{"id":26527,"date":"2015-11-27T15:51:11","date_gmt":"2015-11-27T20:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=26527"},"modified":"2016-02-17T13:28:35","modified_gmt":"2016-02-17T18:28:35","slug":"safetalk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2015\/11\/27\/safetalk\/","title":{"rendered":"safeTALK"},"content":{"rendered":"I recently chose to\u00a0attend\u00a0the safeTALK: Suicide Alertness for Everyone<\/strong> training for the same reason I decide to take First Aid and CPR training every year: I want to know what to do if someone needs my help. In other words, if ever I encounter someone who is thinking or talking\u00a0about\u00a0harming themselves, I want to make sure I can respond appropriately and feel confident in doing so. The\u00a0safeTALK\u00a0<\/strong>training helped me in many of these aspects, and incorporated a variety of helpful resources including\u00a0a take-home manual, video modules, wallet cards, as well as opportunities to engage in\u00a0role play.\r\n\r\n
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The safeTALK Resource Book contains the course information, plus additional readings about suicide prevention policies, healing after a suicide has happened, and mental health.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nI\u2019ve included my thoughts and notes\u00a0about how the training went here!\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nsafeTALK<\/strong> is the title of the training, but it is also an acronym for the key concepts of the course, as illustrated below:\r\n\r\nsafe<\/strong>: suicide alertness for everyone\r\n\r\nSuicide\u2014it can seem like a scary word, but saying it over and over again in the workshop made many of us feel more comfortable in talking about it. In fact the reason why we have\u00a0suicide alertness training is so that there is increased capacity among our community to\u00a0connect people with suicidal thoughts to professional\u00a0care-givers. As was pointed out in our session, thoughts of suicide are human and prevalent, but the act itself can be prevented.\r\n\r\n\"20151120_175507\"<\/a>\r\n\r\nTALK<\/strong>: Tell, Ask, Listen, KeepSafe\r\n\r\nThe training taught participants how to identify possible \u201cinvitations\u201d for help from someone who is thinking about suicide; how to formulate questions to ask the person\u00a0and\u00a0listen actively; and how to connect them to the right\u00a0resources (ASSIST).\r\n\r\nASSIST\u00a0is an acronym for \u201cApplied Suicide Intervention Training\u201d. There are ASSIST trained people are all across our campus, including folks\u00a0such as Student Life staff\u00a0and Residence Managers.\r\n\r\nMy role, as someone who is now trained as a safeTALK alert\u00a0helper, is to listen and provide support to individuals who are thinking about suicide, and act as a link to an ASSIST contact - someone who can keep them safe. The training also emphasizes\u00a0the importance of\u00a0keeping my own self-care in mind\u2014I have to keep myself safe as well.\r\n\r\n