Mental Health Awareness

For any adult or employee: recognize when someone is struggling, talk supportively, connect people to care and respond to a crisis with 988 or 911.

For: Any adult learner or employee, in any industry, who wants to understand mental health and support coworkers, friends, family or the public

  • 2 contact hours
  • 7 modules
  • 7 interactives
  • 4 job aids
  • Updated October 7, 2026

What you will be able to do

  • Describe mental health as a continuum and identify the main features of common mental health conditions and how common they are in the United States.
  • Recognize lasting changes and life factors that suggest a person may be struggling, and identify signs that call for a same-day response, without diagnosing.
  • Replace stigmatizing language and common myths with accurate, respectful alternatives.
  • Conduct a supportive conversation that respects privacy, the limits of your role and your own wellbeing.
  • Connect a person to appropriate care and explain the basic ADA and mental health parity (MHPAEA) protections that can help.
  • Choose the right crisis response (988, mobile crisis or 911) and act safely while help is on the way.

Learn what mental health really is, how common mental health conditions are in the United States, and what anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis, PTSD, OCD, eating disorders and substance use disorders actually involve. Then practice the skills that matter most: noticing changes, starting a caring conversation, staying within your role, and connecting someone to care or to crisis help.

This course is for any adult: frontline staff, office workers, supervisors, volunteers, caregivers and anyone who wants to be ready when someone they know is struggling. It does not teach diagnosis or treatment. It teaches you to notice, ask, listen, connect and follow up, and to look after your own mental health along the way.

Roughly one in five US adults has a mental health condition in a given year, and about half don't get treatment. Fear, stigma and not knowing where to go keep people stuck. You'll work through realistic US workplace scenarios, a branching conversation, a crisis decision tree and 'spot the issue' exercises, and leave with a resource sheet, conversation prompts, a scenario worksheet and a personal wellness plan.

What you’ll be able to do Monday morning

  1. Notice when a coworker's behavior has changed from their usual baseline and decide whether it calls for a check-in this week or a same-day response.
  2. Open a private, caring conversation with words that invite talk instead of judgment.
  3. Redirect a stigmatizing joke or label in one calm sentence.
  4. Point someone to the right resource: EAP, insurance behavioral health line, FindTreatment.gov, the SAMHSA National Helpline or 988.
  5. Choose between 988, mobile crisis and 911 in a crisis, and stay safe while help is on the way.
  6. Use your own wellness plan to catch your early warning signs.

Curriculum

7 modules · 28 lessons · about 2 contact hours

01What is mental health, and how common are mental health conditions?Free preview15 min
  1. What do we mean by mental health?
  2. How common are mental health conditions in the United States?
  3. What shapes a person's mental health?
  4. Practice case: Reading the continuum at a credit union
  • Self-assessment: My wellbeing habits check

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

02What do common mental health conditions look like?17 min
  1. Why learn about conditions if you won't diagnose anyone?
  2. What are the most common conditions?
  3. Which other conditions should every adult understand?
  4. Practice case: Myths at the pass
  • Matching activity: Match the condition to what it involves

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

03How can you tell when someone may be struggling?15 min
  1. What kinds of changes should you notice?
  2. Why do signs look different from person to person?
  3. What should you do with what you noticed?
  4. Practice case: Remote signs on a support team
  • Sort activity: Real signs or myths?

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

04How do stigma and everyday words keep people from getting help?15 min
  1. What is stigma, and how does it work?
  2. Which words help, and which words hurt?
  3. How do you challenge stigma without starting a fight?
  4. Practice case: Rewriting a shift-change post
  • Spot the issue: Spot the stigma in a team update

In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

05How do you start a supportive conversation and stay within your role?17 min
  1. How do you open the conversation?
  2. What does supportive listening sound like?
  3. Where are the boundaries of your role?
  4. Practice case: When the answer is 'I'm fine'
  • Branching scenario: Check-in at the bakery counter

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

06Where can people get help, and what rights protect them?17 min
  1. What kinds of help exist?
  2. What does mental health parity mean for insurance?
  3. What workplace rights protect people with mental health conditions?
  4. Practice case: Finding care without an EAP
  • Spot the issue: Spot the errors in a resource email

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

07What do you do in a mental health crisis, and how do you look after yourself?18 min
  1. What counts as a mental health crisis, and who do you call?
  2. What do you do while help is on the way?
  3. How do you look after your own mental health?
  4. Practice case: Choosing the right line
  • Decision tree: Crisis decision tree: who do I call?

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

Final assessment: 23 questions, 80% to pass, then your certificate

Try it now, no account needed

Check-in at the bakery counter

A branching scenario from this course. Your choices are not saved.

Free sample activity

Check-in at the bakery counter

You are Celeste Moreau, a baker at a grocery store in Bangor, Maine. Your coworker Dustin Albright has been late most mornings, burned two batches this week and barely talks. Yesterday he said, 'Nothing I do matters.' The early shift just ended and you are both cleaning up.

Inside the course

Practice activities

  • Self-assessment1
  • Matching activity1
  • Sort activity1
  • Spot the issue2
  • Branching scenario1
  • Decision tree1

Job aids you keep

  • Mental health resource sheetReference sheet
  • Supportive conversation promptsPocket card
  • Scenario planning worksheetWorksheet
  • My personal wellness planTemplate

Credit and approval status

Certificate of completion

This course awards a certificate of completion for 2 contact hours of instruction. It is not currently approved or accredited by any licensing board, state agency or continuing education accreditor, including the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), the Association of Social Work Boards Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program or IACET. It is general awareness education, not clinical training. If you want to use it toward a professional, employer or state requirement, check first with your licensing board, employer or state agency whether they accept this course.

Pathways we may pursue for future editions include counselor continuing education through NBCC, social work continuing education through the ASWB ACE program, and IACET-aligned continuing education units. None of these approvals exists today; the course page will show an approval only after it is granted.

Our full approvals list

Questions about this course

Does this course count as continuing education for my license?

No. It awards a certificate of completion for 2 contact hours of instruction. It is not approved or accredited by any licensing board, state agency or continuing education accreditor. If you hope to use it for a professional or employer requirement, ask your board or employer before you enroll whether they accept it. We will show any approval on this page only once it has been granted.

Who is this course for?

Any adult: employees in any industry, supervisors, volunteers, caregivers, students and community members. No clinical background is needed. Managers, youth workers and K-12 educators may also want our audience-specific courses, which go deeper on their roles. Licensed clinicians should look for training approved by their own board.

Will this course teach me to diagnose or counsel people?

No. You'll learn what common conditions involve so you can recognize changes, reduce stigma and speak about care with hope. The course teaches you to notice, ask, listen, connect and follow up. Diagnosis and treatment belong to licensed professionals, and the course shows you how to connect people to them.

Does it cover what to do in a crisis?

Yes. Every module includes the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, and Module 7 teaches you when to use 988, a mobile crisis team or 911, and what to do while help is on the way. For in-depth suicide prevention skills, see our Suicide Prevention Awareness course.

Is there anything state-specific?

The course is built on national resources and federal law that apply everywhere. Local crisis services, state insurance rules and state disability laws vary, and the course shows you what to check locally. It is not a state edition and is not approved to meet any state training mandate.

How long does it take, and what do I get at the end?

Plan on about two hours, including seven short modules, interactive exercises and a 23-question final assessment (pass mark 80%). When you pass, you receive a certificate of completion and can download four job aids: a resource sheet, conversation prompts, a scenario worksheet and a personal wellness plan.

This course is general education and mental health awareness training from CE Courses Hub. It is not legal, medical, mental health or professional advice and does not replace your employer's policies, your licensing board's rules, or advice from a qualified professional. Completing it earns a certificate of completion for the stated contact hours; it is not approved or accredited by any licensing board, state agency or accreditor unless an approval is shown on the course page. Check with your board, employer or state agency whether this course meets your specific requirement. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org; in immediate danger, call 911.