Community Suicide Awareness training

Do you know how to react when someone is at risk of suicide?

Everyone can have a role in responding safely to someone at risk of suicide. However, most of us are not confident in talking to someone who is suicidal and may even find the idea scary no matter how much we want to help.

Join this free half-day training session on Community Suicide Awareness to learn safe ways to respond to people in suicidal distress. It will prepare you in case you find yourself in contact with a suicidal person, to help them not end their life by talking with them in a compassionate way, helping them to find hope and get the help and support they need. Even just a caring conversation where we show compassion and encourage a person to seek help could potentially help to save their life.

In this training session, you will learn:

• how to tackle myths, stigma and barriers about suicide

• the latest research and evidence on suicide

• that suicide is not inevitable: people can be helped

• how distress develops and how to support people

• the common language between community, services and those in distress

• skills to talk with someone in distress

• how to take a compassionate approach in demanding and time-pressured environments

• how to make your own Safety Plan.

This training session is for members of the ACT community services sector, whether as paid or volunteer work. Primary health care workers in the ACT with an association with an MHCC ACT working group or community of practice are also welcome to attend.

This training is part of the Connecting with People (CwP) training suite. Developed by 4 Mental Health (4MH) in the UK, CwP is an alternative, compassion-based and evidence-informed suicide prevention framework and training approach.

Note: We recommend that attendees complete or register for the Compassion at Work module of the Connecting with People training program before attending this session, as it provides the foundational information for the approach. All training dates are available on MHCC ACT’s website.

This course is delivered by the Mental Health Community Coalition ACT (MHCC ACT), with assistance from the ACT Government under the Connecting with People program.

Please arrive 15 minutes before your session for mandatory pre-course administration.

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Host or Publisher Mental Health Community Coalition ACT