September is Suicide Prevention Month. To help raise awareness, the Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth Abuse and Suicide (ICPYAS) is offering suicide prevention training free throughout September.
QPR stands for Question, Persuade and Refer – the three simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. QPR is not a form of counseling or treatment. Rather, it is intended to offer hope through positive action. By learning QPR you will come to recognize the warning signs, clues and suicidal communications of someone in trouble and gain skills to act vigorously to prevent a possible tragedy. To register, visit indianaprevention.org/events.
“September is always an exciting time around our offices. We have started doing all our Body Safety programs in the Central Indiana schools, we are kicking off Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and this year we are rolling out a new Suicide Prevention Education program from Middle and High Schools,” said Maggie Owens, Director of Education and Community Relations.
Since 2001, ICPYAS has been providing this life-saving child abuse prevention program to schools. Now mandated in all schools in the state of Indiana, this teaches kids about how to get help if they are in an unsafe situation.
“We have been providing QPR for many years and the requests were often made for something we could implement for the students in the schools for mental health and suicide prevention education,” Owens said. “The program we are offering really meets the students at a developmentally appropriate spot, allows for discussion and questions, with the outcome being that all students will be able to help if a peer, or themselves, are having a difficult time.”
For more information on all the programs ICPYAS offers as well as how to find ways you can help support them during Suicide Prevention Month and throughout the year, visit indianaprevention.org or send an email to contact@indianaprevention.org.
About Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth Abuse and Suicide
The Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth Abuse & Suicide (ICPYAS) was founded in 2001. ICPYAS works passionately to end youth abuse and suicide through its educational programs. With almost two decades of experience, ICPYAS provides evidence-based programming to educate youth and adults, empowering them to recognize, react and locate the appropriate resources available for help. ICPYAS offers five comprehensive programs that support the organization’s mission as it actively works towards a day when there will be no more abuse or suicide in the lives of Hoosier children.