The National Council for Mental Wellbeing offers Mental Health First Aid certification training, which teaches how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health illnesses and substance use disorders.

The CSU Innovative Teaching and Learning Programs offers online sessions especially for faculty that are facilitated by CSU faculty who are certified Mental Health First Aid instructors. Our facilitation team includes Dr. Bonnie Gasior (Long Beach), Darci Strother (San Marcos), and Professor Sailesh Maharjan (San Bernardino).

The online training consists of approximately 2 hours of self-paced, asynchronous preparatory work, followed by two synchronous half-day sessions, each 3.5 hours, including breaks. 

Our goal is to enable CSU faculty to gain MHFA certification through the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, which is contingent upon successfully completing asynchronous preparatory work and the two synchronous sessions in their entirety; a post-test; and a course evaluation. Certification is issued by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and is valid for 3 years.

Asynchronous module particulars:

• Participants will have access to the preparatory, asynchronous training modules approximately two weeks prior to the date of their certification training. The self-paced work consists of reading, reacting to mental health scenarios (writing), answering comprehension questions, and a final assessment (quiz).
• Participants must complete this preparatory work to be authorized to attend the synchronous certification training sessions. The deadline to complete the preparatory work usually falls at least two days in advance of the synchronous training.

Synchronous module particulars:

• The synchronous module takes place via Zoom over two days (consecutive days for some sessions, and two days a week apart for others) and space is limited.
• The synchronous component is highly interactive and consists of polls, breakout room work, video scenarios, and a final assessment (quiz).

Since our goal is to certify as many CSU faculty as possible, please do not register if -- for any reason -- you are unable to attend both synchronous sessions in their entirety. 

We ask that you use the form below to register for the two-day session that best fits your schedule.

Registration will remain open until sessions reach capacity and wait lists are full. We encourage you to register as early as possible, as sessions fill quickly.

The National Council on Mental Wellbeing strictly limits how many people can attend each training. Because our goal is to certify as many CSU faculty as possible, and our sessions are in high demand, we ask that you confirm you can attend both synchronous meetings for the session you are registering for in their entirety.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Dr. Emily Magruder at csuitl@calstate.edu.