Evidence-Based Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training Comes to Ellsworth and Machias

Healthy Acadia will provide Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) to interested individuals aged 16 and over. The two-day course will be offered October 19-20 at Church of God, 53 Christian Ridge Road in Ellsworth. A course will be offered in Machias, November 3-4 at the University of Maine at Machias (9 O’Brien Avenue). Classes will meet from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

ASIST is an evidence-based intervention-based curriculum from Living Works Education. Participants will learn how to safely engage with community members who are having suicidal thoughts to help them find “safety for now” and help them access community resources and supports. Participants will also learn to use language that does not perpetuate the stigma associated with suicidal thoughts or feelings, understand the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and actions in our community, and connect to community resources. Another important aspect of the training will be prevention – working to build a safer community from suicide by learning the warning signs of suicide and how to integrate resilience and connection to prevent suicidal thoughts in our community.

“To date, over a million people have been trained in ASIST,” said Tara Young, Healthy Acadia Drug-Free Communities Coordinator and ASIST Certified Trainer. “Many more are needed to make sure our communities are doing all they can to step in and help those who are having thoughts of suicide. “

“ASIST training removes the taboo to allow discussions about suicide and teaches effective intervention techniques,” said Daniel Jones, an ASIST certified trainer who is co-senior pastor alongside his wife, Nicole, in Christian Ridge. Church of God. “For me, I have had suicidal thoughts in the past … and a [thought] It’s just one too many, so if we can help make a community more suicide aware or safer… it’s worth it!

ASIST training treats suicide like the public health problem that it is. ASIST training is comparable to CPR training – anyone in the community may be able to perform CPR and have no other medical training, or it may be a doctor or nurse . ASIST is just as versatile. Anyone aged 16 and over, including teachers, students, doctors, mental health professionals, parents, and others, can take ASIST training.

“We have been providing this training for over ten years,” said Young. “Whenever we have organized an ASIST course, at least one participant has told us that they have used what they have learned to help a friend, colleague or family member and that the person they have helped said to him: “You saved my life”.

For more information or to register, please contact Tara Young at 207-812-2090 or by email at [email protected].

Healthy Acadia is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit that engages in a wide range of initiatives to build healthier communities and make it easier for people to lead healthy lives in Washington counties and of Hancock, Maine. Learn more about www.healthyacadia.org.

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