The Behavioral First Responder is designed for instructors, administrators, and counselors who want to understand common behavioral issues and helpful responses within the experiential education context. Our certification course will teach overarching theories, models, and techniques adapted from social work, counseling, and psychology to help you understand the dynamic nature of behavioral situations, underlying motivations, and methods and strategies to manage and mitigate behavioral crises. This course starts with an in-depth look at preventative strategy with the idea that we can tailor programming and staff practices to avoid behavioral and mental health issues in our programs. Next, we'll explore helpful tools to manage and mitigate behavioral and mental health incidents, including de-escalation skills, behavioral assessment, and development plans for moving forward and helping the student continue to have a successful course. Finally, this course will examine how to help students enact long-term, pro-social behavioral change. This certification is designed to help EE professionals ally with the student before, during, and after difficult moments. Participants will walk away from this course with practical applications of theories and models taught via activities, instructor facilitation techniques, and many more resources for promoting healthier behavior and mental health through Experiential Education.

Prerequisites: None