The Behavioral First Responder is designed for instructors, administrators, and counselors of all varieties who want to understand common behavioral issues and helpful responses within the experiential education context. Our course will teach you overarching theories, models, and techniques adapted from the fields of 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 strategies with the idea that we can tailor programming and staff practices to avoid behavioral and mental health issues while on our programs. Next, we’ll explore helpful tools to manage and mitigate behavioral and mental health incidents. This includes 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. Simply put, this certification is designed to help you ally with the student before, during, and after their difficult moment. 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 promoting mental health through Experiential Education.