Blog 6

Blog 6

Out of the many topics covered in Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) this week. I am most unknowledgeable about crisis intervention and suicide prevention protocol. To be honest these are intimidating topics for me. At one time, I worked with adults with serious mental health conditions who were living in residential and partial residential living arrangements.  There were a few incidents where consumers threatened self harm, suicide or we had crisis situations. Through these experiences, I learned that I can be very calm and organized under extreme situations. My empathy and manner remained steady. I am confident that I would be able to function effectively under difficult circumstances. Though I am motivated to learn more about these topics.

The book raises some very interesting suggestions. A crisis response team is important anywhere we go. I think it is only prudent to communicate emergency plans whether as a parent, a school or a business.  If a school does not have a well organized plan this would be my first expansion to make. Beyond the ASCA position of school counselors leading the creation and implementation of a crisis response plan, we have a moral duty to attend to the safety and well being of our students.   Groups such as Aevidum are wonderful sources of energy and proactivity coming from the students themselves. This is very important as the students listen to their peers at times more readily than school staff members. A group that communicates self respect and resilience and awareness can be a wonderful addition to a comprehensive program.  Even schools at an elementary level could benefit from Aevidum.  In keeping with a developmentally appropriate information level; the program could be used as a support system with bully prevention and resilience efforts.

However, informing elementary age level teachers of the signs for risk of self injury and suicide is quite important. There is little information about attempted injurious behaviors among the 2-10 age group, other than it is increasing. According to Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE), the numbers for suicide in 10-14 year olds have increased to one in 65,000 per year. Overall there are 8-25 attempts per death every year. Everyone on the school staff, from administrators to substitutes to building and grounds support staff need to be aware of the signs. The acronyms suggested by Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) are useful as well. I plan to keep this information among my counseling resources. A clear way to communicate and recall information such as this could save a life.

Dollarhide, C.T. & Saginak, K.A. (2012) Comprehensive school counseling programs. (2nd ed.). New York: Pearson, Inc.

SAVE | Suicide Facts. (n.d.). SAVE | Suicide prevention information, suicide, depression awareness. Retrieved October 7, 2013,         f rom http://www.save.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewpage&page_id=705d5df4-055b-f1ec-3f66462866fcb4e6