Most of us know roughly what CPR is for, even if we have never had to use it. Mental Health First Aid works on the same principle, except the emergency is a mental health or substance use crisis rather than a heart attack. The course covers the risk factors and warning signs worth recognizing, what actually helps someone in a crisis and in the quieter stretches before one, and where to turn when a situation needs more than you can give it.
Dr. Gail Ravello is a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor and teaches the course here in Roswell. That matters for a practical reason: the curriculum is set nationally by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, so what you get is the same evidence-based course taught anywhere in the country, delivered by someone who also sees the physical side of this every week in clinic.
Recovery runs through the whole course. Mental Health First Aid holds that people facing these challenges do get better, and that their own strengths are a large part of how they stay well.
Much of the time is spent working out how the Mental Health First Aid action plan applies to specific situations, among them someone who is experiencing:
Role-plays and scenario work fill much of the day, and that practice is what makes the steps come back when they are needed.
No clinical background is assumed and none is needed. The course was built for ordinary people who happen to be nearby when something goes wrong, which is most of us at some point. Past participants tend to come from a few recognizable groups:
Mental Health First Aid runs 8 hours. Some sessions cover that in a single day, others split it across two shorter meetings, and a blended option puts roughly 2 hours online at your own pace before the instructor-led portion. Finish it and you are certified for 3 years through the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, which administers the program nationally and has now trained more than 5 million people in the United States.
The certificate matters less than the change in what you notice. Most people finish the day able to name what they are seeing, start a conversation they would previously have avoided, and stay in it long enough to be useful.
This is worth being plain about. Mental Health First Aid does not qualify you to diagnose anyone, it does not make you a counselor, and it is not a substitute for professional mental health care. What it teaches is the bridge, how to recognize trouble and how to hold the situation steady until someone qualified takes over.
If someone is in immediate danger right now, do not wait for a course. Call 911. For a mental health or suicide crisis, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is free, confidential and answered 24 hours a day by calling or texting 988.
Because the split between physical and mental health is mostly an administrative one. Sleep, blood sugar, thyroid function, chronic pain and gut health all show up in mood, and mood shows up in every one of them in return. Dr. Gail Ravello sees that overlap constantly, and the whole-person approach behind our brain and mood support and naturopathic care runs on the same premise this course does. Recognizing a problem early, and responding well rather than awkwardly, changes what happens next.
We run two curricula, Adult Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid, the second aimed at adults who look after young people. Dates are set by audience rather than fixed in advance. Once enough people want the same course in the same stretch of the calendar, we schedule it and everyone on that list gets the date first. It is a better way to run it than posting a day in advance and hoping the right people are free.
Sessions run at our Roswell office at 1130 Upper Hembree Rd. We will also come to you: schools, churches, employers and civic groups book that way regularly, and the national program sets the minimum for a group booking at 6 participants.
Tell us which course you want and roughly when suits you, and we will put you on the list. The window below runs six months out, which is about the horizon we schedule against. Nothing here commits you to anything and there is no payment at this stage.
$35 per person, which covers the full 8-hour course, the manual and your 3-year certification through the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. Same fee for the Adult and Youth curricula. Paid once a date is confirmed, not now.
No. The course assumes no prior training and is written for the general public.
8 hours in total. That may be one full day, two half-days, or a blended format with about 2 hours of self-paced work beforehand and a shorter instructor-led session.
It is valid for 3 years. After that you can recertify through the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.
Yes. Alongside the adult course there is a Youth Mental Health First Aid course aimed at adults who support young people, plus several specialty versions for particular settings.
$35 per person, the same for the Adult and Youth curricula. That covers the full 8-hour course, your manual and the 3-year certification. Payment is due once a date is confirmed, not when you sign up.
Because the two curricula draw different people, and a date that suits a room full of teachers rarely suits a room full of employers. We collect who wants which course and when, then schedule against that. Everyone who signed up for that course hears first.
About six months, which is the window on the signup form. If the month you need falls outside it, say so in the notes and we will work with it.
Yes, at your site or ours. The national program sets the minimum at 6 participants for a group booking. Below that, joining an open session is usually the faster route.
No, and it is not meant to. It teaches you how to respond in the first minutes and hours, and how to connect someone with the professional help they need.
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