Suicide is a social issue and preventing suicide requires community responses.  People affected by suicide need support from their entire community, including family, friends, neighbors, schools, workplaces, businesses, religious institutions, and other community service providers.  Our community-based services help everyone learn how to prevent and respond to suicide.

All services are free-of-charge due to the generous support of donors, sponsors, and funders.  Contact us to discuss how you can play a role in suicide prevention in your community.

Suicide Prevention Consultation

Suicide prevention is not just the job of mental health care providers.  People at risk for suicide are members of your network – they are students, customers, clients, patients, volunteers, congregants, employees – so you have a role in suicide prevention too.  Don’t wait for a suicidal crisis to affect you before thinking about what to do.

We provide consultation to your school, business, or organization to develop a suicide response plan or policy that you can use when someone connected to you is affected by suicide.  Response plans include guidance for prevention (actions that reduce the risk of suicide), intervention (actions taken during a suicidal crisis to prevent a suicide attempt), and postvention (actions to take after a suicide death to support those affected).  The goal is to develop community-wide systems that can respond appropriately to suicide and to create a culture in which people experiencing suicide feel safe and supported by everyone in their network.  Contact us to learn more about our consultation services.

Suicide Intervention Training

RTS/C Responding to Suicide with Compassion 

People experiencing suicide need more than referrals to mental health services; they also need support from the people in their lives.  Our training will prepare you to be the supportive person needed by someone experiencing suicide.  RTS/C uses strategies guided by compassion, cultural awareness, and centering the needs of those experiencing suicide. You will learn to better understand suicide, and you will gain skills to help you recognize, respond to, and support someone experiencing suicide.

Our program is adapted for:

• • Students
  • Parents
  • Youth Groups
  • Community Groups
  • Employers
  • Professionals

Trainings can include discussions of the needs of specific populations:

• • Youth
  • LGBTQ+ folks
  • Veterans
  • Elderly
  • Men
  • People with mental illness
  • People affected by trauma

We recommend trainings as part of a comprehensive suicide response plan, but will also provide them independent of other services.  We will work with you to develop a training plan that works best for your available time and needs.  Contact us to schedule a private training for your group, or register for one of our public trainings.

Comfort Dog

We are in the process of training a comfort dog to provide postvention support.  Lyra is a Pyredoodle, a mix between a Great Pyrenees and a standard Poodle.  When Lyra is certified as a therapy dog, she will be available to all schools, businesses, religious organizations, and community groups that are affected by a suicide death.  While she is training, she is available for informal socialization and interaction.  Contact us to find out about having Lyra visit you.  You can follow Lyra on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

School Chapters

We offer support to student-led suicide prevention events and activities in schools.  We empower students to lead their school in creating a culture of understanding and support to prevent suicide.  We encourage year-round efforts to promote suicide prevention, while also collaborating to reduce specific risk factors faced by students, including addressing academic stress, affirming LGBTQ+ youth, preventing bullying, sexual assault, and violence, and addressing discrimination and oppression.  Contact us to discuss your school’s needs for suicide prevention.

Community Events

We host several community events to increase awareness of suicide, provide information and resources, and connect to people affected by suicide.  Learn more about our upcoming events here.  We also offer support for discussions and meetings that address suicide, and participate in other community events where suicide prevention information is needed.  Contact us to help with your event.

Speaking

Our Executive Director, Kim Bryan,  is available for speaking engagements, including keynotes and workshops.  Talks can include content related to suicide prevention or personal experience as a suicide loss survivor and someone with lived experience of thoughts of suicide.  Contact us to invite Kim to speak at your event.