Adults
2025 Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Training Dates
Community Training Information
All community trainings are delivered online via Zoom unless otherwise stated. See our FAQs page for more details.
- All one-day courses run from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET unless otherwise stated.
- All two-day courses run from 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET both training days for AM courses and 12:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET both training days for PM courses unless otherwise stated.
Registration for each course closes at midnight two Fridays before the course. This is about a week and a half before each course.
Community Training Dates
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- Wednesday, June 4th AND Thursday, June 5th (PM)
- Thursday, June 12th AND Friday, June 13th (AM)
- Tuesday, June 17th AND Wednesday, June 18th (AM)
- Tuesday, July 8th AND Thursday, July 10th (AM)
- Wednesday, July 23rd (One Day)
- Tuesday, August 5th AND Thursday, August 7th (PM)
Community Training Calendar-dates posting shortly
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- Wednesday, August 20th, (One Day)
- Tuesday, September 9th AND Wednesday, September 10th (AM)
- Wednesday, September 17th, (One Day)
Other Training Opportunities
No closed-group training sessions (online or in-person) are being accepted at this time.
If you would like our team to do a promotional introduction presentation about mental health and MHFA for your group, please email msue.mhfa@msu.edu for inquiries.
Make sure to check out MSU Extension's other health-related programming at: https://www.canr.msu.edu/food_health/.
About Adult MHFA
Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based training that teaches people how to identify, understand and respond to signs and symptoms of a mental health or substance use challenge in adults ages 18 and over. The evidence behind the program demonstrates that it builds mental health literacy, providing an action plan that teaches people to safely and responsibly identify and address a potential mental health or substance use challenge.
Mental Health First Aid uses real world examples in a safe and supportive learning environment to prepare participants to use the ALGEE action plan. The ALGEE action plan can be used to safely assist adult family members, neighbors, coworkers, community members, or strangers that may be experiencing a mental health challenge or crisis. Some of the mental health challenges covered are panic attacks, extreme sadness, aggressive behaviors, hallucinations, overdoses, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
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MHFA at Michigan State University Extension
MSU Extension MHFA trainers have certified over 2,500 Adult Mental Health First Aiders since 2017.
Mental Health First Aiders trained through MSU Extension gain a lot of knowledge and the confidence to use this knowledge. How do we know? Because our participants have told us! Check out the testimonials tab for quotes from our Mental Health First Aiders. We also collect some group data through pre- and post-tests on the Connect learning system. This is what we found...
- Most participants consider themselves to have low to moderate knowledge on the signs and symptoms of a mental health or substance use challenge before MHFA training. After MHFA training, most participants consider themselves very knowledgeable about recognizing signs and symptoms.
- Participants are more confident in their ability to ask a person directly about suicide after MHFA training.
- Participants are more likely to have a supportive conversation with an adult experiencing signs and symptoms of a mental health or substance use challenge or crisis, and are more confident in their ability to be supportive in that conversation after MHFA training.
- Participants more strongly believe that they should express concerns to and assist coworkers that they think might be experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge after MHFA training.
- Participants feel it is less difficult to refer someone to mental health or substance use professionals, as well as self-help strategies like crisis hotlines and support groups, after MHFA training.
- Before MHFA training, most participants are not confident in their ability to respond to a substance use crisis, but after MHFA training most participants feel very confident in their ability to respond effectively.

Mental Health in Adult Michiganders
At MSU Extension, we recognize mental health as an important health concern, both nationally and locally. We hope to empower the Michigan community to talk about mental health, learn about the mental health resources available to them, and recognize when someone within their community could use some help.
The below table and corresponding list demonstrate some of the key mental health challenges Michiganders are facing. Also included is the percentage of Michiganders receiving mental health treatment. It is important to know that many people who could benefit from mental health treatment do not receive it due to factors like awareness, access, and cost.
Existing social and cultural disparities have disproportionately affected mental health and access to mental health services for peoples of certain occupation, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender identity, sexual orientation, geographic location, lived experience, and age. This means that certain groups of people in Michigan and nationally are experiencing higher or lower rates than what is reported on this page.
Many resources, both formal and informal, can help to meet the various needs of individuals living with or supporting someone with mental illness. You can learn more about resources and other initiatives from Michigan State University Extension in the Resources tab, located at the top of this page.
Key Measures of Mental Health in Adult (18+) Michiganders from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
2021-2022 | 2022-2023 | |
Experienced any mental illness not including substance use disorders in the past year | 23.2% | 22.9% |
Experienced a substance use disorder in the past year | 19.1% | 18.4% |
Engaged in binge alcohol use in the past month | 23.5% | 23.6% |
Experienced serious thoughts of suicide in the past year | 5.0% | 5.4% |
Received mental health treatment in the past year | 23.5% | 24.7% |
- Experienced any mental illness not including substance disorders in the past year
- More than 1 in 5 (22.9%) adult Michiganders experienced mental illness in 2022-2023. Michigan's current rate is about the same as the national average (23.0%).
- Experienced a substance use disorder in the past year
- More than 1 in 6 (18.4%) adult Michiganders had a substance use disorder in 2022-2023. Michigan has a slightly higher percentage than the national average (18.1%).
- Engaged in binge alcohol use in a given month
- About 1 in 4 (23.6%) adult Michiganders engaged in binge alcohol use in the past month in 2022-2023. Binge alcohol use is defined as have 5 or more drinks for males or 4 or more drinks for females within a couple of hours. Michigan's percentage is about the same as the national average (23.5%).
- Experienced serious thoughts of suicide in the past year
- About 1 in 19 (5.4%) adult Michiganders had serious thoughts of suicide in 2022-2023. This number has increased slightly compared to previous years. Michigan has a slightly higher percentage compared to the national average (5.1%).
- Received mental health treatment in the past year
- A little less than 1 in 4 (24.7%) adult Michiganders received mental health treatment in the past year. Mental health treatment includes inpatient and outpatient treatments and counseling, telehealth treatment, and use of prescription medication for mental health. Michigan's percentage is higher than the national average (22.4%).
Data is from the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. This is the most recent state-specific data available as of May 2025.
