Mental Health Support Simulations
Coming Soon to CSULB!
Mental Health Support Simulations is a new immersive and simulated training experience for all CSULB faculty and staff. This unique training tool was built specifically for CSULB and features gamified experiences where faculty and staff players practice genuine empathy, actively listening, and appropriate campus referrals. Interact with student avatars in lifelike campus environments while you help them navigate mental health struggles. Available 24/7 asynchronously in both English and Spanish, the simulation includes four modules with multiple endings, encouraging repeated play to improve skills. Although this training is an innovative approach to learning, we promise it’s so much more than a game – It's a gateway to creating a more empathetic, confident, and student ready campus community.
Training FAQs
All faculty and staff members on campus are eligible to engage in this training including state staff, auxiliary staff, Foundation staff, part-time and full-time professional staff and faculty members, and lecturers. If you have access to CSULB SSO, you will have access to this training.
The training is available through MyApps in your Single Sign On page. Look for the Mental Health Support Simulations tile. It can also be found easily under the Health & Wellness Resources tab.
Take the training whenever you want at a time that’s most convenient for you! It’s available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to be the most accommodating to the busy schedules of CSULB faculty/staff members.
Depending on the choices a player makes, the modules may take several attempts before achieving enough points to advance in the game. Focus testers would recommend allowing approximately one-hour to complete the training, but you can play as many times as you want!
Currently the training is only open to full-time or part-time professional faculty and staff members at CSULB. Student facing modules may be created based on feedback and effectiveness of the first faculty/staff modules.
Student scenarios were created using data from mental health services on campus including CARES referrals, Basic Needs assessments, and frequently reported student challenges.
Points are awarded by participating in conversation simulation and playing mini-games along the way. Points are awarded in 3 categories:
- Empathetic Engagement: Prioritizing students' feelings, lived experiences, and needs
- Compassionate Communication: Communicating with students while making them feel heard
- Appropriate Action: Actions to take, when to take them, and resource referrals
At this time, all scores and playthrough data is anonymized to encourage faculty/staff members to play in the fail-safe environment. There may be opportunities for department or unit heads to encourage competition among different groups based on department level data, but not individual playthrough data.
No, the game was designed for faculty/staff members with varying levels of comfort with the topic of mental health. From expert to beginner, this is really an opportunity to test your skills in a low-stakes environment where failing does not impact real students. There may be parts of the game that may seem to stump you – that’s intentional to encourage repeat play.
The Beach Wellness website has information on a number of other campus training options including the Wellness Ambassador Training, Lunch & Learns, Mental Health First-Aid, campus Ally Trainings, and more!
