Torfaen

How well prepared and able are your staff to deal with people who are having thoughts of suicide?

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) is a two day brief intervention workshop that will train your staff to help people at risk of suicide stay safe and seek further help. This training is essential for all staff who are likely to come into contact with people experiencing thoughts of suicide. Not only will it help save lives, it can help protect your staff from feeling overwhelmed and being unsure how to respond, keeping them safe from unnecessary stress and pressure.

2008 course dates:

17th/18th March Newport                  Full
27th/28th ESIS Treforest                   Full
19th/10th  April Hi-Tide Porthcawl       Full
15th/16th April Age Concern Cardiff     Full
   21st/22nd April  ESIS Treforest           Full   
19th/20th May Hi-Tide Porthcawl        Full
19th/20th June  Age Concern Cardiff
7th/8th July  Bridgend
15th/16th September Newport Waterloo
 

 Course places are £150 per person.

If you have any questions or you would like to book a place, please click on the link below:

ASIST or contact

Julie Woolf or Bernadette Davies, Torfaen Mind, 19a Clarence St, Pontypool, Torfaen NP4 6LG

Tel: 01495 768835/768833, email: juliewoolftorfaenmind@hotmail.co.uk

ASIST is an evidence-based “suicide first aid intervention” designed to be used in the immediate moment of someone disclosing suicidal thoughts. It is important to stress that ASIST is not about training non-specialist staff to deliver therapy, but it does equip these staff with tools to help keep a suicidal person safe during the timeframe of the intervention and whilst other referrals to more specialist services are made if needed. This referral process will be aided if these specialist services also have an understanding of ASIST in order to aid communication and risk assessment transferral. Of course, a successful Tier 1 intervention may negate the need for a referral to Tier 2 altogether, thus reducing the pressure on already overstretched specialist services.

All staff that regularly come into contact with people having suicidal thoughts need training to be able to cope. It can be a very stressful experience for staff to have thoughts of suicide disclosed to them and it can leave individuals feeling overwhelmed and unsure how to respond. This can in turn lead to stress, depression and burnout. In a case where suicide is completed, the trauma can be more extreme, resulting in feelings of guilt or extreme sadness. ASIST training places a strong emphasis on the welfare of the caregiver and the importance of building strong networks.

Professionals that have already benefited from this training include Drug Intervention workers, Alcohol Workers, Community Psychiatric Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Police, Coastguards, Youth Offending Team Workers, Nurses, Midwives, Counsellors, Social Services and Housing Support Workers.

All these professionals found the workshop to be extremely useful, feeling more confident and able to intervene with a person at risk.

Send mail to Peter.smith@torfaenmind.co.uk  with questions or comments about this web site.

Registered Charity Number: 1102815       Registered Company Number: 5059087        Registered in Wales as a Company Limited by Guarantee