Psychological First Aid (PFA)

This is a five-session Psychological First Aid (PFA) class designed to support everyday people in responding skillfully and humanely to distress, trauma, and crisis. Whether we intend to or not, most of us will find ourselves listening to someone who is struggling—not only after major events like fires, earthquakes, or violence, but also in response to experiences that may seem ordinary: a job loss, a medical diagnosis, the end of a relationship, or the slow accumulation of stress that becomes overwhelming. In these moments, what matters most is often not what we say, but how we listen.

Psychological First Aid offers a practical framework for being with people in these situations. PFA is a peer-based process. While professionals can and do use it, it is intentionally designed for anyone who knows how to listen and wants to be supportive in times of distress. Friends, family members, community workers, teachers, volunteers, and neighbors all use PFA. It is not therapy or diagnosis. Instead, it focuses on what to do in the midst of crisis—when emotions are heightened and people need steady, human connection.

PFA draws on our natural capacity for healing and recovery, an understanding shared by the Focusing practice of deep listening. Rather than pushing people to talk or explain before they are ready, both PFA and Focusing emphasize safety, choice, and pacing. Focusing teaches us how to listen in a way that is attentive, embodied, and respectful of a person’s inner experience. This kind of listening helps people sense what is true for them in the moment and supports their own process of finding stability and meaning.

At its core, Psychological First Aid is about presence. It is about learning how to listen deeply—without fixing, advising, or reassuring—and about trusting that being heard in a grounded, compassionate way can be profoundly regulating. Through Focusing-oriented listening, we learn to stay with what is emerging, to notice subtle shifts, and to support a person’s sense of agency rather than taking it over for them. This approach helps people reconnect with their inner resources, even when life feels disorienting or overwhelming.

This 5-week course has 13 hours of in-class time and an additional 4 hours with facilitators and mentors.

Join us Thursdays from March 5 through April 2, 2026, beginning at 8AM (Pacific Time).

Tuition: $600 (and we offer country-based pricing so the cost reflects participants’ local contexts.) 

If you have any questions you can email Pat Omidian,  [email protected]