PSSM

What PSSM does

PSSM France (Association Premiers Secours en Santé Mentale) is a non-profit association founded in 2018 that holds the exclusive French license from MHFA® International to deploy the Mental Health First Aid methodology. The organization trains non-professionals — citizens, public-sector employees, educators, healthcare workers, justice personnel, and adolescents — to recognize and provide initial support during mental health crises until professional help is available. Its core methodology is the proprietary AERER® action plan (the French equivalent of the international ALGEE framework), delivered through a portfolio of training modules including PSSM Standard (general adults, since 2019), PSSM Jeunes (adults working with youth, since 2022), and PSSM Ados (adolescents aged 12–18, in pilot since 2025).

The underlying technology is a structured, evidence-based pedagogical curriculum derived from the Australian MHFA program, validated by randomized controlled trials since 2004. PSSM France complements classroom training with two podcast series (Le Lien, Apprendre à aider), downloadable Carnets du secouriste notebooks covering specific mental health conditions, and a Scientific and Pedagogical Council that maintains content quality. Distribution occurs through the self-serve enrollment platform psssmformation.fr, a national network of nearly 2,000 accredited trainers, direct enterprise sales to public administrations, and event-based outreach.

Revenue is generated through training fees and trainer accreditation programs, now conducted through the wholly-owned commercial subsidiary PSSM Formation SASU (created February 2024, Qualiopi certified), which separates commercial activity from the association's non-profit mission. Pricing is not publicly disclosed but appears to be quote-based, with subsidized access provided through the Fonds Solidaire (created January 2023) for individuals receiving minimum social benefits and volunteers. The association is sustained by membership fees, training revenues, institutional partnerships (Ministry of Health, CNFPT, AXA Prévention, MHFA International), and the founding coalition of INFIPP, Santé Mentale France, and UNAFAM. No external venture capital funding has been disclosed.

Name

PSSM

Legal name

PSSM France (Association Premiers Secours en Santé Mentale)

Website

https://pssmfrance.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PSSM France is a non-profit association founded in 2018 that holds the exclusive French license for Mental Health First Aid (MHFA®), training citizens and public-sector employees to recognize and respond to mental health crises via the proprietary AERER® methodology.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lyon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Training Fees: Revenue generated from training session fees for mental health first aider certification courses and trainer accreditation programs. Training is delivered through the subsidiary PSSM Formation (SASU created February 2024).
2. Solidary Fund: A solidarity fund established in January 2023 to facilitate access to PSSM training programs for people receiving minimum social benefits and volunteers, partially financing training costs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

PSSM France is a French non-profit association that delivers the Mental Health First Aid® (MHFA®) training program in France under exclusive license. It offers structured training modules — PSSM Standard (general adult audience, 8 hours), PSSM Jeunes (adults working with adolescents), and PSSM Ados (teen peer-support, in pilot) — that teach citizens and professionals to recognize, respond to, and provide initial support during mental health crises until professional help is available. Training is commercialized through its wholly-owned subsidiary PSSM Formation (SASU, created February 2024).

Product overview

PSSM France offers a suite of mental health first aid training programs based on the internationally-recognized Mental Health First Aid® (MHFA®) methodology, of which it holds exclusive license in France. The portfolio centers on three training modules: PSSM Standard for general audiences, PSSM Young (Jeunes) for adults working with youth (launched 2022), and PSSM Ados for teenagers in peer-support mode (pilot phase 2025). These core training products are delivered through PSSM Formation, a commercial subsidiary created in 2024. Complementary offerings include two podcast series (Le Lien and Apprendre à aider), downloadable notebooks (Carnets du secouriste) on specific mental health topics, and a solidarity fund for training access. A Scientific and Pedagogical Council ensures quality standards.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PSSM Formation: Société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle (Sasu) created in February 2024 to separate commercial training activities from the associative mission.

Products and services

• PSSM Standard Foundational 8-hour mental health first aid training module based on MHFA® methodology, teaching participants to recognize and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health problems and provide initial support until professional help is available. Targeted at the general adult audience, individuals, and professionals across all sectors.
• PSSM Jeunes (Young) Training module for adults who live and/or work with adolescents and young adults, addressing mental health challenges specific to this population. Adapted from the MHFA® Youth program.
• PSSM Ados Awareness module designed for adolescents (12–18 years) for peer-to-peer mental health support in schools, teaching young people to recognize distress in peers and refer to trusted adults. Currently in pilot phase.
• PSSM Formation Commercial training subsidiary (Société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle) through which PSSM training programs are sold and delivered under Qualiopi certification as a French habilitated training organization.

Quantifiable outcome

• 226,000+ secouristes trained in France (as of October 2025)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major, flagship and minor.

• INFIPPcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018One of the three founding organizations of PSSM France (along with Santé Mentale France and UNAFAM). INFIPP is the professional training organization specializing in mental health that brought expertise in training program development and adult education pedagogy.
• Santé Mentale FrancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018One of the three founding organizations of PSSM France. Santé Mentale France is a federation bringing together associations working in the field of mental health, providing expertise in mental health advocacy and community building.
• UNAFAM (Union Nationale des Amis et Familles de Malades Psychiatriques)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018One of the three founding organizations of PSSM France. UNAFAM represents families and friends of people with psychiatric conditions, bringing lived experience perspective and family support network to the program.
• Ligue Santé Mentale LuxembourgmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Luxembourgish counterpart organization licensed by MHFA International for Luxembourg. PSSM France supports the Luxembourg deployment and shares best practices. The Luxembourg program has trained over 15,000 secouristes and operates a multilingual approach (French, German, English).
• Ministry of Health (Ministère de la Santé)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment ministry providing institutional support and endorsement for PSSM training across public functions. Hosted the national Rencontres PSSM events and issued the 2022 circular mandating PSSM training in the three public functions.
• CNFPT (Centre National de la Fonction Publique Territoriale)majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNational training center for territorial public function employees. PSSM France partner for training territorial government staff, with 5,600 agents trained and 49 accredited trainers developed through CNFPT.
• MHFA InternationalcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerInternational organization holding the global MHFA® program rights. PSSM France holds the exclusive license to adapt and deploy the MHFA® program in France.
• Hospices Civils de LyonmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPromoter of the PAESSM study (Pair-Aidance Etudiante Sur la Santé Mentale) evaluating the impact of PSSM training on medical intern well-being. Key research partner for scientific validation of PSSM effectiveness.
• ISNI (InterSyndicale Nationale des Internes)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational union of medical interns, co-promoter of the PAESSM study and financial partner supporting mental health initiatives for future physicians.
• AXA PréventionminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner supporting PSSM France's mission through institutional partnership and visibility on the partners section of the website.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• LivingWorks (ASIST / safeTALK): Global provider of suicide-intervention training (ASIST) and shorter awareness programs (safeTALK). Overlapping institutional buyer (public health agencies, employers, schools) and similar trainer-credentialing model, but narrower product scope than PSSM France's full mental health first aid curriculum.
• QPR Institute: Provides QPR Gatekeeper Training for suicide prevention — an adjacent, shorter-form mental health training product. Competes for the same institutional mental health training budgets (workplaces, schools, public sector) but does not cover the broader first-aid-in-mental-health curriculum that PSSM France delivers.

Broad incumbents

• Croix-Rouge Française (French Red Cross): France's largest first-aid training organization (PSC1, etc.) with a deeply established national trainer network. Not a mental-health-first-aid specialist, but directly competes with PSSM France for institutional training contracts and visibility in the broader French 'secourisme' ecosystem.
• Mental Health Foundation (UK): UK-based mental health charity combining public information, workplace training, and policy advocacy. Broader remit than PSSM France, but offers overlapping training products for workplaces and the general public and competes for similar institutional partnerships and funding.

Direct peers

• Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHFA Canada): Canadian host of the MHFA® program with the same product suite (Standard, Youth, seniors-focused variants) and similar mix of workplace, education, and community delivery. Directly comparable on methodology, audience, and accreditation model.
• Ligue Santé Mentale Luxembourg: Luxembourg's MHFA licensee, delivering the same curriculum in a trilingual (FR/DE/EN) format with 15,000+ secouristes trained. Already an explicit strategic partner of PSSM France, making it the closest one-step-removed comparable for cross-border scaling.
• Mental Health First Aid Ireland: Irish sister licensee delivering the same MHFA® Standard and Youth programs. Comparable on geography, audience mix, and the use of accredited trainer networks for national scale.
• Mental Health First Aid Australia: Originator of the Mental Health First Aid® program that PSSM France is licensed to deliver. Operates the same Standard, Youth, and Teen modules and serves the same mix of general public, workplace, and youth audiences; PSSM France's AERER method is the French adaptation of Australia's ALGEE framework.
• MHFA England: Sister licensee of MHFA International delivering the same Mental Health First Aid® curriculum in England. Closest structural analogue to PSSM France in terms of mix of public, workplace, and youth audiences and reliance on a national trainer network.
• National Council for Mental Wellbeing (Mental Health First Aid USA): U.S. host of Mental Health First Aid® — the largest international MHFA program. Same methodology, same audience segments, and similar institutional partnerships with workplaces, schools, and first-responder communities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pssmfrance
• Facebookfacebook.com/PSSM.fr
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/premiers-secours-en-sante-mentale-france-pssm-france-

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PSSM