Soul Shop Hawai‘i 2024

In Hawai'i, 49,000 adults had thoughts of suicide in the past year (The State of Mental Health in America 2023). If you are a community leader, faith leader, parent, teacher, coach, or mentor, you may be the first person someone turns to when they are in distress.

Soul Shop addresses the primary obstacles to dealing with suicide such as stigma, fear, and shame; statistics/facts about suicide; and how ministries can create a supportive environment while shifting the culture around how people deal with this subject and one another. Soul Shop has developed techniques for recognizing people who are hurting and helping them to be heard through life-saving conversations.

Since its development in 2014, Soul Shop has trained thousands nationally and internationally in suicide awareness and has facilitated the development of suicide prevention plans within numerous community teams.

There will be two Soul Shop sessions. You are welcome to register for just one or both.

Friday, July 19, 2024, 9AM to 4PM - for Community and Interfaith Leaders

This is a one-day workshop designed to equip faith community leaders to minister to those impacted by suicide. This includes the creation of worship resources, training congregation members in suicide awareness and basic conversation skills, and then how to extend the invitation to those who have been suicidal in the past to share their stories. This workshop engages the question of how to cultivate a soul-safe culture within your congregation.

Registration for the Friday session includes refreshments and lunch.

Saturday July 20, 2024, 9AM to 12PM - for Youth Leaders

This half-day workshop will equip youth pastors, youth leaders, camp directors, coaches and anyone else who works with young people to minister to those impacted by suicide. Special attention will focus on youth-specific issues of impulsivity, contagion, social media, mandated reporting and confidentiality.

Registration for the Saturday session includes refreshments.

About Our Speaker:

Michelle Snyder has been a member of the Soul Shop team since its foundation in 2014. With a degree in social work and theology, Michelle is well-suited for her role as primary Soul Shop presenter and faith community specialist. She has presented Soul Shop in 37 states, 4 countries and has been a speaker at a number of national and state-level conferences. She is the co-author of the book, Life, Death, and Reinvention: The Gift of the Impossibly Messed-Up Life. In addition to her suicide prevention work, she is a mental health therapist, an executive leadership coach, a church consultant, a mother of two teenage daughters, a pastor’s spouse and an aficionado of deep fried pickles.

About Us:

Samaritan Counseling Center Hawai'i provides professional, accessible behavioral health counseling sensitive to the spiritual traditions of individuals, families, and communities in Hawai'i, regardless of their ability to pay. The Center also participates in community outreach and workshops to provide mental health education and help reduce the stigma of mental illness.

Soul Shop is presented by Samaritan Counseling Center Hawai‘i, with support from St. Louis School and the City and County of Honolulu Grant-in-Aid program.

Cover image of sunrise from Haleakalā by Alice Donovan Rouse

Host or Publisher Samaritan Counseling Center Hawai'i