Prioritize community wellness with Mental Health First Aid trainings for your office or school.

What is Mental Health First Aid?

Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour training course designed to give members of the public key skills to help someone who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis.

Just as CPR training helps someone without medical training assist an individual following a heart attack, Mental Health First Aid training helps community members assist someone experiencing a mental health crisis.

Course details

Mental Health First Aid certification, which must be renewed every three years, provides trainees with the ability to:


• Recognize the potential risk factors and warning signs for a range of mental health problems, including: depression, anxiety/trauma, psychosis and psychotic disorders, substance use disorders, and self-injury.
• Use a 5-step action plan to help an individual in crisis connect with appropriate professional help.
• Interpret the prevalence of various mental health disorders in the U.S. and the need for reduced negative attitudes in their communities.
• Apply knowledge of the appropriate professional, peer, social, and self-help resources available to help someone with a mental health problem treat and manage the problem and achieve recovery.

Like CPR, Mental Health First Aid is for everyone.

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Core Curriculum

Mental Health First Aid - Appropriate for anyone 18 years and older who wants to learn how to help a person who may be experiencing a mental health related crisis or problem. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, psychosis, and addictions.

Youth Mental Health First Aid - Designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis.

Okay. How’s it going down?

Mental Health First Aid training consists of:

  1. A two-hour virtual self-paced training on Mental Health First Aid & the ALGEE action plan

  2. A instructor-led Skills Application Session (one 5.5-hour session with breaks + lunch or two three-hour sessions)

  3. Three-year Mental Health First Aid certification upon completion

Before the training, you receive:

  • Mental Health First Aid Participant Manual

  • Participant Processing Guide (a workbook situation)

  • Self-Care Action Plan

Outcomes + such

As a result of our time together, you can expect to:

  • Grow your knowledge of signs, symptoms and risk factors of mental illnesses and addictions.

  • Gain insights around stigmatizing language and beliefs related to mental health and addiction.

  • Gain insights and hear varying perspectives on the impacts of culture and trauma on individual, family, and community wellness

  • Identify multiple types of professional and self-help resources for individuals with a mental health or substance use challenge.

  • Increase your confidence in and likelihood to help an individual in distress.

  • Increase awareness around your own mental wellness.

About your lead facilitator

Alexander Hardy is a grits-powered writer, mental health advocate and facilitator, at-home chef, dancer, and lupus survivor.

He battles spiritual ashiness as CoFounder of GetSomeJoy, a creative wellness agency supporting communities and organizations with joy-flavored trainings and experiences, soulful storytelling, and accessible wellness resources. Alexander has written for outlets such as Ebony, CNN.com, Food & Wine, Esquire, Courvoisier, The Root, Saint Heron, and Very Smart Brothas.

He supports communities and organizations with English and Spanish Mental Health First Aid trainings, grief and loss workshops, Literary Therapy writing sessions, resource development, and other wellness-infused experiences.

Alexander does not believe in snow or Delaware.

(View his writerly portfolio and media room.

I’m in. How can I be down?

These free Mental Health First Aid trainings provided through this collaboration with the National Council for Mental Well-Being and the Kate Spade New York Foundation are targeted towards:

  1. Women living in the New York City/New Jersey area,

  2. Others in NYC/NJ who directly support women and girls (at work, as a mentor, organizer, auntie or uncle, volunteer, teacher, coach or counselor, concerned community member, somebody’s play mama, etc.)

When you click below to register, include:

  • Alex Hardy as the trainer who referred you,

  • the training date that works best for you,

  • whether you live in NYC/NJ and your connection to KSNY’s mission to support women and girls, and

  • what you hope to gain from the training.

We’ll respond with access to participant materials, the self-paced training, and info on the Instructor-led session.

Schedule a Youth or Adult Mental Health First Aid training for your organization

Tell us a little about your group and we’ll explore how GetSomeJoy can support your community wellness goals.

Talk to us

Have a question? Do you have a story, event, resource, collaboration idea, or recipe we should know about? Want to bring GetSomeJoy to your school, office, or community? Let’s talk about it.

Email us at hey@getsomejoy.com.

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