A how-to course on mental health counseling.
A self-paced course for everyone who wants to be a better helper. Taught by deeply experienced licensed clinicians and lay counselors.
It's ‘Advice: Why (& How) We Avoid It,’ from Module 2 of the course.
A word from our co-creator
In just under a minute, Elizabeth Morrison shares why the world needs more skilled everyday helpers, and how this course prepares you to become one.
Elizabeth Morrison, PhD, LCSW, Co-Creator of the LCA
You're probably the person in your family, community or friend group who people turn to when they need support; you've likely been told you are easy to talk to. This means you're an empathic, skillful listener! This course will build on the skills you already have, deepen your understanding of mental health conditions, and give you practical counseling skills to help others even more.
Become the best helper you can be, at a time when the world needs you most.
Lay counseling is mental health counseling, delivered by helpers who have learned the skills outside of the conventional academic and licensure pathways. They sit with people in hard moments and offer empathic, evidence-based care, bridging gaps that licensed clinicians alone cannot fill.
Learn moreCourses and certificates
The LCA is a course that equips you with practical skills in mental health counseling.
Our fully asynchronous course, giving you foundational mental health counseling skills on your own schedule. The course is deep and wide, with essential information on core counseling skills to help those with anxiety, depression, substance use struggles, and more.
You are hereOur flagship course. Fourteen weeks of live, practice-based learning with a cohort of peers. The LCA Live is delivered virtually, and includes 5 personal counseling sessions.
Contact us to registerCommunity Health Worker certification in California, with an emphasis on mental health counseling. Learn all CHW core competencies plus essential mental health counseling skills.
Contact us to registerFaculty
Our course is relationship-based, human centered, and taught by licensed clinicians and lay counselors doing the work themselves.
PhD, LCSW, MAC and Co-Creator of the LCA
Elizabeth holds a doctorate in psychology, is a licensed clinical social worker and has a Master of Addiction Counseling certification. She has practiced as a therapist for over 30 years, working in addiction treatment settings, primary care systems, and specialty care clinics. She is passionate about expanding access to mental health care by supporting trusted community members to provide care.
Alli is the Co-creator of the LCA and a Lay Counselor.
Like most lay counselors, Alli had an abundance of natural talent in communicating empathy, and supporting others. She honed this talent through experience, training and ongoing learning and practice. She is passionate about uplifting and supporting community members who are already providing care to the people they serve.
Are you often talking to people who share their mental health struggles with you? Then the answer is yes!
If you work in human services as a Community Health Worker, SUD counselor, case manager, health navigator, or similar position…
If you work in a school system, are a first responder, or a faith leader… do crisis work.
If you work in human resources, medical systems, or are a barber or stylist…
If you are serving people in your community who have little or no access to high-quality, culturally concordant mental health counseling.
If you are a helper at heart, and are passionate about supporting others.
If you are busy and need a flexible course that you can complete at your own pace, when it is convenient for you!
Hands down the most valuable course I've ever taken. I use the mental health counseling skills I learned in the LCA every day, with my patients but also at home!
From the organizations we train
The Lay Counselor Academy changed everything for us. The wait time for a behavioral health visit was reduced from 3–4 months to 1 week. I receive fewer SOS calls from my colleagues about patients in crisis. And now we have enough Spanish-speaking staff to provide our patients with mental health care in their native languages!
I continue to be amazed by the impact the Lay Counselor Academy has had on our team. Time and again, I hear from employees who describe the experience as transformative. They talk about how much they have learned, the confidence they have gained, and how much better prepared they feel to support patients experiencing mental health challenges.
Over the past four years, Hill Country Community Clinic has sent more than 50 employees through the Lay Counselor Academy. By equipping our case and care managers and SUD teams with evidence-based counseling skills, we are expanding access to care in meaningful ways. Our patients don’t always have to wait weeks for an appointment with a licensed clinician. Because of the LCA course, they can receive support, encouragement, and practical tools when they need them most.
The benefits extend beyond our patients. Staff consistently report greater job satisfaction, increased confidence in their roles, and reduced feelings of burnout. Our supervisors have also noticed a difference, receiving fewer crisis calls from support staff because employees feel better equipped to respond effectively and compassionately.
For an organization like Hill Country, which strives to meet people where they are and provide whole-person care, the Lay Counselor Academy has been an invaluable investment in both our workforce and those we serve.
The curriculum
The Lay Counselor Academy Self-Paced is fully asynchronous. You read articles, watch videos, listen to audio, and write reflections and complete learning checks on your own schedule.
Module 1
How biases and judgments can damage our relationships with others, and what we can do to mitigate our own.
Read the moduleModule 2
What we call 'Home Stance': the essential techniques we use over and over again: warm tone and body language, open-ended questions, empathic reflection, affirming strengths, and the practice of countering shame. Plus, strength-based counseling approaches.
Read the moduleModule 3
How to recognize anxiety and depression, and practical strategies to help others who are suffering with these conditions.
Read the moduleModule 4
Using positive psychology to help others build up their happiness practices.
Read the moduleModule 5
How to help when someone shares difficult childhood experiences, and how to protect ourselves from vicarious trauma.
Read the moduleModule 6
Cultural humility and helping others understand their identities.
Read the moduleModule 7
How do we end a counseling relationship with care, ensuring those we are helping have a healthy goodbye with us.
Read the moduleFor a full list of learning objectives and session-by-session detail, see our curriculum page.
What you actually get
For $1,200 you'll receive the entire 70-hour, self-paced Lay Counselor Academy Course.
Seven modules and fourteen sessions. Move as fast or as slowly as you need.
Every session has articles, recorded audio for those who would rather listen than read, and short videos.
Multiple-choice and true-or-false learning checks reinforce the concepts. Open-ended prompts invite you to write through your own practice.
An in-course discussion board with fellow graduates and current learners. People who do this work, talking to each other about it.
Finish the program and receive a certificate of completion. Lifetime access including all future updates included at no additional cost.
Read a sample article!
The article opening is on the right. Drop your email and we will send the full version straight to your inbox.
Sent. Check your inbox for Advice: Why (& How) We Avoid It.
It can take a minute or two to arrive. If you don't see it, please check your spam folder.
You already have the sample article on its way. Ready to go further?
Enroll in Self-Paced See pricing
An external evaluation
Their report concluded that The Lay Counselor Academy successfully increases mental health counseling knowledge, skills and confidence for those who engage in the course. The evaluation also found The Lay Counselor Academy meaningfully expands a culturally concordant mental health workforce in communities where licensed clinicians are scarce.
We are proud of the findings in this formal evaluation! Don't take our word for it, when you can read it yourself!
Read the evaluationIn the press
The Modesto Bee
Take it with you
Three hundred pages of LCA articles, the same essays we use to teach the basics of mental health counseling. Sold at cost: just printing and shipping. Available in English and Spanish.
Read more
What it costs
The Self-Paced course is fully asynchronous: start any time, with lifetime access to the online learning platform.
If you are a human service organization, and would like to enroll your staff, email [email protected]
