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Free suicide alertness workshops being offered in Guelph and Wellington County

The workshops are presented by Canadian Mental Health Association - Waterloo Wellington through a grant from the Guelph Community Foundation
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A series of local workshops are being offered to identify and respond to someone showing signs of thoughts of suicide.

The workshops are free and open to anyone 15 and older.

The first of five free SafeTALK workshops was held in December. The workshop scheduled for this month is filled to capacity, but people interested can be put on a waitlist for it or sign up for a future event, said Katrina Burch, team lead for Mental Health Promotion and Education Services for Canadian Mental Health Association - Waterloo Wellington (CMHA).

SafeTALK stands for Suicide Alertness For Everyone. It is a half-day sucicide-alertness workshop. No previous experience is needed to become a suicide prevention helper.

The workshops are intended for anyone over 15 in the community who wants to learn how to recognize the signs and symptoms from people who may be having thoughts of suicide and how to address them instead of dismissing them or avoiding the conversation, said Burch.

"SafeTALK isn't designed to do the suicide intervention, it's about having the conversation and getting that person some help," she said.

CMHA says suicide accounts for 24 per cent of all deaths among people age 15 to 24.

Talking about suicide can be scary for many people, said Burch.

"Even if you are in the field, discussing suicide has traditionally been a very taboo subject,” said Burch. “The purpose of SafeTALK in particular is to become a suicide alert helper. Noticing and responding to situations and recognizing invitations to asking for help.”

The five SafeTALK workshops in Guelph and Wellington County are being sponsored through a grant by the Guelph Community Foundation and will be presented by CMHA.

"I am sure one of the reasons we were granted that money was in response to the high suicide rate we have in Guelph and Wellington,” said Burch. "There have been a significant number of deaths and we are definitely above the provincial average on what those numbers are.”

CMHA is also concurrently holding other SafeTALK workshops at a reduced rate.

All of the workshops can be found at CMHA Waterloo Wellington’s Eventbrite page. The February workshop is being held in Elora, while the April and May workshops are being held in Guelph.

In the workshops, people are taught to engage with someone who is having thoughts of suicide and then keep that person safe, said Burch. Attendees learn which resources are available to someone with thoughts of suicide, including CMHA, 1-844-HERE-247 or another safe adult who can handle the situation, like a teacher or doctor.

Attendees leave with a feeling they can make a difference and save someone’s life, that they have the skills and knowledge to have the conversations to keep people safe, said Burch.

She hopes to see a broad cross-section of the local community coming out to the workshops, not just professionals in the mental health field, teachers, police officers and the like.

Anyone age 15 and over can attend. Space is limited.

"When it's a diverse group, it makes for a rich learning environment because they all have different expertise they can share back and forth with each other," said Burch. "We have the best success when we have a group of youth and a group of police officers and then throw in some teachers.”


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Kenneth Armstrong

About the Author: Kenneth Armstrong

Kenneth Armstrong is a news reporter and photojournalist who regularly covers municipal government, business and politics and photographs events, sports and features.
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