Suicide Prevention

The state of Virginia has a suicide rate of 13.3% per 100,000 people (2019). To address this, Virginia’s Office of Behavioral Health and Wellness is implementing suicide prevention trainings and initiatives that are carried out by Community Service Board’s (CSBs) workforce, including behavioral health and substance use providers.

Trainings

Virginia’s Community Service Boards offer several trainings to help clinics, schools, and community groups assist someone who is at risk of suicide. These trainings range from one-hour sessions to intensive, multiple-day interactive trainings. Trainings provide information about warning signs and steps to how to help someone who is having thoughts of suicide. All of Virginia’s CSBs offer at least one of the following suicide prevention trainings:

ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) is a two day in-person suicide prevention training program that helps participants learn how to prevent suicide by recognizing signs, providing a skilled intervention, and developing a safety plan to keep someone alive.

QPR (Question. Persuade. and Refer.) is an in-person and virtual training that guides participants through the three steps of asking questions, persuading, and referring to prevent suicide. Through these steps, participants will be able to recognize the warning signs of suicide, know how to offer hope, and know how to get help and save a life.

SafeTALK is a four-hour face-to-face workshop that can be taken online or in-person. It teaches participants how to prevent suicide by recognizing signs, engaging someone, and connecting them to an intervention resource for further support.

In addition to trainings, CSBs integrate Lock and Talk materials and presentations to support their suicide prevention efforts.

Lock and Talk promotes limiting lethal means for someone who is suicidal and encouraging them to talk about suicide. This program provides educational materials about suicide and free safety/restriction devices for guns and medications.

Additional suicide prevention resources can be found here: https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/suicide-prevention/