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

4.8
stars
19,148 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!

PG

Feb 9, 2017

A very helpful course and full of practical information for persons interfered with disaster relief and crisis intervention as this course has a well- planned syllabus and really informative vignettes

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4001 - 4025 of 4,521 Reviews for Psychological First Aid

By Kate O

Jun 15, 2020

Essential information presented in a clear and accessible manner. Would benefit from a more engaging presentation method like more video of the speaker. If slides are to be used exclusively, incorporate color and a more attractive layout.

Actor simulations achieved their goal but were unnecessarily slow-paced.

The disaster video clips were a powerful element and a critical tool that brought all the content together and illustrated many concepts and circumstances discussed. I'm glad there was so much of it to review and that the speakers (storm victims) varied considerably in demographics, emotional reactions, language used, and in their responses to memories.

By Monica M

May 4, 2020

Very useful and applicable to real life (even if the trauma is not a huge common disaster, but more personal in someone's life). Professor calm and easy to understand.

I didn't give five stars because the materials and lectures seem dated (there is a point where it becomes clear that the material is more than ten years old) and more efforts could be made to make the talks more animated or add to the slides with graphics (e.g. take a look at the graphics in the 'Introduction to Negotiation' course offered by Yale).

But overall fulfilled my wishes to take a class which is relevant for my professional further development requirements.

By Selina B

Feb 3, 2017

Great course! Sometimes it got a little bit boring and in the next moment the important information was too fast spoken to me (no native speaker) - but i enjoyed, that some complicated sentecnes have always been repeated in more simple language without too many foreign words! I also enjoyed the videos with the false/correct methods which were shown. Dr. Everly has a good voice and pronaunciation, so that i was able to listen. also great, that the quiz has no timelimit, like questions need to be anwered in 3 minutes, because i had to translate a view words into german to understand the questions and this needs time. thanks!

By Hana B

Jul 1, 2020

The information was presented in a clear and organized way. I found it a little dry at first, since seeing nothing but static slides didn't feel very engaging but later the content got more interesting. I think the course could be improved with added visuals illustrating the key points on each slide. Every person learns differently and some people absorb new information more easily from image or graphics s rather than plain text. Also, as another reviewer noted, I found it amusing how many times Dr. Everly repeats that he's been doing this for over 40 years. Overall a very good course and I appreciate that it's free.

By Christina S

Dec 14, 2020

Excellent! Good content. Amount of detail was appropriate. Presenter was knowledgeable and easy to listen to. Format of text slides and video mix was good. Illustration of correct and flawed way of doing things was helpful. Things that could be improved include putting names on the people in the from the ashes video. It would be easier to complete the exercise of triaging the people if they had names. I did not participate in the discussion because it was too awkward to talk about the people with names to refer to them by. Overall, the site was user friendly, but needs some improvement. ould have been nice

By Nada H

Jul 10, 2020

Personally, I found the course really interesting and engaging. The simulations provided along with the quizzes really made me grasp the concept. It's a great introductory course for beginners in the field as it gives a basic outline of what should happen, but it doesn't provide details for those looking for how to actually provide psychological first aid. (Also, if you're a mental health student or practitioner looking to further you're knowledge, this is not the course for you. In the introduction, it's explicitly stated that this course is aimed for NON-MENTAL health workers with no background in mental health.)

By Michael C

Apr 15, 2020

Seems to cover what would be needed in the psychological field, also does a good job in establishing that this is a bit different than therapy, even though there will be plenty of overlap. Being a recent graduate, there were concepts I already knew, however, the experience brought to the table helped me to consider some more of the practical considerations that are necessary for being involved in people's lives like we aim to do. Was a little difficult watching the videos about how not to help someone and I would have appreciated more than one example of how to do it right. Solid foundations to build on overall.

By Eva K

Aug 2, 2020

some answers in the quizzes were not at all covered in the material, for example question about evidence based intervention and in the field trauma intervention. the questions were ambigious to me. the score should be 70% to pass, not 80%. Questions were confusing and I learned more from George's dialogue than from any slides or badly formulated, irrelevant quizzes. the question were taken from other modules sometimes not relevant to the module in test. The questions were chaotic. I liked the honesty, committment and humanity of Georgre Everly the most. His attitude was humble and true to the core. thank you.

By Παύλος Α Σ

Dec 1, 2020

i actually had to implement some of the techniques WHILE i was reading them and i had a phone call from a lady i know who was contemplating suicide among other things, and for that i thank you very much on a personal level. The only reason i put 4 stars and not 5 is because in the self-care module, the parts in which factors contributing to burnout cite ''right wing conspiracy'' and ''capitalist boss'' seem to be politically biased and actually seem like gray propaganda. Personally i would change them to ''conspiracy'' neutral and nagging about people in your environment. Other than that thank you very much!

By Tala A

Oct 11, 2020

I understand this was basically just the beginning to psychological first aid, but there are a few concepts I would have liked to listen more about the exam seems to include them. One such example, is that we weren't given enough examples on the techniques or rephrasing, distraction, delaying and such and I was therefore unable to properly differentiate between them. Otherwise, it was a wonderful course that I learned a lot from and truly enjoyed. I learned about things I didn't know even existed before and it made me just a little bot more confident in regards to how to deal with a crisis situation.

By Wei T H

May 22, 2020

Fairly well presented and taught. Knowledge provide is quite important and useful. However, actual skills and experience is important for PFA and online lectures without practice limits the value of the learning. Might help to include some form of roleplay involvement on the part of students, although this is admittedly difficult to execution online. However, a fairer critique would be that the module on self-care can afford to be more in-depth. Perhaps methods of self-care could be shared, as well as the value of reflection and debriefing.

By Maria T R

May 14, 2020

I am very satisfied with the course

I point out the lack of the Italian language as an option of choice.

I'm sorry I have certainly lost the depth and meaning of some language barrier teachings. I believe this was the source of my mistakes.

Given the excellence of the course, I invite you to include the Italian language ..... we are not many in the world ... but we are a people open to learning and inclined to relationships and exchange therefore it is a pity that the Italian language does not is covered in your course.

By Naga V I

Apr 2, 2018

Good introduction to the psychological first aid (PFA). This is the first time I took a course like this. It was ver informative. The speaker introduced RAPID model for PFA and went into detail of each of the steps of the RAPID model. Also provided is simulations of right and wrong ways of using the techniques learnt, which was really informative. Overall, course is great, me bring a beginner in this field. The course is short, and concise and to the point. Thanks Dr. Everly, John Hopkins, and Coursera for the course.

By Deleted A

Aug 22, 2017

This was an excellent course. It provided a basic understanding of PFA, going through the John's Hopkins RAPID model for treating someone in acute psychological distress. I got a lot more out of the course than I intended. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because I am still not quite sure I could go into the field right now and utilize the skills I learned in class. While the fact-based knowledge obtained in class was superior, I wish there was a way to practice. Thank you, Dr. Everly for a wonderful course!

By Lisa I

Sep 10, 2020

Learning videos & information is very good. I got frustrated with the language used & how quiz questions were phrased & had to redo quizzes several times. I had to write out each question & the answers, making note of my guesses for when I re-took tests. Very time consuming.

Also was looking to pay for the certificate, but was unable to see where to do it at end.

Thank you for making this course available to us, as I work for a tight budgeted nonprofit helping the houseless community.

By Sarah N

Apr 12, 2017

I liked all the content though I thought presentation of it was a bit boring, a lot of the what not to do examples were a bit obvious or extreme rather than attempting to shed light on the subtle mistakes one might be inclined to do. Some of the quiz questions seemed almost purposefully confusing or worded in a trick way, which felt a little pointless. Otherwise I've enjoyed everything I've learned and would definitely take another PFA course, maybe a level 2 or something.

By Roger R L d S

Jun 20, 2022

I really enjoyed the course. It gave me a lot of basic notions and knowledge to have the first contact and I thought it was excellent for those who had never had experiences in the area. I think it complements a lot the formation of students and professionals in the health area. I recommend the course. But if you are looking for something more in-depth or even more specific, this course is not ideal. It gives you the basis for first aid and only that.

By vaishali t

May 7, 2020

I am psychology student and this course was very helpful to understand the basic things like active listening, forming rapport etc. Psychological First Aid is really a very interesting topic to study and to understand, not only for mental health or social workers but for everyone who wish to know about psychological first aid. The simulation videos were very helpful to understand practically. Thank you George sir to guide us through out the course.

By Yueh Q C

May 16, 2020

I think it is definitely a good introduction to psychological first aid. However, the topics weren't discussed in-depth and there were a lot of lingering questions by the end of each module. It would be great to see more examples presented instead of just 1 simulation if possible. If you are looking for something much more informational or detailed, you might probably want to read the book at your own pace or take a more advanced course.

By Katherine M

Jun 22, 2020

I thought this course was extremely interesting and useful for people potentially going into healthcare. I am also a leader for an outdoor education group and am grateful to have these tools now in case anything happens while we are in the field. I feel better prepared for my future in medicine and the outdoors! My only critique is that the slides were very boring and I often found it hard to keep focused. Other than that, it was great!

By Elita F M U

Jun 4, 2020

I really liked, the simulations and the way Prof. George explained was very clear, slowly, good pronunciation. The best were the simulations, made me feel like in a kind of lab. It was very nice.

THANK YOU PROF. GEORGE AND TEAM.

Suggestions: Maybe the ppt was a little boring in the part of the sentences, about video making I suggest to improve it with some techniques like the Mooc from Barbara Oakley Mindshift Mc Master University.

By Gladys A

May 28, 2022

As a psychology student who wants to pursue the clinical field, I got overwhelemed by how this course shifted my expectations. In addition, as I delved into the modules and lectures, I learned some clarity about the kind of professional identity I thought I was aiming for before I took this course. The length, the teaching strategies, and the professor's expertise were satisfactory; it motivated me to commit to learning PFA

By Carolyn N

Mar 27, 2021

The course was well laid out and easy to follow. I enjoyed how the course built upon and refreshed some of the stuff I'd learned from CISM and paramedic training.

I also really liked that there was a separate module for self-care. I am seeing more of this kind of content highlighted in first responder courses, and always try to bring this content in when I teach first aiders, but I feel like we still have some ways to go.

By Renu K

Jul 14, 2020

I enjoyed this course thoroughly. I would have liked some more video to watch. For eg: video of a person who is dysfunctional. All the videos were of Gina who was coping with trauma.

Beyond the ashes: I couldn't figure out how to sequence them since there were no names or numbers.

Since I work with staff, parents and children my learning in this course will help me. Can you suggest a follow up course please? Thank You

By Ruth M

Oct 25, 2020

This course has given a lot of insight especially being a psychologist.

I have known when to apply the PFA and when the therapy is needed. After the course you learn the difference between the two. I have always wondered how disaster surge people can be helped especially briefly as possible but thanks to the course, all my questions have been answered and confident that i am able to offer the psychological first aid.