Mental Health First Aid Training
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a nationally recognized, evidence-based training program designed to teach individuals how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance-use challenges.
What It Covers
- Common signs and symptoms of mental health challenges.
- Common signs and symptoms of substance use challenges.
- How to interact with a person in crisis.
- How to connect a person with help.
- Expanded content on trauma, substance use and self-care.
As part of the USC-wide Mental Health Initiative, USC WorkWell Center is offering monthly trainings free of charge to 300 USC staff and faculty on a first-come, first-served basis.
Training Modalities
Trainings are available in the following formats [click to expand]:
1) FULLY In-Person
- Pre-training evaluation and questionnaire
- Full day in-person training (7.5 hrs)
- Post-training test and survey
2) BLENDED In-Person
- Self-paced pre-work (estimated 2 hrs)
- In-person training (5.5 hrs)
- Post-training test and survey
3) BLENDED Virtual
- Self-paced pre-work (estimated 2 hrs)
- Virtual training (6.5 hrs)
- Post-training test and survey
Upcoming Trainings
| Date | Delivery | Sign Up Deadline | Pre-Work Deadline |
| Thursday 19th March, 2026 | Blended In-Person @ Viterbi UPC Arrival 8:30AM Training 9AM – 3PM | 3/5/2026 | 3/12/2026 |
| Wednesday 1st April, 2026 | Blended In-Person @ Soto HSC Arrival 8:30AM Training 9AM – 3PM | 3/18/2026 | 3/25/2026 |
| Tuesday 5th May, 2026 | TBA | ||
| Thursday 4th June, 2026 | TBA | ||
| Wednesday 8th July, 2026 | TBA |
Testimonials
“I wanted to take another moment to thank you all for the amazing course. The work that you all do is so incredibly impactful and important. I look forward to implementing everything I learned in both my professional and personal life.”
“Great session! It felt like such a safe and welcoming space, and the facilitator was incredibly knowledgeable.”
“This was a very important training to attend.”