Free Suicide Prevention Skills training – safeTALK

Jess Barraket and Fiona Livingstone are bringing a lifesaving suicide-prevention workshop called safeTALK to the Narrabri Community.

Through their organisation, Find Hope, Fiona and Jess came together with the common goal to provide collaborative suicide prevention workshops to organisations, workplaces, and community groups.

Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community to prevent suicide, and Jess and Fiona encourage everyone to become involved.

“We’re welcoming the community to come and learn lifesaving skills which are just as important as first-aid,” said Jess.
safeTALK was developed by Living Works and is a four-hour workshop that teaches people the skills and confidence required to recognise and respond to someone who is having thoughts of suicide.

The workshop is fully funded by HealthWISE and will be offered at the Narrabri Community College on Thursday, January 18, and Wee Waa on January 19.

“Very rarely do these workshops happen for free, we’re lucky to have HealthWISE sponsoring us, they do so much for mental health education in the community,” said Jess.

“We want to help facilitate an open and direct conversation about suicide and help anyone interested to gain some knowledge about having a conversation around suicide safely,” said Jess.

“Once people ask someone directly about suicide, or someone reaches out for help, we don’t want the next question to be: ‘What do I do next?’.

This short workshop will deliver a taster for the two-day ASIST course, a more extensive course which has in the past been well-received by the Narrabri community, and attended by teachers, and counsellors and many different community groups.

Ten years after Fiona’s Dad died by suicide, she had the opportunity to work in this space and has continued to do so for over a decade.

“There is no way being touched by suicide multiple times in my life didn’t see me want to do this work,” said Jess.

“Suicide can touch anyone – it’s important that we are all empowered with this knowledge now so we can make a difference.”

The short-course offers skills like letting people know the common warning signs and giving them the knowledge to confidently ask directly about suicide, to listen, and to know where they can get someone help both locally and nationally.

“Our aim for this workshop and the community is to prevent suicide, we have high rates in the community we live in, and none of us are untouched by it.

We cannot leave this up to health professionals alone, because many people with thoughts of suicide do not seek formal help.

“These types of initiatives need to happen, we need to destigmatise suicide so we can talk about it openly and make people feel comfortable help-seeking like they do when they go to a doctor for their physical health,” said Jess.

This invaluable workshop is free and anyone over the age of 18 is welcome to attend.

Lunch is also provided on the day.

“We really hope that people will come along and learn some life-saving skills that may enable them to help and support someone in the future.”

If you need immediate support, you can phone: Lifeline 131 114, Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467 or 13YARN 139 276.

Book your tickets through this link: safeTALK Narrabri Tickets, Narrabri Community College, Narrabri | TryBooking Australia