Confident & Competent Suicide Prevention Training
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To reduce the high rates of suicide in this country a workforce and confident and competent in assessing risk and providing ongoing support to suicidal people is essential.
Take the opportunity to attend this training which is being recommended by counsellors all over the country as "must attend" workshops.
Take the opportunity to attend this training which is being recommended by counsellors all over the country as "must attend" workshops.
Recent coroners’ findings highlighted the need for workers in the health, social services and counselling/psychotherapy sectors to regularly update their knowledge and competency in suicide risk assessment and intervention. This training should be a core component of practitioners’ ongoing professional development. Advanced practitioners such as counsellors, psychotherapists and clinicians should not only be knowledgeable about suicide risk assessment but also highly competent in undertaking an assessment and assessing the level of risk. The training attended should match the worker's scope of practice. Those working in the non-mental health sectors must be also be competent in making an informed referral to crisis services.They must also be up to date in their competency and capability to engage with the suicidal individual.
This advanced-level workshop address the concerns raised by coroners and are designed for clinicians counsellors and psychotherapists. Rather than a siloed approach to assessment and support strategies, this training emphasises the interconnection of the two and presents them as part of the continuum of suicide intervention and care.
Designed specifically for the New Zealand context, this training is being recommended by counsellors all over the country as a must attend workshop. The two-day workshop is divided into parts:1. Risky Business: The art of assessing suicide risk and imminent danger2. Custodians of Hope: Supporting the suicidal person
Designed specifically for the New Zealand context, this training is being recommended by counsellors all over the country as a must attend workshop. The two-day workshop is divided into parts:1. Risky Business: The art of assessing suicide risk and imminent danger2. Custodians of Hope: Supporting the suicidal person
RISKY BUSINESS: The art of assessing suicide risk and imminent danger
From checklist to “Conversations of Enquiry” A transformational approach to how we understand and assess suicide risk.
Undertaking a suicide risk assessment is not without its complexities. One size does not fit all. Learn about a person-centred approach to assessing suicide risk and imminent danger using a wellbeing outcomes framework. This advanced workshop builds on basic suicide prevention training and allows participants to analyse suicide risk factors and reflect on their risk assessment practice. It encourages deeper enquiry and avoids being limited to assessment sheet questions. It examines the essential elements of a good assessment: rapport, dialogue, confidence, and competence.
Once considered essential for predicting suicide or self-harm, risk assessment tools, scales, and levels are now increasingly being discouraged. Recent UK guidance recommends against the use of risk assessment tools, scales, and stratification into levels (such as “low”, “medium”, or “high” risk) for predicting suicide or self-harm repetition or making decisions about treatment or discharge. Rather than degrees of risk, participants will identify where the suicidal person is along the 'continuum of suicidality' and the difference between suicidality and suicidal crisis.
Participants will depth their knowledge and competency in the “art” of an individualised person-centred approach to assessing risk and will be introduced to the Conversation of Enquiry which is a series of mini conversations that is client-focused and where the conversation of distress is the primary focus of the enquiry rather than presence of risk factors. Topics covered:
Undertaking a suicide risk assessment is not without its complexities. One size does not fit all. Learn about a person-centred approach to assessing suicide risk and imminent danger using a wellbeing outcomes framework. This advanced workshop builds on basic suicide prevention training and allows participants to analyse suicide risk factors and reflect on their risk assessment practice. It encourages deeper enquiry and avoids being limited to assessment sheet questions. It examines the essential elements of a good assessment: rapport, dialogue, confidence, and competence.
Once considered essential for predicting suicide or self-harm, risk assessment tools, scales, and levels are now increasingly being discouraged. Recent UK guidance recommends against the use of risk assessment tools, scales, and stratification into levels (such as “low”, “medium”, or “high” risk) for predicting suicide or self-harm repetition or making decisions about treatment or discharge. Rather than degrees of risk, participants will identify where the suicidal person is along the 'continuum of suicidality' and the difference between suicidality and suicidal crisis.
Participants will depth their knowledge and competency in the “art” of an individualised person-centred approach to assessing risk and will be introduced to the Conversation of Enquiry which is a series of mini conversations that is client-focused and where the conversation of distress is the primary focus of the enquiry rather than presence of risk factors. Topics covered:
- Who are killing themselves? – Understanding trends and sub-populations
- Why do people kill themselves – An overview of the phenomenon of suicide and the 'suicidal moment’
- Motivation – Violitional Model of Suicide Behaviour
- Continuum of suicidality
- Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behaviour
- What is meant by suicide risk? - Predisposing, Precipitating and Perpetuating
- Imminent Danger Assessment & Protective Factors
- From Suicide Risk Assessment Tools to Person – Centred Risk
- Conversations of Enquiry
- Suicidality vs Suicide Crisis
CUSTODIANS OF HOPE: Supporting the suicidal person
The primary aim of supporting the suicidal person is to engender hope and inviting the person to live
Identifying suicide risk is only one aspect of working with the suicidal person. The increasing demand on mental health services means that front line workers are often having to provide ongoing support for those who are vulnerable to suicide but are assessed as not being in imminent danger of suicide.
Workshop participants will explore a range of engagement, support and safe containment outcomes for supporting the suicidal person post the risk assessment process. These outcomes can be applied to any counselling, support or psychotherapeutic model.
Rather than being another model, this approach builds on counselling and/or mental health support/ recovery principles and processes.
Workshop participants will explore a range of engagement, support and safe containment outcomes for supporting the suicidal person post the risk assessment process. These outcomes can be applied to any counselling, support or psychotherapeutic model.
Rather than being another model, this approach builds on counselling and/or mental health support/ recovery principles and processes.
The outcomes are grouped into:Manaakitanga | Anchoring | Kōrero | Anchoring | Illumination, Interrupting the suicidal thought | Invitation to Live |Custodian of Hope | Restoring of Wairua | Strategies for coping.
Topics include:
- Compassionate Change Making
- Custodian of Hope Outcomes
- From Safety Plans to Coping Plan
“Supportive approaches addresses those factors that distorts, depletes, or suppresses the suicidal person’s mauri / life force, and those that reawakens the enablers that nurtures, sustains and restores the person’s wairua.”
What others have said about the workshop
“I have learnt more about risk assessment in this workshop than I have learnt from all the suicide prevention workshops I have attended combined”
Psychotherapist
“Gave me new insights into something I do everyday”
Mental Health Clinician
"The easy to understand concepts and the model of support reduced my anxiety about working with a suicidal person. I leave far more confident and trusting of my skills to be an effective support."
AOD Counsellor
“The many examples you shared from your work enhanced my learning and made the application of the model relevant to my work”
ACC Counsellor
“Appreciated how you constantly drew upon the participants’ experience. Will leave thinking / reflecting on my current practice”
School Counsellor
"I feel much better equipped to provide support and supervision to my team members"
Mental Health NGO Team Leader
"I feel more reassured that our staff have both the knowledge and the competence to undertake a high quality assessment that is person-centred and appropriate for the numerous cultural communities that we work with."
Manager
"Really valuable training. Appreciate how you did not just focus on a mental illness model"
Mental Health Nurse
"A must attend for counsellors. A rich experience filled with practical examples and learning moments”
Counsellor
“Your cultural sensitivity and drawing on Māori understandings of wellbeing made the workshop relevant to my practice.”
Counellor
"I wish there was a workshop like this when I first started my practice. Your deep thinking and compassion made this such a rich day. Your vast experience is evident in the case studies and stories you shared. Thank you for your passion and your insights. Loved your narrative approach"
Psychotherapist
“Insightful, informative and passionate presentation along with your humour engaged me for the whole day.”
Psychologist
Workshop Dates 2026
(Click on date for online registration)
Location | Date | Location | Date |
Tāmaki Makaurau - Auckland | Ōtautahi - Christchurch | ||
Tīrau - Cromwell | Ōtepoti - Dunedin | ||
Tūranganui-a-Kiwa - Gisborne | Māwhera - Greymouth | ||
Kirikiriroa - Hamilton | Waihōpai-Invercargill | ||
Kaitāia | 25 & 26 June | Whakaoriori-Masterton | |
Ahuriri - Napier | Whakatū - Nelson | ||
Ngāmotu - New Plymouth | Online | ||
Te Papa-i-Oea-Palmerston North | Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe - Rotorua | ||
Whanganui-a-Tara - Wellington | Whakatāne | ||
Whangārei-te-rerenga-parāoa-Whangārei |
For Suicide Prevention & Mental Wellbeing Training, Mentoring or Policy Advice
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