Suicide Intervention Handbook

The 152-page, extensively revised, tenth edition of the Suicide Intervention HandbookTM is a basic primer on all aspects of suicide prevention with an emphasis on suicide intervention. Among the authors are the designers of the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) the most widely used training vehicle on suicide intervention in the world. Written in an easy-to-read, non-technical style, the content is state-of-the-art on intervening to help people at risk of suicide. It is for family, friends, police officers, counsellors, teachers, physicians, nurses, mental health workers anyone who wishes to make a difference. It should be on the shelf of every helper and in the homes of everyone in the community. The Handbook is ideal for a wide range of education opportunities from general courses and seminars on helping practices to focused content on suicide intervention in technical training forums for mental health professionals.

The handbook explores caregiver attitudes, provides tools for recognizing and estimating risk, outlines the steps and processes involved in doing an intervention and provides 25 pages of intervention illustrations. This content is bordered by an opening and closing chapter which places intervention into the entire suicide prevention picture. The last chapter provides many options for getting involved with suicide prevention. Several chapters are followed by extensive supplemental materials. Each chapter concludes with an intriguing true and/or false quiz.

This handbook is primarily an introduction to suicide intervention. While we believe you will find the handbook helpful, it alone will not prepare you to be a suicide intervention caregiver, regardless of prior training. As a simple way of explaining that more is involved, this handbook is also part of the participant materials for the two-day, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). In ASIST, this handbook primarily serves as a refresher for what is learned first hand. If you want to feel ready, willing and able to be a suicide intervention caregiver, plan to attend an ASIST or similar workshop.