Radical Mental Health First Aide
join a movement that is radically reimagining how care is accessed and co-created.
Radical Mental Health First Aide (RMHFA) is mutual aid. RMHFA is harm reduction. RMHFA is non carceral. RMHFA is about liberation. RMHFA is imbued with the energy and spirit of Teranga (“we invite you in with open arms. what affects you, what ails you, what reinforces you also affects me and my community. you are not alone. we breathe as one.”). for us, by us. RMHFA is for the people, communities, and businesses that want to give, receive and co-create care. parts of you know its possible, allow Joko Wellness support you with the how.
picture this: you're at work, in your neighborhood, at the park or in public transportation and someone has just started experiencing a crisis or is crying/screaming loudly. a part of you wants to do something but you don't know what to do or where to start. a part of you wants to say something but you're worried about saying the wrong thing. you also talk yourself out of doing anything because you tell yourself things like "they should take that to therapy", "you might say the wrong thing" and "they're probably fine". questions pop like: what should I do? will someone else step in? how am I even going to help? what's my responsibility? you, like many, choose to look away and do nothing. a heartbreaking reality.
as the mental health crisis persists and people continue to try (and reasonably fail) and survive racial capitalism, licensed therapist and observer-disruptor oumou has seen therapy continue to be out of reach for many people – especially those that are multiply marginalized / those that have been historically excluded. Radical Mental Health First Aide (RMHFA) is a framework, system and tool that helps you and your community decenter the medical model from the way you access care.
created in October 2022 by oumou, RMHFA has reached over 4,000+ people across communities, workplaces, and organizations. join oumou and the Joko Wellness team for this offering.
many organizations respond to crisis reactively, asking staff to “check in,” “be supportive,” or “do their best” without clear guidance, boundaries, or systems. over time, this leads to burnout, role confusion, and quiet harm especially for those already carrying the most emotional labor. RMHFA exists to interrupt that cycle by shifting care from individual responsibility to shared, intentional practice.
who RMHFA is for
RMHFA is for organizations that want to build shared language around care and crisis without outsourcing all emotional labor to staff. this work supports teams navigating burnout, role confusion, repeated moments of distress, or unclear expectations around care. organizations move through RMHFA at different paces, the goal is alignment, not acceleration.
who it’s not for
RMHFA may not be the right fit for organizations seeking:
a one-time training to “fix” complex issues
clinical certification or crisis intervention credentials
a substitute for supervision, leadership, or HR responsibility
through my Radical Mental Health First Aide Framework and care-capacity and crisis-readiness system, participants and organizations learn how to:
replace reactive crisis responses with consent-centered, community-based care responses and systems
build shared, sustainable, consent-centered mental health response capacity
prevent escalation and restore trust and wellbeing
gain actionable frameworks that increase safety, confidence, and cultural alignment
respond to mental health stress and crisis without turning into pseudo-therapists (or pseudo-police)
people invest in RMHFA because they're tired of panicking and figuring things out alone. organizations invest in RMHFA because they’re tired of burnout, turnover, organizational risk and liability — and because outdated crisis systems no longer reflect their values. they’re ready for a community-focused, trauma-informed, abolitionist-inspired model that equips teams to handle real-world care scenarios without over-reliance on police or overextended staff.
the result: safer, more connected workplaces (from private practices to nonprofits to libraries to community collectives) where people feel confident responding to distress with care instead of punishment, and where values-aligned professional development strengthens wellbeing, retention, and morale.
this transformation is powered by two core tools:
The ACTION Framework – a six-step process for crisis response and care co-creation
The Bid for Care Mind Map and Model – redefines how people, teams, and communities practice care, communicate, and engage in consent and repair during high-stress (and crisis) moments
what you can expect in a session
Radical Mental Health First Aide invites participants and organizations to reflect on their experiences with care, ask meaningful questions, explore boundaries and limits, practice practical skills, and apply what they’re learning in real time. each space is co-created and shaped by participants’ lived experiences, context, insights, and collective wisdom. RMHFA is rooted in the belief that care is a shared practice and that it thrives through participatory, community-based knowledge building.
RMHFA was MORE than a HIT! we are framing everything we do from the ACTION framework/plan, as we prepare for our Resident Assistant Training and the start of the academic year. we are immensely appreciative of all your work, energy, and knowledge sharing.
I found the class so rich and full of different ideas...I was very struck by the focus on building TRUE consent and respectful care that honors a person's autonomy and humanity. the class itself was so deeply focused on inclusion and accessibility as well.
so first of all, just the way the training is structured and expectations are set up around taking care of yourself while participating such as identifying and sharing access needs really changes how I have previously viewed trainings and workshops. not infantilizing but empowering. in general challenging everything I learned in school when approaching mental health first aid.
loved every juicy moment of today's session - I think RMHFA brings together tangible practical frameworks in such a concise and beautiful and accessible way - bravo!
thank you, my mind feels so fertilized! this expanded me and my thinking in new ways, and also put words to some of my internal sense of things.
we have been trained on mental health first aid and suicide intervention from a western/colonial/medical model and this training meets my WHOLISTIC lens and framework much more accurately.
my biggest takeaway: that care and responding to a state of crisis is never a one-size-fits-all approach. so much of what i've learned about giving and receiving care is based on assumptions and not consent, and I learned how radical and necessary it is to reject assumptions, especially ones propped up and benefited by carceral, ableist, sanist, oppressive systems.
I wanted to share that after the training, I had a session with one of my clients who lives with an eating disorder and I used the RMHFA plan by coming into the session with my nervous system regulated and approaching her with consent and curiosity, identifying the power structure and sharing power with her in how she wants care to look like for her. It was an incredibly beautiful conversation and she said no other therapist has ever spoken to her in this way.
ultimately, oumou supports communities, therapists, peer supporters, libraries, and organizations in building care systems that reduce harm, meet high-stress moments and crises with clarity, and cultivate long-term relational safety without relying on traditional institutions like the police.
imagine a world where every person is seen, heard, and supported with care and compassion. imagine a world where therapists aren't the sole custodians of care and support doesn't only happen behind closed doors. this is the vision we strive for with Radical Mental Health First Aide.
I invite you to reflect on the following questions: how do I define care? who is treated as worthy of care? how is care a choreography? — consider the power you hold to shape the narrative of care in your life, workplace or community.
