learn more and get involved.