Mental Health First Aid Summit Breakouts C

MHFA19 - Turning Training Into Action: Success Stories of How Participants Applied tMHFA Skills in Real-life Situations

Sunday, April 26, 2026

1:30 PM - 2:30 PM MDT

Location: 607

As Mental Health First Aid expands across sectors, organizations must balance program fidelity with the need to understand how training translates into real world practice. This panel explores MHFA implementation across schools, youth serving organizations, and mental health agencies.

Panelists will share how MHFA is adapted to different environments while maintaining fidelity, along with practical approaches for capturing meaningful evaluation data and team feedback. The session will also connect these experiences to broader MHFA impact efforts, including considerations related to Teen Mental Health First Aid.

Learning Objectives:

Compare MHFA implementation across multiple settings, including schools, youth serving organizations, and mental health agencies.
Describe strategies for maintaining tMHFA program fidelity while adapting training to different environments.
Identify practical methods for capturing tMHFA impact using evaluation data and qualitative feedback that reflect skill use and practice.

Disclosure(s):

Sarah Eure, MPH: No financial relationships to disclose

Amaris Gabrianna, MSW, LCSW: No financial relationships to disclose

Aaron Evans, LPC-S: No financial relationships to disclose

Presenter - MHFA Summit(s)

Sarah Eure, MPH

Data & Analytics Manager
National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Cleveland, Ohio

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose

Slides
Amaris Gabrianna, MSW, LCSW

School-Based MHFA Program Coordinator
Behavioral Health Springboard, UNC-CH School of Social Work
Mebane, North Carolina

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
Erin Bracey

Director of Teen Mental Health
YMCAs of Northwest North Carolina
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Disclosure information not submitted.

Moderator - MHFA Summit(s)

Aaron Evans, LPC-S

Psychotherapist, Death Doula, and MHFA National Trainer
Aaron Evans Counseling and Consulting, PLLC
Lockhart, Texas

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose