Suicide prevention training for professionals working with young people

The ‘How Serious is Serious’ suicide prevention model has been developed by Merseyside Youth Association’s RAISE team, working in partnership with Wirral CAMHS and YPAS.

The programme’s content has been guided by parents of young people who have died by suicide, children and young people’s participation groups and mental health professionals. Its development was funded by the Liverpool CDOP (Child Death Overview Panel) in response to growing concerns about the number of children and young people who end up looking to suicide as the only answer to the difficulties they are facing.

As professionals, we must realise every young person is at risk. There are things we can look out for that will indicate to us that certain young people are particularly vulnerable when it comes to suicide. This training has been designed to help professionals working with children and young people spot the signs of a young person at risk of suicide and, more importantly, to build confidence in professionals to talk openly with young people about suicide.

The Serious Programme aims to:

1. Increase confidence in the workforce in dealing with suicide in relation to children and young people.
2. Reduce the stigma surrounding suicide.
3. Enable professionals to spot a young person in distress and know how to respond.
4. Support professionals to have conversations with children about suicide.

Suicide prevention strategy

Suicide prevention strategy for England: 2023 to 2028

When someone takes their own life, the impact on family and friends is devastating and widespread, with many people throughout the community feeling the aftershocks.

Interested?

If you are interested you can book your place here.

To book a place on the Safety Planning training, please visit the Liverpool Child and Young People’s Mental Health Support website.