My counseling post today will feature some of the latest tools I’ve come across for crisis intervention and suicide prevention resources.  More on all this in a bit, but first, let’s start with some updates. 

NEWSY & NOTEWORTHY

• My just-revised grief counseling guide, Cope into Hope, is ready!  I provide free revised editions of all the Bilingual Learner guides to customers who request them- just email me at bilinguallearner@hotmail.com with your name, the name of the guide, the date you purchased it, and where you purchased it from (our website, TPT, Amazon, etc) and I’ll get an electronic version of your revised guide emailed right out to you!
• My Second Youthlight book, Get Your Group On, Volume Two, is coming soon! Follow me at the Facebook and Instagram links below for real time updates and promotions.
• I have lots of new lessons and resources to share on my Teachers Pay Teachers store!  Here’s the rundown: 
  • Give Stress a Rest: Stress Management Guidance Lesson
  • Stay Safe: Promoting Healthy Relationships Lesson for Teens/Preteens
  • Bilingual Group Counseling Stress & Anger Management Bundle
  • Start SMART: Making Academic SMART Goals Lesson Plan
  • FREE!  Stages of Grief Activity (from Cope Into Hope Grief Counseling Guide)

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My colleagues and I were so honored to win the 2017 Texas CREST Counseling Award!!! We received the CREST award for excellence in creating and implementing a comprehensive school counseling program! 

CRISIS INTERVENTION & SUICIDE PREVENTION RESOURCES

Another sad but very frequent reality that counselors have to deal with is suicide prevention.  Suicidal Ideation (thinking about, considering, or planning for suicide) is something every counselor will come into contact with as they treat their students/clients.  For that reason, I’d like to include some of the best resources I’ve come across that will help you reach out to your kids who are battling this monster. 

New York Times writer, David Brooks, wrote this insightful and poignant piece, “The Irony of Despair.”   Brooks shares “Jennifer Michael Hecht’s two big counterideas that she hopes people contemplating potential suicides will keep in their heads,”—these 2 ideas are real gems that you might consider sharing with your own people. 

The second resource is an article from the Pulitzer Prize winning magazine, The Gazette, out of Colorado.  This article gives some great facts about suicide and then goes on to describe a suicide prevention program that a local school district is using to have peers get the message across about warning signs and prevention. 

Here’s a link to an amazing free suicide prevention manual, especially created for high school personnel (but just as good for middle school/college ages as well as the clinical scene) that you can download. 

And the final resource we have to share is from one of our favorite online video resources, Wellcast.  Here is their wonderful, wonderful video to share with anyone you know who is battling thoughts of suicide.

Please comment below to share any strategies/interventions you have for helping a child in crisis– the more tools we all have to help kids, the better. 

This brings me to the end of this post.  Check back here again next month for my post on  tips for being the best intern or intern supervisor you can be (it really is coming)!  As always, you can find out about my latest promotions, free stuff, or my counseling adventures by following my Facebook Page, Instagram Page, and Pinterest Page!