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New Hope CE, October 31, 2001
William ("Dr. Bill") Gaultiere, Ph.D
Director of New Hope & Psychologist with ChristianSoulCare.com
(714) 971-4213, DrBill@CrystalCathedral.org

As I did last month, I want to thank Dr. Ken France who has provided some of the material I used for this class.

One of things I appreciate about you as a New Hope Counselor is that you are not like the Dead Sea!  Let me explain.  Fresh water comes from a brook and fills the Sea of Galilee, which is alive with fish.  And then the Sea of Galilee takes that water and gives it to the Jordan River, which turns the desert into a rose and makes it the land of milk and honey.  And finally, the Jordan River gives its water to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is dead because it does not give itself away!  (This illustration came from Dr. Schuller's daily e-mail.  To sign up go to hourofpower.org.

I pray that God blesses you for being generous with your time and your talent and your heart as a New Hope Counselor.  And I pray that God will use this class to empower you to help suicidal people. 

GOALS OF THIS CLASS

1. Learn the six steps in New Hope's Suicide Intervention Instructions designed to help a suicidal caller to choose life.
   
   
2. Know when and how to contact the police in order to prevent a suicide.
   
   
3. Practice your suicidality assessment and intervention.

Assessing the risk factors.  Listening.  Using your yellow Suicide Intervention Contact Sheet, staying calm?  These are all important, but not what I'm thinking of.  

Answering the call! (On the hotline or in the chatroom.)  That's the most important.  I've ready a number of transcripts and Contact Sheets from suicidal calls, some of which did represent good New Hope Counseling, and still the caller/chatter seemed to receive some important support.  To show up for your shift, ready to express care from your heart, is the most important part of your service! 

MAN DECIDES NOT TO USE GUN

Here's an example of a New Hope telephone counselor answering a suicide call and offering care and basic crisis counseling:

"Good morning this is New Hope and my name is Eileen.  How may I help you?"

"This is Wayne.  (Not his real name.)  I-I-I-I'm sitting here with a gun in my lap."

"You have a gun Wayne?"

"Yes. I have a gun, and, ah I want to know what God will think if I use it on myself."

"Wait a minute Wayne, I want to hear what's going on with you.  First, will you set the gun down and put it away in a safe place?"

"Okay."

"Tell me what's upsetting you."

"I want to go to be with my grandparents in heaven.."

"It sounds like you were close to them and you miss them terribly."

"Yeah.  The gun is my grandfather's.  He used to take his life after the stock market crashed.  Then my grandmother used it to take her life.  Now I want to use it to end my life.  My boys will be better off without me.."

"Oh, I see.  I hear you don't want to go on any longer, it feels too hard.  But let's talk about your boys.  They need you as much as you needed your grandparents.  Isn't it possible, just possible, that you can somehow get through this awful time with God's help and show the boys an example of how a man finds inner strength during the hard times in life?"

"I wish I could do that for them.."

"I can tell that you really love your boys.  They need you so much.  I know that with God's help you can be the father you want to be.  Would you like to pray with me about this?"

"Yes."

"Dear Lord, Wayne needs your help.  I thank you that you're holding him up in this tough time - right now.."

"Thank you.  I think I can make it into work this morning."

"That'd be good.  And please call back to New Hope after you get off work.  Let us know how you're doing.  I care!  We care!"

"Thanks Eileen.  I will call back tonight."

"Thanks for calling New Hope Wayne.  God loves you and so do we."

OUR SERVICE SAVES LIVES

What you do as a New Hope Counselor is so very important.  82 people a day die by suicide in America.  Most every day a New Hope Counselor talks or chats with someone who is feeling suicidal and helps him or her to choose life.

RISK FACTORS

What groups are most at risk of suicide?

1. Those with firearms.  60% of suicides are accomplished with a gun.
   
   
2. Depression accounts for 50% of all suicides (20% of those who are diagnosed with depression die by suicide).
   
   
3. Alcohol is involved in 25% of suicides (10% of alcoholics die by suicide).
   
   
4. Schizophrenia accounts for 10% of suicides (and 10% of schizophrenics die by suicide).
   
   
5. Previous attempters of suicide.
   
   
6. Survivors of suicide (family and friends of suicide victims)
   
   
7. Those who have suffered a recent loss.
   
   
8. Socially isolated.
   
   
9. The elderly.

SUICIDE INTERVENTION INSTRUCTIONS

It's very important that you know these six steps!

1. Stay calm.  Don't panic.  The same care and active listening that you offer with every call/chat will be helpful for someone in crisis.
   
   
2. Establish rapport.  Offer a warm, caring comment like, "I'm concerned for you." Or "It sounds like you're in a lot of pain.  Please tell me about it."
   
   
3. Assess suicide risk.  If someone makes references to not wanting to live or feeling hopeless you should always asses the degree of dangerousness.  Ask, "Are you having suicidal thoughts?"  If the answer is yes then ask, "Do you have a plan to kill yourself?"  If the answer to this question is also a yes then ask, "What is the plan?" and "When do you plan to do this?"
   
   
4. Diffuse crisis with empathy (reflect feelings).  "It sounds like you're feeling. desperate or alone or depressed or."  As needed draw out the caller/chatter's pain with open-ended questions.  You might ask, "What seem like the advantages to dying?"
   
   
5. Reinforce reasons to live.  Ask, "What are the advantages of living?"  You may need to work at helping the person to find some.  Even something small pizza or sunsets is important.  Look for the other things to (as listed on your Suicide Intervention Contact Sheet) like loved ones, pets, and important events.  You may also ask about the disadvantages about the act of suicide.  These are different depending upon the caller/chatter and could include, pain, you would've changed your mind, possibly becoming disabled, the belief that it's a sin, and, most importantly, that loved ones would be pained by the suicide (including discovering the dead body).

LET'S PRACTICE

Consider the following case of a suicidal stroke victim.  What feeling reflection statements would you offer?  What questions would you ask?  Offer a response to each statement below.

Do this exercise before reading on!  And include your responses to this role play with your exam.

1. I had a stroke.  I lost my hand.
   
   
2. The stroke took away my life.  My whole left side is paralyzed.  I can't use my hand or my foot.  I lost my job, my friends.
   
   
3. I have a bad artery.  Doctor says it was a fluke accident.  I pray for God to heal me, but it don't work.  Does that mean God hates me?
   
   
4. If God doesn't hate me then why won't he heal me?
   
   
5. Why did God take away my hand?  Why not take it away from murderers and rapists?
   
   
6. He allowed the stroke that took away my life.  My life sucks, I wanna die.
   
   
7. I can end it all right now.
   
   
8. I have a loaded gun with me.HOW DID YOU DO?
   

Compare your responses to my suggested responses and comments below.  Your responses don't need to be the same as mine, but out to be similar. 

1. I imagine this has been a painful adjustment for you.
   
   
2. You've lost the things that are most precious to you and it really hurts.  (Validate his feelings without reinforcing his own idea that he is helpless.  Make sure you don't take a look on the bright side approach.)
   
   
3. With the health problems you're having it feels like God is against you.
   
   
4. I don't know, but I hear that it's discouraging for you to function with your left side paralyzed.  You want the use of your hand back!  (Don't answer his leading question.  Stay focused on his feelings.)
   
   
5. To you God seems unfair and you're angry at Him.  (Don't defend God and don't preach at him.  Stay focused on his feelings.)
   
   
6. Are you having suicidal thoughts? 
   
   
7. What is your plan for how you would kill yourself?
   
   
8. Please carefully put the gun down someplace safe so that we can talk.  Then you need to direct the conversation with questions like, What do you think you would like about dying?  .What is something in your life that you enjoy?  .Who would find you?  .Who would miss you?  .Who can you talk to about how you've been feeling?

REFERRAL RESOURCES

Your New Hope Referral guide is a comprehensive, national directory of over 50 pages of phone numbers and websites, including referrals for "Crisis Intervention" and "Suicidal."  It's in the phone room and on our public website, www.newhopenow.com/referrals/index.html

FREE RESOURCES FOR THE PUBLIC

Visit www.NewHopeNow.org for self-help articles by Dr. Bill.  (These are free resources for callers and chatters.)

ADDITIONAL NEW HOPE TRAINING

Visit www.NewHopeNow.org/counselors, for the "CE Notes" to past classes and many other training articles by Dr. Bill.   (At the site enter user name "counselor", password "help4u", and domain "atlantis".)  For instance, in the CE Manual category "Crisis Intervention" you'll find the following:

1.    "Suicide Intervention Instructions"

2.    "Suicide Contact Sheet"

3.    "New Hope for the Suicidal (How to Prevent a Suicide)"

4.    "How to Respond to a Suicidal Chatter" (Case Discussion)

5.    "How to Respond to a Crisis" (Case Discussion)

Take the "How to Perform a Suicide Intervention" CE Exam