Today’s resource is one that has been written for an external source. Before retiring from the Army, one of my roles in my unit was as a suicide prevention coordinator, and I went through the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) that helps leaders, first responders, community members, etc., to be able to respond to those in suicidal crisis. These individuals are more are more likely to come in contact with persons at risk of death by suicide than a clinically trained therapist.
I had been approached by the folks at Task & Purpose, an online news and culture web site for veterans, to write an article about what to say if I’m on the phone with a veteran who is thinking of killing themselves. Unfortunately, this is a situation that I am familiar with; even before becoming a therapist, I was involved in a number of suicide preventions, both telephonically and in person.
This is situation is all too common. We may not be perfect when the situation arises, and every situation is different; but perhaps this article will provide some support if you find yourself on the other end of the phone with a veteran who is contemplating suicide.
Good luck. You can read the article by following this link or clicking on the image below.
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A Veteran is in Crisis, and You Can't Reach Them. Now What? — Head Space and Timing · January 11, 2018 at 4:26 am
[…] written before on what to do when you have a brother or sister in crisis in front of you or on the phone. That’s a […]
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