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Mental health training on college campuses does more than teach skills. It fosters a culture of care that encourages collective engagement and shared ownership, responsibility, and stewardship for student well-being.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Jed Foundation (JED) believes that <\/span>mental health training<\/span><\/a> works best when it equips faculty, staff, and students with skills to identify and support young people who are struggling. When you train your campus community, you create multiple layers of support \u2014 helping people identify students who may be struggling, contributing to suicide prevention efforts, and strengthening the safety net that protects everyone’s mental health. A strategically implemented mental health training program is an integral element of a comprehensive, campuswide approach to protecting student mental health.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A note on terminology: In the past, these programs have been referred to as \u201cgatekeeper training.\u201d The term \u201cgatekeeper\u201d can feel intimidating and suggest a burden of authority that many people aren’t comfortable with. By simply calling it \u201cmental health training,\u201d we help normalize these important conversations and make support feel more accessible to everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n Whether your campus is developing new mental health training programs or refreshing existing ones, consider the following implementation steps.<\/span><\/p>\n Implementation requires a clear and structured approach from the beginning. The first step is to perform a <\/span>needs assessment<\/span><\/a> that examines what\u2019s working well in your current support systems and identifies opportunities to better serve your students.<\/span><\/p>\n Your campus can establish a committee that evaluates current training, centralizes training efforts, and assesses existing attitudes and campus climate around supporting and referring students in distress. The committee can determine how to ensure training will most effectively reach groups of faculty, staff, and students.<\/span><\/p>\n A training program should eventually reach everyone in your campus community, but start with the people who connect with students most often, such as:<\/span><\/p>\n There is no one-size-fits-all mental health training that\u2019s best for all colleges and universities. The most impactful training will center the needs of your campus, drawing on the findings from your needs assessment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Although specific elements will vary, every foundational mental health training program should teach participants to do the following:<\/span><\/p>\n Some campuses choose to train faculty, staff, and student leaders across departments to facilitate sessions rather than relying only on counseling center staff to run all of the training. This train-the-trainer model offers multiple benefits:<\/span><\/p>\n There are some potential downsides of the train-the-train model to consider. Some schools may be concerned about inconsistent quality of training delivered by campus members with varying levels of expertise. To address this concern, consider establishing an oversight committee. You might also use feedback surveys and assessments to ensure participants consistently receive the same information about identifying, intervening, and referring students when necessary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If a formal train-the-trainer model isn\u2019t feasible, consider expanding mental health training using a co-facilitation model. Typically, this model pairs one facilitator with experience or prior training in student mental health, such as a member of the counseling center, with a campus community member who brings interest and commitment to student well-being, such as a residence life director. These trainings are most impactful when co-facilitated by peers or colleagues in the same demographic group as participants, such as faculty leading faculty trainings or student leaders training other students.<\/span><\/p>\n Varied delivery formats increase engagement and make the learning experience accessible to all participants. Options may include:<\/span><\/p>\n Whatever format you choose, encourage participants to practice what they\u2019ve learned in realistic scenarios. When people can apply new skills in situations that feel authentic, they retain information better and feel more confident stepping in to help when it really matters. Also, provide participants with a curated set of <\/span>printable guides<\/span><\/a> or online resources for ongoing learning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Encouraging participation in training requires both top-down support and creative engagement strategies:<\/span><\/p>\n Measuring the impact of mental health training helps you improve and sustain a training program. Consider these assessment tools and techniques:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you have a research or evaluation team on your campus, consider partnering with them to analyze insights that guide your future direction. Ongoing feedback and evaluation helps you continuously adapt your training to meet changing needs.<\/span><\/p>\n Your campus has many options for mental health training. You might develop a customized approach such as <\/span>Ohio State\u2019s REACH suicide prevention training program<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>Or you can explore the <\/span>Suicide Prevention Resource Center\u2019s Best Practice Registry<\/span><\/a> for expert-reviewed programs that align with current suicide prevention strategies and address key risk factors. Some of the most commonly used programs include <\/span>QPR<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Mental Health First Aid<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0You might partner with JED formally in <\/span>interactive workshops<\/span><\/a>, such as our You Can Help workshop series with a train-the-trainer option, or in our <\/span>JED Campus and JED Campus Fundamentals<\/span><\/a> programs. JED also offers the following support:<\/span><\/p>\nConduct a Needs Assessment<\/span><\/h2>\n
Know Who to Involve in Training<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Know the Essential Components of Mental Health Training\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Weigh the Utility of a Train-the-Trainer Model\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Design Flexible Modes of Delivery<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Increase Engagement and Participation<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Track Training Effectiveness and Engagement<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Explore Additional Resources for Campus Mental Health Training<\/span><\/h2>\n
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