Counseling and Testing staff attend a Suicide Prevention Training with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health
The Alcorn State University Office of Counseling and Testing Director Dyann Moses and Assistant Director Paulette Haley participated in a suicide prevention training “Question, Persuade, Refer” (QPR) June 17, 2014, at Mississippi State Hospital. This intensive eight-hour gatekeeper (train- the-trainer) training was an initiative of the Think Again/Shatter the Silence (Suicide) Network through the Mississippi Department of Mental Health.
After completion of the training, each participant must conduct at least two workshops to become a certified QPR trainer. In order to keep certification in QPR, participants will be required to conduct a minimum of four trainings each year.
“The purpose of the Think Again Shatter the Silence (Suicide) Network is to bring awareness that help and resources are available,” stated Moses, a member of the Think Again/Shatter the Silence (Suicide) Network. She added that she is “looking forward to conducting workshops throughout the community on suicide prevention.”
Haley said, “This training was excellent. It gave me a better understanding of how to more effectively recognize a crisis and warning signs that someone may be contemplating suicide and how to provide the appropriate assistance to individuals who show signs.”
QPR is not intended to be a form of counseling or treatment. For more information, call the Mississippi Department of Mental Health at 1-877-210-8513 or visit www.dmh.ms.gov.
