TILLAMOOK COUNTY WELLNESS: Suicide Prevention – QPR Training Provides Community Members with Tools, Techniques to Reach Out, Encourages Talking About Suicide, Offers Help & Hope

One of my roles as a Prevention Coordinator at the Tillamook Family Counseling Center is to provide community members with opportunities to be trained in the Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) Gatekeeper training. This training is an evidenced based suicide prevention training that has been used worldwide. Participants who attend this training can expect to learn, common suicide warning signs, suicide facts, how to offer hope, and the three steps of QPR.

This past year, TFCC presented eight free QPR Gatekeeper trainings (trainings were presented September 2020-July 2021). I am happy to report that there were 85 community members who had attended one of these trainings. TFCC will continue to offer these trainings to community members throughout this year. The next QPR Gatekeeper trainings will take place virtually, September 24th at 10:00-11:30AM. To learn more about these trainings please feel free to contact me at Janeanek@tfcc.org.

Recently, I contacted former QPR Gatekeeper training participants to request feedback for this training. I was fortunate enough to receive many thoughtful responses from past participants. Continue reading to learn what local participants liked about this training.

“This was my first time taking a response training focused on mental health. I have had difficult conversations in the past with friends about depression or suicide and I have always struggled in knowing the best way to respond or support someone. The QPR course offered an outline for how to approach these conversations, which I greatly appreciated because you never know when you might need to rely on that training.” – Public Health Professional

“I appreciated the QPR gatekeeper training, because it offers hope by providing concrete ways to respond to friends, family members, or co-workers who might be at risk of suicide.”  – Community Response Coordinator Advocate for Tides of Change

“I liked the fact that it went into detail on how we should go about asking a person questions, to find out if they are considering attempting suicide. I also liked the fact that there were several participants, who were involved in the session & had their own input.” – Worksource JOBS Program

“What I appreciated about the QPR training was the way it removes both the stigma around suicide and the hopelessness that once a person has decided to take their life there is no turning them around.” – Faith Leader

“Things that I enjoyed about the QPR gatekeeper training, offered free of charge, required only 1 morning of my time, was a small group with local names and faces, the material is from a trustworthy source and I was confident that it was taught to fidelity standards, Nothing presented was beyond my comfort zone, no follow up was required to prove that I retained what was taught, and mostly, I feel empowered to effectively intervene with family, friends, or clients when I suspect they might be considering suicide.” – Family and Youth Services Coordinator

“I thought the QPR training was very helpful and useful when we encounter a Veteran that is having a mental health crisis”. – Veterans Services

“I like that they gave actual data, and I liked that they gave examples of what to do and what not to do.” – Student

“The QPR was very informative and professional. I learned a lot. I disposed of some myths in my thinking.” – Retired teacher

“QPR was a safe and positive learning opportunity, as a virtual space to raise my awareness, learn about things to look for, and gain tools to respond.  I highly recommend this learning opportunity!” – Nonprofit Organization Staff/Parent

“I really enjoyed being together with other invested folx to remind us that we can create a network of support in our very own communities. The training also addresses common misconceptions and myths around suicide, urging us to Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR), in order to save lives. I would definitely recommend this training to others and would be interested in learning how this training is adapted to be shared amongst youth.” – Community Member/Social Worker

 

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