Ten people from a variety of disciplines gathered in July to learn about postvention from Garra Lloyd-Lester, Associate Director of the Suicide Prevention Center of NY.Some are already members of the Suicide Prevention Coalition and others have an interest in learning more about how postvention services can be delivered in Madison County. What is postvention? According to Ken Norton, LICSW, executive director of the New Hampshire chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, postvention refers to activities which reduce risk and promote healing after a suicide death.
As such, postvention is prevention. According to Mr. Norton, “although postvention is implemented after a suicide, it is essential that we prepare for postvention before a suicide – by, for example, training first responders, coroners, funeral directors, faith leaders, emergency departments, clinicians, and journalists”. A community can develop a consistent response based on best practices when a suicide occurs.
This Pillars of Postvention training was phase I of postvention. Phase II will involve deciding what form postvention in this county will take. Some counties have developed teams of people who respond after a suicide; some have developed teams who respond after any traumatic death in a community; and some develop an organized way of responding that does not necessarily involve a team.
It will be up to those involved in these trainings to determine what is best for Madison County. The response helps to promote healing of the community and provide support to the survivors. Phase II is open to those who attended Pillars of Postvention and any others who might be interested. One does not need to be a clinician to be an effective responder.
Training on how to respond is available for those who are interested. A date for the next postvention training has not yet been set. For more information, please contact Coalition Chair, Susan Jenkins, at sjenkins@bridges-mccasa.org.