Youth Self-harm and Suicide Awareness

Research shows that while staff find training courses that provide facts and figures about self-harm and suicide useful, such training does little to build their confidence when working with young people. In addition to exploring key facts and research, Youth Self-harm and Suicide Awareness seeks to recognise the importance of acknowledging attitudes and encourage workers to understand how their attitudes impact their work with young people who self-harm or feel suicidal. The core training comprises two full-day modules: module one introduces self-harm in young people and module two expands on this learning by examining more closely working with young people who self-harm. Both modules are underpinned by a framework of reflective practice and a basic application of theories from transactional analysis. The training manual also includes three optional youth suicide awareness workshops, which can be run together as a full day's training. The purpose of the workshops is to increase participants' knowledge and understanding about youth suicide and to look at developing youth suicide prevention guidelines and support within local areas and organisations.