Recognizing that everyone has a role to play in preventing suicide, New York State provides a variety of evidence-based trainings, workshops, online learning modules, and resources to meet the specific needs of clinicians, other health care workers, community members, and school staff.
Suicide is preventable and it requires that all New Yorkers do their part, including knowing the basics about how to talk to someone who may be considering killing themselves and how to connect them with help. For most of us, it can be an uncomfortable topic to discuss, even with those we care about most.
To help individuals better understand how to identify and discuss suicide ideation – Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, the NYS Office of Mental Health and the NYS Governor’s Office of Employee Relations initiated a new mandate for all executive agency employees that requires them to complete a twenty-five-minute suicide prevention training. This training is designed to help individuals recognize the warning signs of suicide in others and in themselves, effectively engage with a person in distress by speaking up and listening, and how to connect the person with professional help.
This brief training, which will be located in the Statewide Learning Management System, delivers on one of the recommendations from Governor Cuomo’s Suicide Prevention Task Force calling for training for New York State employees. If you’re a state employee and are unable to access the training program, please contact your training director. If you’re not a state employee and would like to complete the training, please submit the required information on our Contact Us webpage.
The following suicide prevention-related trainings are hosted on the Center for Practice Innovations (CPI) online Learning Management System (LMS). 
Access to these trainings is currently restricted to individuals working for OMH/OASAS-licensed agencies, or for agencies participating in New York State grants or special projects, and requires agency LMS registration. Inquiries regarding LMS access should be emailed to cpihelp@nyspi.columbia.edu.
To learn more about these trainings, please click here.
*Available free of charge on the Zero Suicide website.
Community Gatekeeper and Brief Intervention Trainings
Gatekeeper trainings are delivered in communities across New York State. A gatekeeper is someone who is strategically positioned to help those at risk for suicide. Gatekeepers can be anyone and may include teachers, doctors, nurses, family, friends, clergy, police officers, colleagues, and firefighters. Browse the list below to find a training that best meets your needs.
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
ASIST is a two-day practice-dominated course to help caregivers learn to recognize and review risk, and to intervene to prevent imminent risk of suicide. Fifteen contact hours are available for Social Workers, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, and Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselors (CASACs).
Suicide Alertness For Everyone-Tell Ask Listen Keepsafe (SafeTALK)
SafeTALK is a half-day alertness training that prepares anyone 15 or older, regardless of prior experience or training, to recognize warning signs, effectively communicate with individuals who are thinking about suicide, and connect them with life-saving intervention resources. Three contact hours are available for Social Workers, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, and Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselors (CASACs).
Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR)
QPR is a one-hour training that instructs participants to recognize the signs of a suicidal crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help. Similar to CPR, an emergency medical intervention, QPR is an emergency mental health intervention.
Below is a full menu of professional development and training opportunities designed to meet the suicide prevention needs of school staff and community members.
Creating Suicide Safety in School
This full day (six hours) workshop is designed to assist school administrators, school-based mental health and health professionals, school safety staff, and school counselors with planning suicide prevention activities. Sometimes board members, teachers, and parents attend; it is ideal to include members of the school community who are vested in assessing current prevention and response readiness and providing recommendations for improvements. Implementation teams come together to spend the day learning about suicide and best practices in prevention. Small and large group discussions facilitate the development of a customized action plan.
Suicide Safety for Teachers and School Staff
This 60- to 90-minute training is designed to meet the basic needs of school administration, faculty, and staff. Emphasis is on recognizing warning signs, clarifying the referral process in place at school, and making a warm handoff.
Helping Students at Risk for Suicide
The focus of this full day (six hours; administrative overview is two hours) workshop is to incorporate the process of assessing, intervening, safety planning, and following up when there is concern that a student may be at-risk for suicide. This training is suitable for school-based health, mental health, pupil services, school safety professionals, administrators, special education, and pupil services administrators. The goals are two-fold: 1) to improve the competence and confidence of school-based professionals to intervene when suicide risk is identified, and 2) to assist school leaders with developing standardized policies and procedures to support best practices in suicide intervention.
Lifelines Postvention: Responding to Suicide and Traumatic Death at School
Lifelines Postvention is a manualized, full-day (six hours; administrative overview is two hours) workshop which helps school crisis teams review current procedures for suicide and other traumatic deaths in the school community. The strategies presented respect the critical role of the school in the recovery process and provide support, control, and structure to maintain order while assisting in the grieving process of school community members. This training is suitable for school crisis team leaders and members, those who support students and staff in the aftermath of traumatic death and suicide, school policy makers and leaders, and community agency staff who respond to schools after tragedy.
SPCNY can provide communities and organizations with workshops on the basics of postvention and how to develop a coordinated postvention response for your community or organization. SPCNY can also provide consultation and tailored workshops for school- and community-related suicide prevention content that fits your specific needs. Email spcny@omh.ny.gov or visit our Contact Us page to find out more.
