Suicide Prevention Trainings

QPR — Question, Persuade, Refer

QPR is a 60–90-minute suicide prevention training that teaches anyone to recognize suicide warning signs, ask the direct question about suicide, persuade someone to accept help, and refer them to appropriate resources, empowering bystanders to intervene and potentially save lives by providing hope and connecting individuals in crisis to professional care.

• The 90-minute version offers role-playing scenarios to gain confidence with this technique.
• Can be offered along with Overdose Response Training as Crisis First Aid.

VitalCog — Suicide Prevention in the Workplace

VitalCog is a 90–120-minute workplace suicide prevention program that equips employees to recognize early warning signs of suicide, fostering open dialogue about mental health and promoting help-seeking/giving behaviors, using videos, discussions, and role-playing to teach identification, risk assessment, and referral skills for a mentally healthier environment.

CALM — Counseling on Access to Lethal Means

This two-hour training teaches professionals and communities how to reduce suicide risk by discussing and limiting access to highly lethal methods like firearms and medications, creating temporary time/distance during a crisis to allow suicidal feelings to pass, using non-judgmental communication, and collaborating with at-risk individuals and families on safe storage plans, all while respecting autonomy. It emphasizes practical steps for both upstream prevention and in-crisis intervention, focusing on temporary removal of means as a critical life-saving strategy.

• Note: Lethal means refer to the methods people use to kill themselves.
• Available online for no charge: Counseling on Access to Lethal Means | Zero Suicide

SAVE — Sign, Ask, Validate, Encourage, and Expedite

This two-hour skills training provides information and steps that anyone can take when a Veteran may be at risk for suicide. S.A.V.E. stands for signs, ask, validate, encourage and expedite. Caregivers play an important role in suicide prevention. They may be the first to notice changes in the Veteran or may be the one that a Veteran turns to when having suicidal thoughts. It is important that caregivers have the tools they need to intervene. S.A.V.E. provides simple steps that anyone can take when talking with Veterans at risk for suicide.

SafeSide Prevention — Suicide Prevention Education for Diverse Workforces

This three-hour training provides a structured, evidence-based framework for suicide prevention, focusing on four core tasks: Connect, Assess, Respond, and Extend, to help organizations build a culture of safety, especially in healthcare and community settings. Co-led by clinical experts and people with lived experience, it uses a blended learning model (InPlace® Learning) with videos and live sessions to teach staff how to talk directly about suicide, gather risk information, implement appropriate interventions, and connect patients to further support, creating a consistent, sustainable approach to care.

MHFA — Mental Health First Aid

MHFA is an eight-hour training that teaches people to recognize, understand, and respond to signs of mental health or substance use challenges, acting as a bridge to professional help, much like CPR for physical first aid. The evidence-based courses provide skills to offer initial support, de-escalate crises, and guide individuals towards appropriate resources using the ALGEE action plan: Assess for risk, Listen nonjudgmentally, Give reassurance, Encourage professional help, and Encourage self-help strategies. Training covers common conditions like depression and anxiety, crisis intervention, and aims to build community capacity for mental health support.

ASIST — Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training

ASIST is a 15-hour interactive workshop, held over two days, that teaches anyone how to provide suicide first aid, focusing on recognizing warning signs, directly discussing suicide, assessing risk, and creating immediate safety plans by connecting people with resources, essentially serving as "CPR" for suicide prevention to help keep someone safe "for-now." It is a skills-based training course for all "caregivers," including professionals and laypeople, that builds confidence in intervening to prevent immediate risk.