According to the 2024-2025 Healthy Minds Study, more than half of college students reported needing help for mental health concerns over the past year.
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training, developed by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, provides the opportunity to learn the tools needed to support students with mental health concerns.
The Division of Student Life brought MHFA training to Duquesne in 2023, and since then, nearly 250 students, faculty and staff have received this live-saving training. As a result, participants report feeling empowered and more confident in their ability to support individuals experiencing mental health challenges and crises.
What is MHFA?
- MHFA is skills-based training that teaches individuals how to identify, understand and respond to signs and symptoms of a mental health or substance-use challenge.
- Similar to physical First Aid and CPR, MHFA helps individuals assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance-use crisis until professional assistance becomes available or the crisis is resolved.
- Mental Health First Aid is an approximately 7.5–hour training broken into two hours of asynchronous online “pre-work” and a 5.5-hour, instructor-led session in person.
To learn more about MHFA training, complete this online interest form. Instructors will be in contact to discuss cost, logistics and scheduling.
News Information