Virtual Mental Health First Aid Certification (Supporting Youth)
Help young people navigate mental health challenges with understanding and support.
This course was developed with input from educators, caregivers, and mental health experts to meet the unique needs of youth aged 12-24. It offers practical tools to help adults recognize when a young person may be struggling and provides guidance on how to offer meaningful support. By focusing on the challenges and pressures faced by youth today, the program empowers participants to foster understanding, build trust, and promote resilience in the young people they care for.
Who is it for? Suited for parents, guardians, educators, coaches, and youth workers.
As a Mental Health First Aider, you will learn:assessment, provides participants:
Recognize signs
that a young person may be experiencing a decline in their mental well-being or a mental health or substance use crisis
Discuss Support
Discuss professional and other supports that could help with recovery to improved mental well-being
Initiate Conversations
that encourage a young person to talk about a mental health or substance use problem
Assist
In a mental health or substance use crisis situation
Course structured for impact
This 10-hour course opens with a self-directed module (Module 1) that focuses on the information and strategies that participants will discuss and practise throughout the virtual classroom modules (Modules 2 and 3). Upon registration, participants receive a link to the “MHFA Reference Guide” that outlines MHFA actions for developing mental health and substance use problems, and mental health crises.
Module 1
Self-Directed (2 Hours):
- Introduction to MHFA
- Introduction to MHFA Actions – ALGEES
- The role of a first aider
- Key knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours
- Impact of stigma on mental well-being
- Recognizing changes that may indicate a decline in mental well-being
- Risk and protective factors influencing mental health
- Activity: Use the information in this module to create a Persona of a young person you are likely to encounter
Module 2
Live Classroom (4 hours):
- MHFA for Declining Mental Well-Being
- Assessing the situation
- Communicating respectfully
- includes communicating with people from diverse cultures .
- Includes communication with members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community
- Case studies
- Review activity: Use what you have learned to support the Persona created in Module 1 Module
Module 3
Live Classroom (4 hours):
- Mental Health First Aid (MHFA): Mental Health & Substance Use Crisis Situations
- Responding effectively to crisis situations
- Identifying early warning signs of a crisis
- Applying MHFA crisis intervention strategies
- Exploring real-life case studies
- Using the ALGEE action plan for both crisis response and personal self-care
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Amanda Coombs is a certified Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Instructor who combines professional expertise with personal lived experience. She teaches MHFA courses through an anti‑oppressive, trauma‑informed lens, intentionally creating safe, inclusive and engaging learning spaces for participants from diverse backgrounds.