These past few months have once again been filled with speaking engagements aimed at raising awareness of suicide throughout our communities. In addition, we had an overwhelming response from professionals and family carers supporting those at risk of suicide wanting to register for our next Suicide Intervention and Support Skills Training Program based on the CAPS model of care.
Our hat goes off to the countless individuals that provide day in-day out support to those at risk. This job, be it as a professional or as a family carer is strenuous, stressful and overwhelming to say the very least. For carers, some of the (many) challenging aspects of supporting someone at risk is the extreme individuality of suicide; the absence of an A + B = C formula to stop someone from suiciding; and the harsh reality that no one person can control another's thoughts, behaviours or actions.
Whilst there is no magic formula in supporting someone at risk, we believe that some of the most important things for professionals and carers to have (based on our experience in supporting those at risk) is knowledge of the many facets of suicide in general; confidence in their ability to support; skills to communicate; and an array of support "tools" in their "toolkit" that they can call upon on any given day, in individual circumstances, when supporting their clients or loved ones.
We are truly excited by every opportunity we have to share our unique model of care in supporting those at risk and increase community awareness of suicide in hope that future years will see not only more confident and prepared communities who are trained in recognising the signs of suicide and how to respond, but individuals who possess the knowledge and skills to provide ongoing support both in and outside times of crisis.
In coming months we will be actively seeking funding from various sources to enable us to deliver additional Suicide Intervention and Support Skills Training to those in the community who feel they need more tools in their toolkit including professionals, family and friends who are playing the support role each and every day.
Kind regards,
Shana Challenor, Director
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