The Adult Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) course is an evidence-based early intervention program of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing that trains participants to notice and respond to people who are navigating mental health challenges, experiencing substance use challenges, or currently in crisis.

The MHFA course strengthens a coach’s ability to provide safe, client-centered, and ethically grounded support by enhancing coaching presence, mental health literacy, crisis recognition, and referral competency. The training emphasizes clear role boundaries and reinforces that coaches do not diagnose, treat, or provide psychotherapy. Participants learn to recognize early, worsening, or crisis-level mental health concerns and to respond within the scope of coaching practice by offering supportive listening and facilitating timely referral to appropriately licensed professionals or emergency resources when indicated.

Coursework includes asynchronous independent self-paced pre-work, a self-paced final exam, and self-paced post-work; and synchronous in-person or virtual instructor-led training, role-play, and skills practice. Cohort size: 5-10 participants.

The MHFA course consists of three parts:
- 2 hours of asynchronous self-paced pre-work
- 5.5 hours of synchronous instructor-led training
- 30 minutes of asynchronous self-paced post-work

Certification requires completion of all pre-work, attendance and participation in all instructor-led training sessions, successfully passing the MHFA Final Exam, and completion of all post-work.

MHFA trainings are offered both in-person and virtually. Dates of training vary. Please join the waitlist to be informed regarding dates and locations of upcoming trainings: https://bit.ly/MHFA-waitlist.