what

Teen Mental Health First Aid USA is an 8 hour public education program which introduces participants to the unique risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems in adolescents, builds understanding of the importance of early intervention, and teaches individuals how to help an adolescent in crisis or experiencing a mental health challenge. Mental Health First Aid uses role-playing and simulations to demonstrate how to assess a mental health crisis; select interventions and provide initial help; and connect young people to professional, peer, social, and self-help care.

The course teaches participants the risk factors and warning signs of a variety of mental health challenges common among adolescents, including anxiety, depression, psychosis, eating disorders, AD/HD, disruptive behavior disorders, and substance use disorder. Participants do not learn to diagnose, nor how to provide any therapy or counseling –rather, participants learn to support a youth developing signs and symptoms of a mental illness or in an emotional crisis by applying a core five-step action plan. The Teen Mental Health First Aid USA curriculum is primarily focused on information participants can use to help
adolescents and transition-age youth, ages 12-18.

Teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) teaches teens in grades 9-12, or ages 14-18, how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges in their friends and peers. This course can be taught in schools or youth groups. See the teen Mental Health First Aid Flyer in our toolkit for more information.

Mental Health First Aid USA is coordinated by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Missouri Department of Mental Health. Mental Health First Aid USA worked with experts at the National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health at the Georgetown University Center for
Child and Human Development to develop the youth program.