In Prince George World Suicide Awareness Day will see the Crisis Prevention, Intervention & Information Centre for Northern BC and Canadian Mental Health Association of Northern BC partner for the first time to support mental health on Tuesday, Sept. 10 with a day of workshops offered to those who help others.
The three-hour workshop, safeTALK, prepares helpers to identify people with thoughts of suicide and connects them to suicide first aid resources. Most people with thoughts of suicide either directly or indirectly invite help to stay safe. Alert helpers know how to identify and work with the opportunity to help protect life. During the workshop there will be a video shown to illustrate both non-alert and alert responses.
There will also be a discussion and a chance to put newly learned skills into practice to encourage learning. At the end of the training session participants will be better able to identify people who have thoughts of suicide, apply the TALK steps (Tell, Ask, Listen and Keep Safe) to connect a person with thoughts of suicide to a suicide first aid intervention caregiver and move beyond common tendencies to miss, dismiss or avoid suicide.
The Practical Self Care workshop goes from 1 to 4 p.m. During this workshop the discussion will be about how what a person goes through on a daily basis impacts the whole being. The focus will be on learning the signs and symptoms of compassion fatigue, cognitive fatigue and burnout and how to recognize them in ourselves and those around us.
The focus will then be on resilience and the importance of self-care. To finish the discussion turns to self care and the importance of implementing self care to replenish reserves and minimize the less desirable impacts of day-to-day life.
These free safeTALK workshops are open to the public and run from 9 a.m. to noon, while Practical Self Care goes from 1 to 4 p.m. at Omineca Arts Centre, 369 Victoria St.
No registration is required but space is limited.
