Tools of the counseling trade

Reprinted from the July 2000 Counseling Today

With the number of suicides rising daily, a new suicide prevention tool aims to help save the lives of elementary, junior and senior high students across the nation.

By Laurie L. Hayes
for Counseling Today

Suicide claimed the lives of more than 30,000 Americans in 1997, according to the most recent data compiled by the American Association of Suicidology. This number includes more than 4,000 people under the age of 25, making it the third leading cause of death among young people. But in spite of these tragic statistics, our response has been largely one of crisis management versus actual prevention.

However, a San Antonio, Texas-based educational consulting firm is determined to change that with the development of an innovative, new computer-based tool for suicide prevention for use in elementary, middle and high schools.

JRP Technologies, in conjunction with International Horizons Unlimited, recently completed the suicide prevention tool, which consists of four CD-ROM modules, each oriented to a different target audience within the educational system. Administrators, counselors, teachers and students are included in this team-based approach.

According to Saul Wilen, chief operating officer of International Horizons, the goal of the program is to "educate to prevent suicide" by teaching early recognition of danger signs and means of proactive intervention. It also includes a guide for communication before, during and after a crisis.

Wilen noted the idea for the program was spawned about eight years ago when many of the consultants with whom he works began to express concern about the devastating impact of suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, violence and other problems on their communities, schools and workplaces.

The firm assembled study groups to look at these issues and determine what sort of approach would work best to combat them. Suicide was the first problem to be examined.

"Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States and has been declared to be a major public health issue by the surgeon general," Wilen said. "This growing problem, especially among our young people, really underscores the need for a comprehensive suicide prevention initiative in our communities.

"But prevention has really come to be defined as intervention and crisis management after the fact," he said. "This stems partly from an unwillingness on behalf of many of us to openly discuss issues such as suicide."

"Throughout most of human history suicide has not been openly discussed," concurred Ruth Fagan, a project development consultant and professor at the University of Texas–at Austin, School of Social Work.

"But we can't prevent a problem that we are not willing to talk about," Fagan added. "It's not unlike the response to sex education 25 years ago."

Then, as now, she said, the schools seem to be the logical place to focus education and prevention efforts.

"We had to start somewhere," said Wilen, "and because children spend such a significant amount of time in the schools, we chose to create a program that would assist staff and students in developing the skills they need now and will need in the future to communicate and to find ways to diffuse conflict."

For those who doubt Wilen's contention that suicide truly is a "preventable disease," he offers the following anecdotal evidence.

"There was a young man in our area who emptied his locker in the middle of the day and left the school grounds," he said. "A teacher happened to drive by and became concerned. The teacher stopped and offered the student a ride and the two talked for quite a while. Years later, while giving the valedictorian speech at his graduation, that young man thanked that teacher and admitted that he had been on his way home to kill himself. The fact that teacher recognized the student's actions as cause for concern and stopped to offer assistance made all of the difference.

"Unless we become proactive rather than reactive," Wilen insisted, "we will never get to the root of the problem."

Wilen also pointed out that much of the school violence that captured headlines over the past year or so has been perpetrated by students who were themselves suicidal. So it may not just be one life that is saved by the mastery of prevention techniques.

Research indicated to the people at International Horizons that the prevention process would require the following:

· incorporation of a consistent orientation;

· enhancement of participant interest, learning and commitment;

· measurable objectives, monitoring and evaluation of effectiveness;

· outcomes assessment;

· cost effective updating;

· necessary remediation, repetition and periodic reinforcement; and

· feedback, which results in any alternative approaches needed to bring about the desired results.

Once identified, JRP Technologies, led by Vice President Frederick Van Wert, set about designing a multi-media product that would accomplish these objectives. Van Wert has 25 years of experience in the field of education and has also been involved in guidance and counseling issues.

The result is a team-based school suicide education tool for creating the "Total School Prevention Team."

"The concept is very much based on the idea of establishing a team consisting of administrators, counselors, teachers and students in which each group is a key player," explains Van Wert. "No one can be detached or excluded for the program to be effective."

Taking a team-based approach where all members feel included and vested in the prevention process results in an established community team commitment, according to Van Wert. He added that these types of team-based structures have been tested in the industry with positive results.

"In looking at the measures that were already in place, we found that almost all schools do have what they refer to as a "crisis management team,'" Wilen said. "But only about 10 percent have ever actually met, and 1 percent have ever gone through any sort of exercise together."

In some cases, he said, some of the members did not even know that they were part of the team.

Such was the case at San Antonio's Judson School District. "We basically had a program in place to deal with the aftermath of a suicide or other act of violence, but nothing that amounted to true prevention," admitted Charles Neumeyer, associate superintendent of the district that teaches approximately 16,000 students.

That is no longer the case however, as Judson was tapped to assist in the development of the suicide prevention program and will begin to implement the finished product this fall.

"We went to schools and met with teachers, principals, students and counselors to hear their perspective," Van Wert said. "The result is a program that is very realistic in terms of its demands and its focus."

"The program has a lot of potential and promise for developing a proactive plan," Neumeyer said. "It's the only program of its kind that I have seen and is completely user friendly."

Neumeyer and other Judson staff appear in video clips within the program to offer explanations of some aspects of training.

Module one of the program, "The Buck Stops Here," is directed toward school administrators like Neumeyer. It highlights their role in the vital development and training areas, as well as emphasizing their leadership in prevention, intervention and crisis management strategies.

Among the specific topics covered are risk management and legal issues, communicating a tragedy to the student body, communicating with the media, communicating with parents, and creating the prevention team.

Also included in this section are printable documents which can be customized to meet school needs and policies, role-play exercises for both the administrators and the entire team, a "quick reference tool" for times of crisis and imbedded video clips with advice from Judson administrators.

The second module, "Desperate Moments," was created for counselors. This part of the program supports the ongoing role of counselors in prevention, early intervention, crisis management, training and communication.

"Counselors are at the center of the wheel in many ways," Fagan said. "They are really the pivotal people on the team. It is critical that when a teacher, administrator, student or parent has a concern, they know that they have someone to turn to who has a vast array of resources at his or her disposal to address the problem."

Specifically, the counseling module addresses developmental stages of youth, contributing factors to suicide, danger signs, precipitating events, intervention techniques, and counseling techniques.

Like the administrator's module, it contains printable awareness documents, possible scenarios, exercises to use with both teachers and students and video clips from colleagues in the Judson district.

Module three, "Broken Dreams, Wasted Lives," is designed for use by teachers. It deals with the role of teachers as trained observers in the process of suicide prevention. Who commits suicide, preparing for a crisis, myth and facts, warning signs and intervention strategies are some of the discussion points for this part of the team. The teacher's module also contains printable documents, exercises for teachers, activities for use with students and advice from San Antonio teachers.

Counselors also have a stake in the fourth module which is directed at students, "Kids at the Krossroads." This part of the program is designed for use by youngsters under the guidance of a trained adult facilitator.

The student section discusses suicide theories and factors, danger signs, action planning and prevention. It also includes question and answer prompts, techniques for active listening skills and activities.

"Kids are an important audience to reach since they are often the first to witness warning signs," Fagan said. "But they often are confused by what to do. They may hesitate to say anything out of fear of betraying a confidence. Everyone needs to recognize up front that a friend should and will share any information they may have and that signs of depression or suicidal thoughts should not be kept secret."

In all, according to Wilen, the program requires a two- to three-hour commitment to complete each section, which contains only the information relevant to each audience. It is further broken down by age level and contains a personalized book-marking feature so more than one person can use the program and keep track of their progress.

In the Judson district, Neumeyer said, social workers and counselors work with the program during staff development and then, in turn, help to train the teachers.

Student training at the San Antonio district is being focused on peer leaders initially, but will eventually include all students on the middle and high school level.

Ideally, Wilen said, full implementation will be accomplished over the course of three years, which gives schools an opportunity for reinforcement and updates of the system.

"We are really enthusiastic about the potential of this product," Wilen said. "If we can provide more information and more stimulus to enable those involved in education to really prevent such tragedies, then perhaps they will move a step closer to focusing on what school should be all about -- that is learning and preparing our young people for the future."

The Suicide Prevention and Education program is currently available from International Horizons Unlimited. Wilen said the company will work with schools who are interested in purchasing the program to help meet their needs.

For more information, check out the International Horizons website at http://www.intlhorizons.com/ or contact the company at International Horizons Unlimited, Corporate Center, 4207 Gardendale, Suite 105, San Antonio, TX 78229; Tel: 210.692.1268.

Laurie L. Hayes is a freelance writer in Severna Park, Md.

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