In suicide prevention, you can’t control outcomes but you can improve your skill set.

After many hours of crisis support the toughest part was by far feeling like I’d failed someone.

If I got hung up on or worse, I’d beat myself up and feel terrible. On one hand I know I can only do my best, however it didn’t feel like I was doing my best. Surely there was a way I could show up more prepared?

It’s not just I owed that to the people calling our hotline, I also owed it to myself.

Improving suicide prevention skills is incredibly challenging.

When you’re in the hot seat, there’s a lot to juggle.

You’re wanting to get it all correct all at once: the framework, decision matrix, risk management, their feelings, your own thoughts and opinions, and so many other things to think about. If learning is best done in a playful, relaxed setting (as neuroscience tells us), crisis support is a terrible place to learn!

When I realised this I finally understood the wisdom of what my trainer was trying to tell me.

To really -deeply- improve your practice, take pen and patience to paper.

The act of sitting down and writing out my reflections, thoughts and even sentences changed everything for me.

Before I knew it, I had a safe, slow place to sit with myself and process: my feelings, thoughts and opinions (’noise’), plus what actually was said (’signal’), where I slipped out of the framework with a block to empathy (like giving advice) and more. There’s a lot to process!

Pushing through the awkwardness of undressing my thoughts with pen and paper has led to countless amazing interactions where I got to help and support someone through the worst time in their life.

There’s nothing like showing up prepared and holding space for someone in need.