Understanding Mental Health
Mental health refers to students’ emotional, psychological, and social well-being, as well as their ability to cope with challenges, build relationships, and engage in learning. Strong mental health support in schools prevents targeted violence by helping staff identify concerning behaviors and provide care before situations escalate. For example, school behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) teams should include individuals with mental health expertise to assist in early identification, assessment, and intervention.2
Beyond BTAM teams, school personnel, caregivers, and community members all play a role in ensuring students feel supported and have access to help when needed.1 The Mental Health Learning Path offers resources at three levels, foundational, intermediate, and advanced, to help everyone build the knowledge and skills needed to support student mental health in meaningful and sustainable ways.
Click the tabs below to explore resources at each learning level.
The foundational level is designed for individuals new to mental health topics or looking to build a stronger foundation before diving deeper. It’s perfect for those seeking an introduction to mental health topics or a fundamental review.
- Perspectives on Prevention in Action: Supporting student mental health and well-being is foundational to a truly safe school environment. In this informal conversation, NCSS leadership reflects on the current landscape of school safety, sharing their personal perspectives on how addressing emotional well-being and building strong relationships creates a powerful culture of violence prevention. This resource provides you with practical takeaways and expert insights to seamlessly integrate mental health support into your broader safety strategies.
- Supporting Youth Mental Health (On Demand): School staff and adults are often well-positioned to notice concerns about a student’s mental health but knowing how to support them can feel challenging. This introductory training offers a good starting point if you are considering how to approach sensitive mental health topics with students. It covers basic practices for having supportive conversations and building your confidence to help address student needs.
- TR Schools Toolkit Section 1: Introducing Trauma-Informed Resilience-Oriented Schools: Students who have experienced trauma often face unique mental health challenges. This resource introduces the core concepts and six guiding principles of a trauma-informed approach, making it a natural next step if you are beginning to explore how trauma affects learning and behavior. It is designed to help you understand how to start infusing these supportive approaches into your daily school safety and wellness efforts.
The intermediate level is for those with a foundational understanding who are ready to apply their knowledge in practice. Learners at this stage are focused on developing concrete skills and strategies for their specific setting.
- Trauma-Informed Practices Across School Settings Webinar: Trauma-informed approaches can be implemented by any staff member, regardless of their role. This training explores how these strategies can be practically adapted across different school environments, making it a strong next step if you have engaged with Section 1 of the TR Schools Toolkit. It is designed to help you transition from simply understanding the concepts to seeing what they look like in everyday practice.
- Trauma-Informed, Resilience-Oriented Classrooms: Trauma-informed approaches in the classroom can help students feel both physically and emotionally safe. As a natural follow-up to the webinar above, this self-paced course takes a closer look at specific classroom settings and offers practical strategies for creating learning environments responsive to student needs. It is an ideal tool if you have a basic understanding of trauma-informed principles and are ready to see how they apply to daily teaching and student engagement.
- Trauma-Informed Practices: Prevention and De-Escalating Disruptive Behaviors: Disruptive behavior often arises from underlying trauma, stress, and mental health challenges. This training focuses on the day-to-day work of preventing and responding to these moments through a trauma-informed lens. It is particularly useful if you are already implementing universal trauma-informed approaches but need concrete, in-the-moment strategies to support dysregulated students.
- Community Engagement Podcast Episode: Community partnerships can significantly increase your capacity to support student mental health. This episode broadens the focus beyond the classroom by exploring how these external collaborations strengthen your support system. It serves as an easy, casual resource if you are starting to think about expanding your network and bringing in outside resources to help students.
The advanced level is for experienced practitioners who are ready to lead or integrate system-wide efforts to embed mental health into school culture, data practices, and community partnerships.
- Creating a Culture of Support: Enhancing Staff Resilience in Emergency Situations (On Demand): Staff mental health can take a heavy toll during emergency events if individuals do not feel psychologically prepared. This webinar explores how to integrate mental health support directly into emergency preparedness and safety planning. It covers practical strategies for strengthening staff resilience, gathering feedback, and building lasting partnerships between safety and mental health teams—making it an ideal resource for leaders working to align these systems at the organizational level.
- Supporting Student Mental Health Using YRBS Data: Allocating staff time, shifting resources, and applying for funding are all critical steps when building a mental health support system. This resource explains how to use survey data—including the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)—to pinpoint exactly what your students need so you can make informed decisions about program development. It is particularly useful if you are leading program planning or need to make a clear, data-driven case for intentional funding for mental health.
- Strengthening Student Mental Health with Community Partnerships Webinar: Expanding your school’s mental health support network starts with choosing the right partners and keeping lines of communication open. This session focuses on building strong, lasting relationships between schools and community organizations to broaden the services available to students. It is particularly helpful if you are a leader looking to formalize or improve your long-term, external support agreements.
References
- García-Carrión, R., Villarejo-Carballido, B., & Villardón-Gallego, L. (2019). Children and adolescents mental health: A systematic review of interaction-based interventions in schools and communities. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 918. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00918
- National Threat Assessment Center, & Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. (2025). Aligning behavioral threat assessment and management with a multi-tiered system of support: Building a continuum of prevention and intervention. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service. https://www.secretservice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2025-08/Aligning-Behavioral-Threat-Assessment-And-Management-With-A-Multi-Tiered-System-Of-Support.pdf