The National Centre for Suicide Prevention Education & Training UK CIC Reviews

It was a very informative session which has given me further insight and I feel in a better position to speak with someone experiencing thoughts of suicide

I feel my confident now about asking someone if they are suicidal, there was a lot of information in the sessions which was very useful

Very thought-provoking and informative; I particularly liked the practise of asking if someone was having suicidal thoughts and normalising this subject. Thank you.

I found the course well-paced and informative without being overwhelming, given the subject matter.

Really well ballanced course with good material and explanations.

Fantastic training - thank you Sian

Incredibly helpful training building a confident ‘workforce’ of volunteers to serve and support young people.

Very helpful training with some useful tips and techniques. It was led in a gentle and friendly way by Shian and she ensured no one was put under pressure to talk. The breaks were well spaced and there was a helpful mixture of listening, videos and break out room work. Thank you Shian

Great, such a worthwhile day. Shian’s experience and approach I felt enabled everyone to explore this subject without fear and encouraged us all to feel confident about having what might be difficult conversations about how someone is feeling.

Sometimes the subject of suicide can be treated so sensitively, it has a counterproductive effect which sweeps the subject matter under the carpet. This only serves to isolate someone in the role of support. Talking openly about suicide helped me to see someone struggling with life, as a person going through an overwhelming set of feelings, trying to cope, maybe trying to reach out or maybe hiding behind a smile. Either way i learnt a lot about approach, listening, holding and empathizing, leading to asking the question about their intentions of taking their own life. I liked the way of phrasing it as 'sometimes when people say they feel.....or say... they are thinking about taking their own lives, do you want to take your own life?'. It felt very empathetic to practice this in the session. I would feel much more comfortable being succinct in this way, because it doesn't presume I know they are going to do this, but allows the other person to answer the question feeling respected, if they do want to or they don't.