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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Psychological First Aid by Johns Hopkins University

4.8
stars
19,545 ratings

About the Course

Learn to provide psychological first aid to people in an emergency by employing the RAPID model: Reflective listening, Assessment of needs, Prioritization, Intervention, and Disposition. Utilizing the RAPID model (Reflective listening, Assessment of needs, Prioritization, Intervention, and Disposition), this specialized course provides perspectives on injuries and trauma that are beyond those physical in nature. The RAPID model is readily applicable to public health settings, the workplace, the military, faith-based organizations, mass disaster venues, and even the demands of more commonplace critical events, e.g., dealing with the psychological aftermath of accidents, robberies, suicide, homicide, or community violence. In addition, the RAPID model has been found effective in promoting personal and community resilience. Participants will increase their abilities to: - Discuss key concepts related to PFA - Listen reflectively - Differentiate benign, non-incapacitating psychological/ behavioral crisis reactions from more severe, potentially incapacitating, crisis reactions - Prioritize (triage) psychological/ behavioral crisis reactions - Mitigate acute distress and dysfunction, as appropriate - Recognize when to facilitate access to further mental health support - Practice self-care Developed in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Open Education Lab....

Top reviews

ED

May 22, 2020

I am very happy and satisfied with the course program. In fact, I am excited to apply what I have learned and also looking forward to enroll in another course. Thank you for this learning opportunity!

GT

Dec 19, 2019

Great structure and interactive format. Clear expectations and excellent materials. Subject was explained in an effective manner that was easily understood and applied. Very useful for any profession!

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251 - 275 of 4,585 Reviews for Psychological First Aid

By Victor S

Sep 9, 2016

Very interesting course, it took all of my attention for a while. The concepts are well defined and the classes were enjoyable (even though the slideshow itself was lacking images). The best part is surely the simulations that, besides being funny sometimes, could demonstrate really well the real life situations that one might participate. Overall, i feel like i can help someone in this situation way better than before.

By Jennifer P

Sep 2, 2023

This course was everything I was hoping for, I learned an enormous amount of information and can already feel it linking into my daily life.

My one remark would be, for this course and/or for workers using PFA, to consider adapting elements of the assessment, prioritisation, and intervention steps in particular, when working with neurodivergent survivors (autistic, adhd, and more), based on the neurodiversity paradigm.

By William H G

Aug 4, 2022

In my 30s-50s I volunteered as a Firefighter for 15 years serving variously as a professionally certified firefighter, EMT, officer, certified fire instructor and Chief. This course would have been very helpful to me in processing my own trauma, as well as serving those who I had come to help as they were having perhaps the worst day of their life. This should be a required course for all emergency services personnel.

By Edvardas

Aug 13, 2020

Really nice and easy to understand to me. Even though a lot of information and examples were known to me, it was good to reflect on the terms, learn some new bits and reinforce my understanding. I think Week 5 is really important and we should not forget that firstly we need to love and take care of ourselves and only then we can help others. Would recommend it to anyone as it is just one of the basic things to know.

By Chris D

Jun 6, 2020

Overall a very solid course, high quality material, spread over a reasonable amount of time. I would recommend this course to anyone interested in the basics of a psychological approach used with individuals in times of disaster, or for example, a pandemic, I think it will help me monitor and check-in on my own and family/friends' reactions during the Covid-19 pandemic, and provide appropriate assistance, as needed.

By Katherine K

Jul 19, 2020

I joined this course late, but I did not regret the time spent for this. It is a well-structured module, following the RAPID response and not forgetting the "caregiver"/"response-person". My heart goes out to the people in need of emotional help, especially when faced with disasters and distress. I hope that my learning (and other coursemates') will make that important difference in at least that one person's life.

By Miranda R

Dec 28, 2016

It's short but packed full of practical knowledge for lay person. The instructor Dr. George was really excellent in the narration, love his modulated voice, and did an excellent role playing. I really enjoyed this course, and loved listening to all the videos. The notes in the videos really help integrate the lectures together. Thank you Dr. George, thank you Coursera. Would take any course presented by Dr. George.

By valynth v

Oct 18, 2020

This was a really interesting course. Professor Everly was a very good and pleasant lecturer. The lessons were laid out in a way that they were easy to digest and remember. The simulation was really well acted. I loved the vignettes in each lesson. The video resources were also good to give you a grounding feeling and a good overview of what you are getting into. I feel fulfilled personally for taking this course.

By Larissa S d P

Jul 31, 2020

PFA is an excellent course! I obtained a great learning through its didactics, lectures and tests. In addition to having learned a lot from the discussion forum that was essential, because through it there was an exchange and sharing of knowledge with several students around the world. I intend to take and put into practice all the knowledge acquired to help other people who are going through moments of adversity.

By Essandoh K D

Jun 7, 2021

In life we go through the processes discussed in this course. It was really helpful to see them analysed into its various components thus making it easy to appreciate what one is being done subconsciously. I, particularly, enjoyed the R and the A components simply because they were very revealing of what we sometimes do terribly wrong or easily overlook! It was a great course and would recommend it to everyone

By ulfah r

Aug 28, 2020

It's easy to understand even for you who have zero knowledge about this course. More importantly it's very useful thing to learn, especially for you who work as public health personnel, public health educator, emergency responders, and disaster workers. It's not just providing us about how to assist victim of disaster, but also how to maintain our self-care. Thanks a lot for providing this course on Coursera!

By Jennifer B

May 31, 2020

A very enjoyable introduction to a subject I was intrigued by but knew little about. Dr Everly has very good delivery, he is easy to follow with no unexplained jargon or waffle. The simulations are informative and involving. I hope I never find myself in a disaster situation, but what I've learned here will stand me in good stead, even in smaller scale distressing events. Many thanks from a happy learner!

By Caren C

Apr 16, 2020

This was a terrific overview by one of the field's leading authorities, George S. Everly, Jr., Ph.D. The course was well paced and moved through the topic logically. Having the opportunity to experience Dr. Everly's simulations and observations on video made the topic more accessible and compelling. I will be recommending this course to others and have ordered his book on the same topic.

Caren M. Carney, Ph.D.

By Atherial

Dec 24, 2022

Course was fairly short but very well put together. The info was very easy to understand and the professor was clearly experienced and drew from his experience for examples. Also his acting was pretty great in the scenarios. Definitely recommend for anyone in the health field, anyone who works w/ vulnerable populations, or anyone unexperienced in mental health that would like to volunteer in disaster relief.

By Miriam G

Sep 8, 2017

A very useful and entertaining course, I did enjoy George Everly's lessons. The course completely meets the goal in giving a solid approach to the psychological first aid method. You can find it useful even in your daily life, explaining how to be a sensitive and supportive person when facing with a friend or a member of your family in distress, and a well-balanced person yourself. Thank you for this course.

By Ramón C

Jan 20, 2021

A well structured and qualitative course. Study materials and pace are adequate. Prof. Everly does a great job explaining theoretical concepts and showing examples on how to manage real situations. Thank you for this course.

If you are looking for a course focusing on how to provide psychological first aid after massive events occurring to the general public, this course is very suitable for it./ June 2020.

By Harriet

May 7, 2020

While I am not professionally a medical responder or mental health worker, I found the course to be extremely interesting and possibly useful in the possibility of an emergency, and as a stepping stone in the opportunity to start a career in disaster response. I highly recommend this course to anybody who would like to make a difference in people's lives, especially those who are in their darkest moments.

By Jenniffer V M

Jul 19, 2020

Eu estou realmente feliz em ter terminado esse curso e escolhido exatamente este para aprendizado. Tudo é muito didático e de fácil entendimento, além de o professor ser muito atencioso, mesmo online hahaha. Só tenho a agradecer pela oportunidade que vocês deram a mim e a tantas outras pessoas, de ajudar o próximo de uma maneira que as vezes nem consideramos fazer a diferença. Realmente, muito obrigada!

By Тополева Е А

Sep 24, 2020

Thak you very much for the course! A am counseling psychologist and new earlier about interventions, but the structure of information how to work with trauma all this "emergency" strategies are veru useful for me. Also now in pandemic whether a person is an employee of a psychological service or not, it is useful for anyone to take this course. Moreover, the material is presented clearly and in detail.

By Jamie L F T

Jul 2, 2020

very interesting and enlightening teachings on psychological first aid - the listening skills learnt can be applied to our everyday lives as well, not just when working with people who suffered trauma. Prof George is very engaging and the lectures were well-paced and well-explained. The videos of crises and the simulations were very helpful in aiding my understanding of what to do and what not to do.

By Amarilis O

Dec 25, 2020

Dr. Everly has an excellent way of teaching complex concepts in a very practical and comprehensive way. Also appreciated a lot his "easy going" way of sharing his vast knowledge and sense of humor. For no native english speakers as myself, it is great to have a speaker that speaks at a pace as Dr. Everly does.

The Caribbean islands are subject to frequent hurricane; this course was a true blessing!

By Edilberto B G J I

Jul 6, 2020

I would like to say thank you first to God for using me and for leading to this course inorder for me to help others inconnection with Covid19, Thank you to George Everly, Jr., PhD, Thank you to John Hopkins University, thank you Coursera and to staff behind Cousera, thnak you guyz for the unfailing love and dedication to help people like by giving a free course, thank you guyz, God bless you guys!.

By Aya

Jun 2, 2020

a lot of people are complaining about repeating the same scene, but I think that's the right way to see all of the aspects in the same situation!

the course was simple, easy to understand, and full of great information

what I have learned that these stips and techniques will help you deal with anybody's problems around you, you don't even have to be in a disaster place or inside a war

THANK YOU SO MUCH

By Jareth C

Apr 20, 2020

This course was a useful overview of the PFA process. If you've had similar training, e.g. MHFA, this makes for a good refresher of its paradigms as well. If I had to add some comment for improvement, I may suggest that the pre/post survey questions be scrubbed to coincide more with the material covered. Nevertheless, this was a great course I'd recommend to anyone with a passing interest or desire.

By Reema A

Nov 18, 2021

I really enjoyed learning about the RAPID model and how to implement it in crisis situations. I am not a first responder, but I am interested in mental health, and I believe that I will be able to use the skills I learned from this course to offer compassionate and supportive aid to those who may need it. The skills learned in this course are not only for health professionals; they are life skills.