Awareness • Education • Prevention
and Bereavement Support
Suicide is a complex issue made more so by the difficulties so many have in understanding what has taken place. Always one word echoes out hollowly – "WHY?"
Whenever suicide occurs in our community it stirs up the layers of the collective loss of lives throughout the years. The "why" never quite lays to rest. It is buried with that feeling of "couldn't something have changed to help that person?"
The loss is felt by the whole community:
- family, friends, co-workers, aquaintances;
- suicide prevention and post-vention workers (both professional and volunteer);
- caregivers, teachers and other support people.
Local strategies
In the lead up to World Suicide Prevention day questions were put to those people working in our community – the ones that are currently involved in Suicide Prevention and "clean up" – mental health workers, social workers, drug and alcohol counselors, youth and family workers, paramedics, doctors, search and rescue volunteers, and phone support providers, to ask them:
What can you tell us about the current situation?
How is our local system managing?
The feedback revealed that the need for community education and the need for the community to come together is urgent and long overdue. A small group representing the different sectors of 'crisis' intervention then met to discuss immediate issues and how to tackle them.
Some key objectives were identified at the first meeting:
- raising community awareness;
- delivering suicide prevention training for all interested members of the community, in particular those who are more likely to be "first contacts";
- establishing one or more Suicide Bereavement Support Groups in Byron Shire;
Getting the right people trained, those who are committed to seeing Suicide Prevention strategies implemented, is an important step toward our third objective of establishing Suicide Bereavement Support Groups (SBSG) for Byron Shire. The SBSG model is a nationally recognised program with guidelines and requirements that cannot be implemented in the immediate short term.
In the meantime, three training programs have been identified as suitable for our immediate objectives: Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), Youth Mental Health First Aid Course, and SafeTalk. We strongly encourage all community workers, both paid staff and volunteers to avail themselves to these Suicide Prevention/Intervention trainings and workshops.
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Want to get involved in raising
support and awareness?
Express your interest:
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TRAINING COURSES/WORKSHOPS for people in our community
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
2-day course designed for anyone from a non-counselling or psychology background, who wishes to acquire practical knowledge and skills that will help them be of use as part of a community prevention strategy.
Contact LIFELINE - Northern Rivers
*Courses runing in Goonellabah October and November. |
Safe Talk
a 3 hour workshop that summarises material included in ASIST, and provides participates with an understanding the unhelpful myths and preconceptions that surround suicide and people with suicidal thoughts.
Contact LIFELINE - Northern Rivers
*more info below |
Youth Mental Health
First Aid
Two Day Certificate Course
for
ADULTS
Topics covered:
Depression, Suicide prevention, Anxiety, Substance Use Disorder, Eating Disorders, Non-Suicidal Self-injury, Traumatic events, Psychotic Disorders
Byron Youth Activities Centre (YAC),
Bookings: Nicqui Yazdi
on 0402013177
Download PDF Flyer |
Lifeline's ASIST program is offered in Lismore. The Youth Mental Health First Aid course is offered locally by Nicqui Yazdi of MindRight Institute. Both these 2-day trainings are ideal for parents, school teachers, managers or community workers – anyone in "first contact" positions. Course fees are approx. $180 per person (includes all course materials)
- Lifeline have also offered Byron Shire their SafeTalk program, which is a 3-hour version of their 2-day course, suitable for the general public (parents, teachers, volunteers in community support services, employers of teenage workers, etc.). Workshop fees would be approx. $25/person (including course materials). This network would like to attract full funding for at least one workshop that would not only allow a concession for disadvantaged participants but to extend delivery of training or further workshops with the longer term aim of identifying group leadership candidates for facilitating the establishment of future bereavement support groups. |
