Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training

ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) was developed in Canada in 1983 by a partnership of four mental health professionals. They worked to develop a suicide intervention training programme that would be suitable for both professional and other caregivers.

ASIST is now by far the most widely used suicide intervention skills training in the world with 3,000 registered trainers in Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Ireland and the UK. The programme has been refined over a 23 year period with feedback from over 500,000 participants worldwide.

RAMH currently offers the 2 day ASIST course which is interactive and practice dominated and aimed at enabling people to spot the risk of suicide and provide immediate help to persons at risk. In the same way that skills are needed for physical first aid, ASIST develops the skills necessary for suicide first aid. It is suitable for anyone, from professionals and volunteers to members of the community. Participants range from those in caring roles to people concerned about family members or friends.

ASIST has five learning sections:

• Preparing - sets the tone, norms, and expectations of the workshop.
• Connecting - allows participants to explore their own attitudes towards suicide. Creates an understanding of the impact that attitudes have on the intervention process.
• Understanding - overviews the intervention needs of a person at risk. Focuses on providing participants with the knowledge and skills needed to recognise risk and develop safe plans to reduce the risk of suicide.
• Assisting - presents a model for effective suicide intervention. Participants develop their skills through observation and supervised simulation experiences in large and small groups.
• Networking - generates information about resources in the local community. Encourages participants to explore local resources to create wider networks of support in the community.

Participants who have attended ASIST report that they learn new skills and have increased confidence to effectively recognise the potential signs of suicidal behaviour and intervene to keep someone safe.

If you would like to find out more information about this course, or to book a future session, please contact ramhtraining@ramh.org