Mental Health First Aid

Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based training course for RIT faculty, staff, and students interested in making their community more compassionate, informed, and prepared to support student mental health.

About Mental Health First Aid Trainings

This course has 8 hours of content that can be delivered either as a full in-person training or as a blended training that combines in-person and self-paced virtual learning.

Through a Mental Health First Aid training, you will:

  • Learn how to describe and talk about mental health, openly and non-judgmentally.
  • Learn how to approach, reassure, and support fellow RIT community members when they are struggling with their mental health.
  • Explore what self-care looks like for you and practical applications of self-care.
     

As a university, RIT is dedicated to creating a more mentally well campus. Our instructors for our training sessions come from various areas across campus, including faculty and staff from:

  • National Technical Institute for the Deaf Learning Consortium
  • American Sign Language and Interpreting Education Program
  • College of Science
  • College of Engineering Technology
  • Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences
  • Saunders College of Business
  • School of Individualized Study
  • College of Health Sciences and Technology
  • Kate Gleason College of Engineering
  • Public Safety
  • Residence Life
  • Case Management
  • Counseling and Psychological Services
  • Health Promotion

Schedule a Group Session

Mental Health First Aid is available for RIT faculty, staff, and students. To participate in a Mental Health First Aid training session, you can either request a session for your group or register for a scheduled session.

By requesting a session, you are not only guaranteed training with your specific group, but also training that is best suited to your group’s schedule. After you submit the request form, Beau Gibbs (bmghcw@rit.edu) will reach out within two business days to further discuss setting up your training.

For more information about setting up a Mental Health First Aid training for your group, please see our “Frequently Asked Questions”. Specifically, the question titled “I am hosting a Mental Health First Aid training. What are the requirements and expectations of me as a host?”

Please note: We require a minimum of five participants to host a session. If the number of participants who register, complete pre-work, or attend falls below five, we will unfortunately have to reschedule or cancel your training.

If we have to cancel your training, we would encourage you and your group to attend one of our open-to-the-RIT-community trainings (more information below)

Request a session for your group

Upcoming Training Sessions

If you wish to take a Mental Health First Aid training but are not a part of a group training, you can register for one of our open-to-the-RIT-community trainings.

Please note: We require a minimum of five participants to host a session. If the number of participants who register, complete pre-work, or attend falls below five, we will unfortunately have to reschedule or cancel the training.

If the scheduled training sessions do not align with your schedule, be sure to check back throughout the semester for any new training sessions that are added.

FAQs

Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based training course, in which you will:

  • Learn how to describe and talk about mental health, openly and non-judgmentally
  • Learn how to approach, reassure, and support a fellow RIT community member when they may be struggling with their mental health
  • Explore what self-care looks like for you with practical applications of self-care


We provide these trainings via an in-person format or a blend of in-person and self-paced virtual learning. See next question for a more in-depth overview of these formats.

We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to provide these training sessions in both English and American Sign Language. 

To participate in a Mental Health First Aid training session, you can either request a session for your group or register for a scheduled session. If you have any questions, please contact Beau Gibbs at bmghcw@rit.edu.

In-person Training
For our in-person training format, you will complete 15 minutes of pre-work (that includes filling out demographic information and a pre-test), followed by an 8 hour in-person content delivery session with our trainers.  

Blended Training
For our blended training format, you will complete 2.5 hours of self-paced pre-work via online pre-recorded and interactive slide decks, followed by a 5-hour in-person content delivery session with our trainers.

There are two delivery options for your training session: in-person and blended.

No matter the format, Mental Health First Aid training sessions cover 8 hours of content. 

Please note: the 8-hour time frame is strictly content delivery and does NOT include breaks. The time frames listed below include break times, which extend the total scheduled training time.

As long as the session(s) allow for the 8-hours of content to be delivered within 2 weeks of the first session, delivery of the content is flexible.

For in-person training, participants must complete registration before attending. This process takes about 15 minutes and involves a pre-test. The options for in-person training are:

  • One 9-Hour Day
  • Two 4.5-Hour Days
  • Three 3-Hour Days
  • Four 2.5-Hour Days
  • A customizable schedule tailored to your group

For a blended training delivery, participants are required to complete 2.5 hours of web-based learning via pre-recorded and interactive slide decks before attending their training. The options for the in-person portion of a blended training are:

  • One 6.5-Hour Day
  • Two 3.5-Hour Days

In order to be fully certified, you MUST attend all training sessions if your training is across multiple days. If, for example, you are only able to attend two days of a three-day training course, the training will not count. You will not be a certified Mental Health First Aider, and, if you wish to be certified, you will have to restart the entire process in a different session.

There are two delivery options for your training session: in-person and blended.

No matter the format, Mental Health First Aid training sessions cover 8 hours of content. 

Please note: the 8-hour time frame is strictly content delivery and does NOT include breaks. The time frames listed below include break-times, which extends the total scheduled training time.

As long as the session(s) allow for the 8 hours of content to be delivered within 2 weeks of the first session, content delivery is flexible.

For in-person training, participants must complete registration before attending. This process takes about 15 minutes and involves a pre-test. The options for in-person training are:

  • One 9-Hour Day
  • Two 4.5-Hour Days
  • Three 3-Hour Days
  • A customizable schedule tailored to your group

In addition to 15 minutes of pre-work that must be completed.

For a blended training delivery, participants are required to complete 2.5 hours of web-based learning via pre-recorded and interactive slide decks before attending their training. The options for the in-person portion of a blended training are: 

  • One 7-Hour Day
  • Two 3.5-Hour Days

In addition to the 2.5 hours of pre-work that must be completed.

In order to be fully certified, you MUST attend all training sessions if your training is across multiple days. If, for example, you are only able to attend two days of a three day training course, the training will not count. You will not be a certified Mental Health First Aider, and, if you wish to be certified, you will have to restart the entire process in a different session.

There are a few things to keep in mind when scheduling a Mental Health First Aid session for your group.

Mental Health First Aid trainings require a minimum of 5 attendees and a maximum of 30. A scheduled training with fewer than 5 registered participants will need to be rescheduled. Additionally, if fewer than 5 participants are present at the start of the scheduled training, the session will need to be canceled. If you wish to host a training for 31 or more people, we will need to split the group up into at least 2 different sessions.

Once you have a roster, please email it as an Excel spreadsheet to Beau Gibbs (bmghcw@rit.edu) prior to your training. This roster should include the names and email addresses of all attendees, including yourself.

  • For in-person trainings, please send the completed roster at least 1 week before your scheduled training.
  • For blended trainings, please send the completed roster at least 2 weeks before your scheduled training session.

As a host, you will be responsible for arranging Access Services when needed.

We can provide snacks for your group. If you would like to have a meal during your training, you will need to do so with your own budget. We ask that, if you require Access Services for your session, you also order meals for them. If you would like to order meals for your trainers as well, it would be greatly appreciated, but is not required.

We appreciate your group’s patience and flexibility throughout the training process. Our trainers are volunteers from the RIT community, and on rare occasions, unexpected circumstances may require last-minute adjustments. We’ll communicate any changes as quickly as possible and thank you in advance for your understanding.

Beau Gibbs, Health Promotion Specialist, will reach out to you within 48 hours of the request form submission to inquire more about your request, and ensure you understand next steps. 

In order to qualify as a Mental Health First Aider, you must complete all pre-work and post-work that has been assigned to you. Once you have completed this work and attended your in-person content delivery session, you will be emailed a certificate of completion. This certificate designates you as an official Mental Health First Aider, and is good for 3 years starting for your in-person content delivery date.

After 3 years, we highly recommend retaking the course to not only stay certified, but to also learn updated information, language, and resources regarding mental health.

Connect is the online learning platform that Mental Health First Aid uses for pre-work, post-work, and blended trainings' self-paced virtual learning modules. You will receive an invitation from Connect to create your account once your training details have been finalized. This email will come from Connect, NOT from Beau Gibbs (bmghcw@rit.edu).

Click here if you already have a Connect account and need to log in

As a reminder, your email will come from Connect, not Beau Gibbs. If it has been over 48-hours and you still have not received an account creation invitation, please reach out to Beau Gibbs (bmghcw@rit.edu).

Please allow for 24-48 business hours for the class to appear on your Connect dashboard. Creating an account does not automatically enroll you in the class. As you will have to be manually enrolled in the class after your account creation, there may be a delay in getting access to your course. If you still are not enrolled in the class at least 3 business days after creating an account, please email Beau Gibbs at bmghcw@rit.edu.

Yes, but there are caveats. The best time to switch trainings is if you have not started the pre-work and the training session has not begun. 

However, if you have started the pre-work and the training session has not begun, you can still switch trainings, but please note that you will have to redo all of the pre-work. 

If you have completed the pre-work, and the training session has begun, you still can switch trainings, however, any progress you had made in your current session will not be saved, and you will have to restart the entire process for the new session.

Very rarely can pre-work be transferred from one training to another, even if the training is canceled.

Pre-work cannot be transferred if you are transferring from one delivery format to another (e.g. from an in-person training to a blended training and vice versa) or if the session you are transferring to is 91 or more days out from the original training date.

Even when the rules are met, it is ultimately up to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing (the creators and distributors of Mental Health First Aid) whether they can transfer the pre-work.

Mental Health Support at RIT

Counseling and Psychological Services offers free, confidential services to RIT and NTID students. Services are goal-focused and tailored to the unique needs of each student.

Counseling and Psychological Services is aware that for many communities, there are barriers that exist related to accessing mental health services. We are committed to continuously working toward accessible, equitable, and inclusive services for our students.

Did you know that we have embedded counselors across campus to best support our RIT students in both academic and community spaces? You can meet with a counselor in a space that is convenient and familiar to you. If you or a friend is struggling, we hope you reach out.

If this is an emergency and you are on campus, please call Public Safety at 585-475-3333 or text 585-205-8333.

Counseling and Psychological Services offers goal-focused individual therapy, group therapy, crisis support, and psychiatric services in an open, safe, and confidential environment.

  • Schedule an appointment online via the RIT Wellness Portal. You may also schedule an appointment by stopping in or calling 585-475-2261.Same day urgent mental health services are available Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.
  • If you are in need of support after business hours, you can call the 24-hour mental health line at 1-855-436-1245, or contact Public Safety by calling 585-475-3333 or texting 585-205-8333.


Workshops and Outreach Groups
In addition to direct therapeutic services, Counseling and Psychological Services offers workshops and outreach groups throughout the semester to provide additional support to RIT students. Workshops and outreach groups are not a psychotherapy service, and instead are supportive and educational opportunities for connection.

Learn more about Workshops and Outreach Groups


NTID Counseling and Academic Advising Services
NTID’s Counseling and Academic Advising Services provide personal, social, career and academic counseling services to all deaf and hard-of-hearing students at NTID/RIT. They provide transitional counseling to support students' academic, personal, and career growth.

To contact NTID Counseling and Academic Advising Services, please fill out the contact form on their website.


Case Management
RIT’s Case Management team is available to assist students in connecting with specialized mental health resources in the community when needed.


RIT Red Folder
The Red Folder is a resource that provides information on common indicators of student distress. It also offers RIT-specific resources and practical tips on how to provide support to a distressed student.