As many of you are aware of, this past week I took a training on suicide prevention. It was an intensive training that took a great deal out of me. I not only learned a great deal but a lot of the training happened to reiterate knowledge that I already had in regards to suicide prevention. Below is just a sliver of the notes I took in the training:

• Ask directly.
• Notice the settle stuff. (ex. tone of voice, body language and specific wording.)
• No attempt of intervention is perfect.
• Suicide is ultimately a choice (even if its not the desired choice).
• It’s their journey not our (the person doing the intervention) journey.
• Suicide is everyone’s business.
• Listen to what the person has to say.
• The person who is suicidal has to be a participant in helping themselves.
• Set boundaries and limitations if nesasary.
• Don’t hesitate to seek help with the intervention if it is needed.
• Don’t beat around the bush.
• First response is critical

I have a number of other notes I could share with but the above is what I got most out of. I also appreciated the role plays we did even though I don’t care much for doing role plays. I liked the fact that about two thirds of ASIST was learning how to do a intervention. The way were learned how to do an intervention was by doing the role plays.

I’m glad I was able to share what I learned in ASIST with you. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Peace out!!