Suicide First Aid Lite

How to have a caring conversation that could save a life

The Suicide First Aid Lite programme is delivered over 3 hours as a suicide prevention awareness session. The course gives learners the knowledge and tools to understand that suicide is one of the most preventable deaths and some basic skills can help someone with thoughts of suicide stay safe from their thoughts and stay alive.

SFA Lite is comprised of 2 parts, each 90 minutes duration. The programme teaches the skills needed to identify someone who may be thinking about suicide and to pass the person onto a suicide first aider.

Taught over 3 hours using tutor facilitated socratic learning, tutor-led role- play, mini lectures, group work and audio-visual presentations. This is a has some interactive elements and is an emotionally engaging learning experience.

  •    Opportunity to intervene before these thoughts become actions.
  •    Provide immediate support, reducing the risk.
  •    Encourage individuals to seek professional help.
  •    Break down the stigma associated with mental health and suicide.
  •    Potentially save someone's life.
  • Course Outcomes

    • Recognise when someone might be struggling
    • How to approach and communicate with individuals experiencing suicidal thoughts
    • Assess the level of risk a person might be facing in relation to suicide
    • Identify strategies for coping with difficult emotions and thoughts
    • How to connect individuals in crisis to appropriate help
    • The importance of reducing stigma and promoting open dialogue

    Steve Carr

    Hi, I'm Steve Carr, I am a highly experienced mental health and suicide first aid trainer dedicated to empowering individuals and organisations to recognise and respond to mental health crises. With over Eight years of experience in the field, combined with lived experience, I deeply understand the intricacies of mental health and suicide prevention. I am certified in several mental health and suicide first aid programs, including Mental Health First Aid and Suicide First Aid Training.

    My approach centres on creating a safe and supportive environment where participants feel comfortable sharing their experiences and learning new skills. I've trained various groups, including healthcare professionals, educators, first responders, and community members. I'm passionate about reducing the stigma around mental health and suicide and empowering individuals to take action to support themselves and others.

    In April 2016, I completed a challenge to walk from one end of Britain to the other after experiencing a mental health breakdown in the workplace and being given a mental health diagnosis of PTSD. Whilst I believe work was a contributing factor, it wasn’t the only factor. The challenge was an attempt to raise awareness for mental health and homelessness whilst being in recovery and homeless myself. While walking, I created Mindcanyon - Mental Health In Your Workplace on my mobile phone, a now award-winning mental health and suicide first aid training provider.

    I did this to help reduce the stigma surrounding poor mental health and mental illness and demonstrate just how easy it was to lose everything and become homeless when we don’t ask for help. I walked and ran a total of 1000 miles over three months, documenting my journey via blogs, vlogs and a group I created on Facebook called “Mindcanyon”, with 11,000 members in its prime. I’ve worked hard since that walk to establish a legacy for my challenge. In 2022 I was awarded the pride of Swindon and won an award for mental health training service provider of the year for my continual work around mental health and suicide prevention.

    I am glad I participated in this course. It has given me more knowledge and awareness to perform more confidently when approaching the subject of suicide. The resources are of great help and I will use them. Really enjoyed this course and has helped me reframe the language I will use in future! Great content using video and workbook. Good opportunity to reflect on how I would respond and I will use the questions as a format in future conversations. Great training and an amazing trainer. I honestly feel better equipped to support a person who is suicidal. The handout info will be valuable to my team and me.

    Really enjoyed the training very insightful many thanks. I feel confident in working with individuals that feel suicidal after completing the course and believe I can put my knowledge into practice. Really enjoyed the training and feel more confident on knowing what to say to clients who have suicidal thoughts, feel confident to bring the conversation up and ask clients if they have any suicidal thoughts.

    Fantastic course which has definitely made me more confident in having the conversations and responding appropriately when someone does disclose to me that they are having suicidal thought.

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