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Instructor Role

Only certified Instructors can teach the Mental Health First Aid course to the public. Instructors may organize courses in their communities and may charge a fee. They must provide Mental Health First Aid USA participant manuals to all those who attend the course. Find Instructors in your community.

What Instructors Do

lindenoaks instructor

The primary role of Instructors is to teach the Mental Health First Aid course with fidelity to the core program model and key messages, including fidelity to systems and course reporting required by Mental Health First Aid USA. Each Instructor has a set of materials to help guide them through course facilitation.  Instructors typically team up with another certified Instructor to teach the course but may also choose to teach on their own. Presenting a course involves much more than just showing up and teaching it. Instructors frequently have organizational support to help them with other tasks related to the program, such as:

  • Strategic planning (e.g., creating business plans, forming community partnerships, outreach)
  • Setting a course schedule
  • Setting and collecting course fees
  • Marketing and media outreach
  • Course creation and registration of attendees
  • Event planning (e.g., purchasing materials, catering, logistics)
  • Seeking grants
  • Evaluation and analysis of program’s success
  • Reporting course to MHFA USA

Who They Teach

Certified Instructors may teach Mental Health First Aid to any interested audiences in their community.

Those trained include:

  • Educators and school administrators
  • Human resources professionals
  • Members of faith communities
  • Shelter workers
  • Health and human services workers
  • Nurses/physician assistants/primary care workers
  • Police, first responders and security personnel
  • Mental health authorities
  • Policymakers
  • Substance use treatment professionals
  • Social workers
  • Persons with mental illness/addictions and their families
  • Caring citizens
  • Mental Health First Aid training has taught the officer to ask his charges, “What happened?” instead of, “What’s wrong with you?”” –Officer Orlando Singleton
  • So many people are out there wishing for something better, hoping that help will show up. That’s what Mental Health First Aid is – it is help to get people connected to care and ultimately to get them to a better place.” –Tousha Paxton-Barnes, U.S. Army Veteran
  • I wish that every corrections officer could receive Mental Health First Aid training. I believe that our corrections system would be better because of it – the inmates would benefit, the officers would benefit and ultimately our communities would benefit.” –Lt. Virgil Meyer, Lieutenant, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
  • As adults, we sometimes forget how hard it was being an adolescent. When we see a kid who is just miserable at school, we might think they choose to be that way – or that it’s just part of adolescence. But in fact, they might be in a mental health crisis, one they certainly did not choose and do not want. When a teacher says “how can I be helpful,” that is a powerful question. ” –Alyssa Fruchtenicht, School-Based Mental Health Counselor
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