These free mental health trainings are available for anyone who works or lives in the City of Boulder.

This spring, the City of Boulder and Mental Health Partners are offering free mental health trainings to all Boulder community members.

These trainings aim to help you identify, understand and respond to signs of mental distress, substance use problems and suicide crises. By learning about wellness best practices, mental health support and suicide prevention methods you can help make our community a safer and more supportive place to live and thrive.

“We are so grateful to be partnering with the City of Boulder for this impactful series of trainings,” said Casey Riley, director of training and development at Mental Health Partners. “Our community members are increasingly recognizing the widespread need for mental health education and resources, especially as we’ve watched many of our friends, family and loved ones navigate the challenges of the past few years. These trainings can help anyone identify early signs of mental distress, how to navigate multiple levels of support, and provide life-saving skills.”

The City of Boulder granted Mental Health Partners $30,000 to offer these important trainings for free to anyone who works or lives in the City of Boulder. Upcoming trainings include:

  • Introduction to Mental Health and Wellness – In this 90-minute virtual session, participates learn how to recognize and respond to people showing signs of mental distress and strategies to build resilience. Spanish interpretation is available.
    • Tuesday, Apr. 18 – 8 to 9:30 a.m.
    • Friday, May 12 – 12 to 1:30 p.m.
    • Wednesday, June 28 – 6 to 7:30 p.m.
  • Question, Persuade, Refer – This 90-minute virtual session trains participants how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help.
    • Thursday, Apr. 6 – 8:30 to 10 a.m.
    • Monday, May 1 – 12 to 1:30 p.m.
    • Tuesday, June 20 – 9 to 10:30 a.m.
  • Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) – This 8-hour training provides the skills needed to initially support a person who may be experiencing a crisis or developing a mental health or substance use problem.
    • Adult MHFA, virtual: Saturday, May 20 – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
    • Youth MHFA, in Lafayette: Friday, June 2 – 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Space is limited and registration is required. To register for these free trainings please email trainings@mhpcolorado.org.

Older man sitting behind a work desk.

“The main message I hope to get across to everyone who attends a QPR training is ‘You can do this.’ A lot of people hesitate to talk about suicide because they don’t know how to help or what’s truly helpful. QPR teaches simples skills that anyone can use to help a person who’s thinking of suicide: start the conversation, and you can save a life.” - Jay Winstead, Mental Health Partners Clinical Quality Facilitator & Trainer

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