Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Provides key skills to recognize, intervene, and assist those at risk for suicide. Includes identifying appropriate strategies to keep an individual safe. Upon successful completion, students will earn a certificate in ASIST, valid for 5 years.

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) is a class in suicide first aid. ASIST teaches participants to recognize when someone may have thoughts of suicide and work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety. Although ASIST is widely used in the health and human services fields, participants don’t need any formal training to attend the class; ASIST can be learned and used by anyone. The course is always taught by two registered ASIST trainers. 

The course will be a combination of 3 full days of in-person instruction + online modules + online assessment.  

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

• Articulate an understanding of the ways that personal and societal attitudes affect views on suicide and interventions.
• Apply skillful guidance and suicide first aid to a person at risk in ways that meet their individual safety needs.
• Identify the key elements of an effective suicide safety plan and the actions required to implement it.
• Explain the value of improving and integrating suicide prevention resources in the community at large, including life-promotion and self-care.

NOTE: This is a class on suicide first aid (intervention and postvention). We will talk openly and honestly about suicide. 

Information on Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) can be found here: ASIST

Students will certify in Counseling on Access to Lethal Means America (CALM).  CALM is a remote training developed to assist health care and direct service providers in approaching Lethal Means Counseling with an informed, collaborative, and respectful attitude. It covers who needs lethal means counseling and how to work with people at risk for suicide—and their families—to reduce access.  Students will also certify in Addressing Firearm Safety with Patients at Risk of Suicide.

Additionally, students will also certify in Oregon Connect Postvention, an in-person training developed in collaboration with NAMI-New Hampshire.  Connect Postvention provides community building, education, and strategic planning for service providers who may be called on for help in the aftermath of a suicide.  It covers best practices on how to coordinate a safe and supportive response to a suicide, strategies for reducing the risk of additional suicide attempts or deaths, a review of the complexity of suicide-related grief, especially for different age groups, national best practices on talking safely about suicide, responding to media, funerals and memorials, how to help individuals, families, and communities heal, creating a suicide postvention response plan, including immediate and long term actions.

Talking about suicide and exploring this topic may bring up strong emotions.  It is highly recommended that students enrolled in any human services course access professional counseling.  Counseling is free to all PCC students: About PCC Counseling