Mental Health Crisis Instructor Training Program

Description

The Mental Health Crisis Instructor Training Program, (MHCITP) is an interactive Center Advanced program designed to train and teach law enforcement academy instructors and field training officers (FTOs) effective and critical communication skills during law enforcement/mental health encounters.  These skills are science-based and field-proven.  The skills are designed to defuse conflict through a greater understanding of sensitive natures of mental health encounters and different communication styles.  The curriculum for these topics is supported by peer reviewed research and behavioral science. 

Topics include indicators of mental health illness or crisis, information pertaining to mental health afflictions typically seen by street level law enforcement, rapport building, and science-based communications techniques, are all based on settled behavioral science and peer-reviewed research.  This program incorporates these communication principles to avoid, neutralize and defuse conflicts in officers in mental health encounters, through lecture and lab exercises, to practice the application of these skills. Managing the interaction is the desired outcome during critical encounters for the safety of community members and officers. 

The goal of MHCITP is to teach critical communication skills in mental health encounters, geared toward conflict control, based on scientific principles of human behavior.  This program will consist of lecture, tabletop exercises, and laboratory exercises where students will practice these critical communication skills.