ASIST - Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training

LivingWorks Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) aims to enhance a caregiver’s abilities to help a person at risk avoid suicide. Participants learn to recognise when someone may be at risk of suicide and respond in ways that help increase their immediate safety and link them to help.

Although it is highly standardised, ASIST has been used in a range of settings with trainees from a variety of backgrounds and countries. ASIST has been implemented in secondary and post-secondary schools, mental health centres, hospitals, social services, public safety agencies and numerous other community settings.

Extensive evaluations of ASIST outcomes have shown that participants demonstrate increased intervention skills, and that ASIST training has led to positive changes in both knowledge and attitudes about suicide.

ASIST is based on principles of adult learning. It values the experiences and contributions that participants bring and encourages people to share actively in the learning process.

Key Features

• ASIST facilitates involvement. Participants will spend over half of the workshop in the same small group with one of the two trainers.
• Learning is stimulated by audiovisuals and teaching. A suicide first aid model provides the framework for the workshop and skills practise.
• The workshop provides opportunities to learn what a person at risk may need from others in order to keep safe and get more help. Participants consider common factors that may flag potential suicide risk.
• ASIST has a training focus. Personal and professional experiences that participants bring contribute to everyone’s learning. Experiences with suicide and intervention are focused on the overall learning goal which is to provide suicide intervention first aid.
• Participants are also encouraged to share and reflect on their attitudes about suicide and suicide intervention and hear those of others. People are invited to reflect on how these attitudes may affect their caregiver role with a person at risk and to appreciate diverse perspectives.
• The workshop encourages honest, open and direct talk about suicide as part of preparing people to provide suicide intervention first aid.

If you have lost someone to suicide in the last year or so, please speak with one of our training team members before participating in an ASIST workshop. We recommend that you delay your participation although we appreciate that everyone grieves differently.

Only 5 registrations will be accepted per organisation for each community place-by-place workshop. Please contact us if you would like to arrange a dedicated training event for your organisation.

When you reserve your place at this workshop, we ask that you do not attend if you are feeling unwell on the day of the event or during the days leading up to it.  Let us know if you can beforehand so that we are able to adjust catering.  

Central Coast ASIST workshops

These workshops are subsidised by Gosford North Rotary SOKs (Save Our Kids) project for those living or working on the Central Coast. To apply, please contact our Community Training Facilitator, Katie Allen at [email protected] and, if you qualify, secure your place at the discounted price to attend one of our Central Coast ASIST workshops.