Counselling Services offers a broad range of suicide intervention and mental health training programs. Our goals are to raise campus mental health awareness, reduce mental health stigma, and support early intervention for those in need within our Waterloo campus community.
Check back often as new sections and offerings will be posted as they become available or subscribe to our eNewsletter.
Which training is right for me?
Our suicide intervention and mental health training programs are open to and would benefit all university of Waterloo students, staff, and faculty.
- Core programs such as QPR (1.25 hrs) and More Feet on the Ground Online (1-1.5 hrs) are our most widely available training programs.
- Programs such as safeTALK (3.25 hrs) and More Feet on the Ground In Person (2.5 hrs) may be of particular interest to student leaders and peer mentors, staff and faculty leaders (e.g., advisors, Associate Deans), as well as other student services employees.
- ASIST (12 hours) and Mental Health First Aid (12 hours) are our most intensive training programs and may be of particular interest to police services, residence staff, counsellors, nurses, and physicians.
QPR
This training teaches students, staff, and faculty how to recognize and support someone who may be having thoughts of suicide. It is an education and awareness program that provides direction as to how to Question a person with thoughts of suicide, how to Persuade them to get help, and how to Refer the person to appropriate professional resources.
Training content:
- How to Question, Persuade and Refer someone who may be suicidal
- How to get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide
- Common causes and warning signs
- How to get help for someone in crisis
Duration: 1.25 hours
Fall term dates:
safeTALK training
This training teaches students, staff, and faculty to identify persons with thoughts of suicide and connect them to suicide first-aid resources. Most people with thoughts of suicide don’t truly want to die, but are struggling with the pain in their lives. Through their words and actions, they invite help to stay alive. safeTALK-trained helpers learn to recognize these invitations and take action.
Training content:
- Move beyond common tendencies to miss, dismiss, or avoid the topic of suicide
- Identify people with thoughts of suicide
- Learn simple yet effective TALK steps: Tell, Ask, Listen, and KeepSafe
- Apply the TALK steps to connect a person with suicide thoughts to life-saving first aid resources
Duration: 3.25 hours
Location: Counselling Services, Needles Hall Addition, 2nd Floor
Dates:
- Friday, June 16, 2017 (9:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.)
Registration is on LEADS.
For more information about the safeTALK program, visit Living Works.
More Feet on the Ground Online
This is a free online mental health education program that teaches students, staff, and faculty to Recognize, Respond, and Refer individuals experiencing mental health problems on campus. The program was developed by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) in partnership with Brock University and the Ontario Government’s Mental Health Innovation Fund and has been adapted and branded for all participating post-secondary institutions across Ontario.
Training content:
- Comprehensive information about common mental health and addiction concerns
- Overview of signs/symptoms, treatment options, mental health stigma
- Facts, statistics, and stories of lived experience
- Campus and community resource information
- Opportunity to receive a certificate following successful completion of a brief on-line assessment of learning
Training dates:
- Anytime, anywhere at More Feet on the Ground.
More Feet on the Ground In Person
This training consists of a facilitated discussion of the online More Feet on the Ground mental health education program. This program uses those online materials, as well as vignettes to teach students, staff, and faculty how to Recognize, Respond, and Refer individuals experiencing mental health problems on campus.
Duration: 2.5 hours
Location: Counselling Services, Needles Hall Addition, 2nd Floor
Spring term dates:
- Monday, May 15, 2017 (9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.)
- Monday, June 19, 2017 (9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.)
- Thursday, July 13, 2017 (1:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.)
- Wednesday, August 2, 2017 (9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.)
Registration is on LEADS.
Fall term dates:
- Tuesday, September 19, 2017 (1:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.)
Registration is on LEADS.
Mental Health First Aid
This training teaches students, staff, and faculty how to help someone who is showing signs of a mental health problem or is experiencing a mental health crisis. Mental Health First Aid is a comprehensive program of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Training content:
- Learn to identify when a person may be a danger to themselves or to others
- Recognize the early signs of mental health problems, provide help in a crisis, and to prevent more serious problems from developing
- Take steps to preserve life through learning a mental health first aid model
- Provide comfort to someone with a mental health problem and support recovery of mental health
- Guide a person towards appropriate professional help
Duration: 12 hours
Location: Counselling Services, Needles Hall Addition, 2nd Floor
Dates:
- Thursday, July 6 and Friday July 7, 2017 (9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. each day)
- Thursday, October 5 and Friday, October 6, 2017 (9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. each day)
Registration is on LEADS.
For more information about the program visit Mental Health First Aid Canada.
ASIST
This training is for students, staff, and faculty who want to feel more comfortable, confident, and competent in helping to prevent the immediate risk of suicide. This is a highly interactive, practical, practice-oriented workshop.
Training content
- Learn suicide first-aid
- Learn how to help individuals recognize the risk of suicide
- Learn how to intervene to prevent the risk of suicidal thoughts from becoming suicidal behaviours
- Use of suicide intervention videos, small group discussion and skill practice
Duration: 12 hours
Cost: $90.00 (includes community facilitator, materials, snacks, tea and coffee)
Location: Counselling Services, Needles Hall Addition, 2nd Floor, Large Group Room
Dates: Thursday, August 3 and Friday, August 4, 2017 (9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. each day)
Note: Participants must attend entire two days to receive the ASIST certificate.
Registration is on LEADS.
