(Spencer)– A series of suicide prevention training sessions will be held in the region in coming weeks. Taylor Prather, Prevention and Education Coordinator with Seasons Center, says two different types of training will be available…
“QPR, which stands for question, persuade, refer, is more of an introductory suicide prevention training for people who are just looking for a really simple three-step process of knowing how to intervene with someone who’s experiencing suicidal ideation, while ASIST is a two day, more intensive training that really dives into an intervention process of working with somebody a little bit more on a provider scale, so somebody who might be in a profession that are working directly with people at risk.”
Prather says statistics point out the need for these sessions and that it’s important we all know what to look for when it comes to suicide prevention…
“I think I saw a stat that said that suicidal ideation has doubled in the year 2020 from the year before. It’s already increasing and has been for the last decade, but with the pandemic stress it’s definitely exacerbating the situation.”
Prather says the first training sessions will be held March 1st…
“The QPR sessions will both be held on March 1st. We are partnering with Farm Bureau in the morning and that will be from 9:00 until 11:00 am at the Great Hall of Royal. And then in the afternoon we’ll be partnering with First United Methodist Church in Carroll, Iowa and that’s from 2:00 until 4:00 pm. And then the ASIST will be March 22nd and 23rd and that will be out at our therapeutic camp, Camp Autumn in Sutherland.”
Pre-registration for the sessions can be done by contacting Prather at Seasons Center at 800-242-5101 or by going to their Facebook page.
