Healthcare Behavioral Health & Mental Wellness Essentials™

What you will learn

This program has four parts. By the end of each part, you should be able to:

Part 1: Foundations of Behavioral Health, Mental Wellness & Compassionate Care

• Define key behavioral health and mental wellness terms used in healthcare settings.
• Explain how physical health, mental health, and social determinants of health influence one another.
• Recognize early warning signs, common risk factors, and basic presentations of depression, anxiety, stress, and trauma.
• Use stigma-reducing, therapeutic communication strategies to support compassionate patient interactions.
• Apply empathy, cultural competence, professional boundaries, and patient-centered care principles in everyday practice.
• Identify ethical considerations and practical strategies for supporting personal wellness as a healthcare worker.

Part 2: Common Behavioral Health Conditions, Assessment & Therapeutic Communication

• Recognize common signs and workplace implications of major behavioral health conditions seen in healthcare settings.
• Identify behavioral health warning signs, suicide risk indicators, and observable changes that require timely escalation.
• Use basic mental status observations to describe patient presentation clearly and professionally.
• Apply trauma-informed, therapeutic communication techniques in routine and high-stress interactions.
• Document behavioral health observations accurately while supporting patient dignity, safety, and continuity of care.
• Collaborate with patients, families, and interdisciplinary team members to support appropriate behavioral health care.

Part 3: Crisis Intervention, Trauma-Informed Care & De-escalation Strategies

• Recognize common signs of escalating distress, behavioral health crises, and safety risks in healthcare settings.
• Apply core crisis intervention and trauma-informed care principles during emotionally charged or high-risk encounters.
• Use verbal de-escalation techniques to reduce agitation while preserving patient dignity and respect.
• Respond appropriately to suicide risk, self-harm concerns, and substance-related behavioral emergencies within role boundaries.
• Coordinate with colleagues to maintain a safe environment during behavioral health emergencies.
• Document behavioral health incidents clearly, ethically, and in line with legal and workplace expectations.

Part 4: Recovery, Resilience, Patient Advocacy & Professional Practice

• Apply recovery-oriented principles in everyday behavioral health practice.
• Identify protective factors, relapse risks, and practical relapse prevention strategies.
• Advocate for patient rights, preferences, and culturally responsive care.
• Coordinate with families, caregivers, interdisciplinary teams, and community supports.
• Use ethical, legal, and professional standards in common practice situations.
• Recognize compassion fatigue and burnout risks and use self-care strategies to sustain practice.

Program details

• Self-paced online program for healthcare professionals
• Program length: 10 hours, in four parts
• Includes graded assessments you must pass to complete the program
• Earn a downloadable Certificate of Completion upon successful program completion—ideal for documenting professional development and submitting to your employer for potential reimbursement
• Each certificate has a verification ID that employers can check at nahcp.com/verify

Program length describes the length of the program, not a number of continuing-education credits. Check with your employer or licensing board before submitting a program for credit or reimbursement.