Training & Programs
Bring the work to your people
Training and speaking are delivered by First Responder Forward LLC under First Responder Forward. Sessions are built around your agency's size, schedule, and current pressures — from a single roll-call block to a multi-day program.
Our Training Philosophy
At First Responders Forward, we believe education and therapy serve different—but complementary—roles in supporting first responder wellness.
Our training programs are not a substitute for therapy, counseling, or clinical treatment. Rather, they are designed to provide first responders with a foundational understanding of topics such as stress, trauma, resilience, moral injury, identity, and the neurobiological effects of repeated exposure to critical incidents.
By increasing awareness and providing a common language around these experiences, our training helps first responders better recognize when additional support may be beneficial. At the same time, it equips clinicians, coaches, supervisors, and organizations with greater insight into the culture and occupational demands of public safety.
In this way, our programs serve as a bridge between education and clinical care. By fostering shared understanding between first responders and mental health professionals, we aim to strengthen therapeutic relationships, reduce barriers to seeking help, improve communication, and support more effective treatment outcomes.
Our goal is not to replace therapy—it is to prepare first responders to engage more confidently in the therapeutic process while helping clinicians and coaches better understand the profession of those they serve.
Forward Online Education Portal
Learn at your pace. Earn proof of completion.
The Forward online education portal is our eLearning home for self-paced courses on stress, resilience, and first responder wellness — available on your schedule, with progress tracking and completion certificates.
Self-paced
Start, pause, and resume between shifts or at home — on any device.
Evidence-informed
Built for the first responder experience by people who understand the job.
Completion certificates
Earn a printable, verified certificate for every course you finish.
Free for approved learners
No cost for verified first responders, military, veterans, and families.
What to expect
- Create your free account
- Request learner access
- Launch your course
- Track progress and earn your certificate
Already have an account?
Sign in to continue your course, view certificates, or request access to new learning.
Sign inAgency Training
On-site programming built around your agency's schedule, size, and current pressures.
Conference Presentations
Keynotes and breakout sessions for regional and national gatherings.
Leadership Workshops
Focused sessions for supervisors and command staff on culture and post-incident response.
Webinars
Short, practical online sessions for distributed teams and shift coverage.
Virtual Training
Full-length programming delivered live online for multi-site agencies.
Custom Programs
Programming designed around a specific incident, population, or initiative.
Program catalog
Programs available now, by request
These classes are scheduled by request rather than on a fixed calendar — contact us to inquire about dates for your agency or event. Each topic can be delivered in a variety of formats, including agency trainings, conference presentations, webinars, and community sessions. Pricing is based on participant size, travel, and materials needed.
Tell me when dates are announced
Not ready to book? Leave your email and we'll let you know as soon as open sessions and webinar dates are on the calendar.
Classes from other instructors
Approved outside instructors post their own dates and registration links. Browse what they have scheduled, or apply to list your own classes.
Free course preview
Choosing Mental Health Support: A First Responder's Guide
Take the 5-minute self-paced preview, Is Your Provider Actually Right for You? A First Responder's 5-Minute Check, at no cost. Agencies can request the full in-depth eLearning version or an in-person session — and the in-person version of this course is included with every in-person training we deliver.
Opens in a new tab. Educational only — not therapy, diagnosis, or treatment.
Postpartum & Policing
Perinatal and postpartum mental health in the context of shift work, duty status, and returning to the job.
- Audience:
- Open to all first responders, partners, and supervisors
- Typical length:
- 90 minutes to half day
- Delivery:
- Agency training, Conference presentation, Webinar
What participants leave with
- Recognize perinatal mood and anxiety changes in a public safety context
- Understand duty-status and return-to-work pressures
- Know how supervisors can respond supportively and appropriately
Identity Discovery
Who you are under the uniform: role identity, purpose, and the transitions that come with promotion, injury, retirement, or leaving the profession.
- Audience:
- First responders at any career stage
- Typical length:
- 2 hours to full day
- Delivery:
- Agency training, Conference presentation, Leadership workshop
What participants leave with
- Separate personal identity from occupational role
- Anticipate identity strain at common career transition points
- Build a practical plan for life beyond the badge
Spousal Survival
Practical language and tools for families living alongside the job — communication, secondary stress, and boundaries.
- Audience:
- Spouses, partners, and family members of first responders
- Typical length:
- 2 hours
- Delivery:
- Community session, Agency family night, Webinar
What participants leave with
- Name secondary and vicarious stress without pathologizing it
- Use communication tools that work around shift work
- Know when and how to reach for outside support
Self Psychological First Aid
How to steady yourself in the hours and days after a hard call: warning signs, early self-stabilization, and when to reach for more.
- Audience:
- Open to all first responders
- Typical length:
- Roll-call block to 2 hours
- Delivery:
- Roll-call block, Agency training, Webinar
What participants leave with
- Identify personal early warning signs after a critical incident
- Apply immediate self-stabilization strategies
- Understand what peer support and clinical care each do
Bridging the Gap: Your Brain, Your Body, and Therapy
What actually happens in therapy, how to choose and work with a therapist or mental health coach, and why repeated exposure shows up in the body.
- Audience:
- First responders, families, clinicians, and coaches
- Typical length:
- 2 hours to half day
- Delivery:
- Agency training, Conference presentation, Webinar, Clinician or coach session
What participants leave with
- Explain the stress response in plain, non-clinical language
- Walk into a first therapy appointment prepared
- Evaluate whether a therapist or coach understands the profession
Choosing Mental Health Support: A First Responder's Guide
How to find, evaluate, and start with a therapist or mental health coach who understands the job — what to ask, what different credentials mean, and how to tell whether a provider is the right fit for you.
- Audience:
- First responders, families, peer support teams, and supervisors
- Typical length:
- Self-paced preview (5 minutes) · 60–90 minutes in person
- Delivery:
- Self-paced eLearning, Agency training, Roll-call block, Webinar
What participants leave with
- Know what to ask a provider before the first appointment
- Understand credentials, licensure, and coaching scope in plain language
- Decide confidently whether a provider is the right fit — and what to do if they aren't
Training inquiry
Tell us about your agency
Share a few details and we'll follow up with availability, formats, and pricing. Pick as many classes and delivery formats as you'd like — you can also offer to host a training at your facility. There is no obligation, and nothing you send here is clinical information.
Every inquiry is reviewed personally before we confirm scheduling.