After VWU counseling transitioned from the Green Bandana program to ASIST this summer, these participants are among the first on campus to receive completion certificates.
Photo: Laila Jones | Marlin Chronicle
To offer the community guidance on how to respond to individuals at risk of suicide and self-harm, the VWU Counseling team has initiated the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) program.
This training came to our campus after our director of Counseling and Student Health, Michelle De Rosa, took an ASIST workshop herself. “Last year, I began to search for options and reached out to The Campus Suicide Prevention Center of Virginia to begin a partnership with yearly ASIST training,” De Rosa said.
ASIST offers students the chance to recognize and learn the skills needed to intervene with an individual who has been having thoughts or is planning to commit suicide. The program was previously known as the Green Bandana Mental Health Training before making the switch to ASIST. According to the original creator of the Green Bandana Project, Dr. Betsy Gerbec, the reasons behind this change include effort toward broader appeal, updated branding, consistency with other programs and feedback incorporation.
The ASIST training is a two-day practice-dominated course that will prepare students for what to do if someone is thinking about suicide. From the training, students will learn how to talk openly about personal and community attitudes towards suicide, as well as build confidence and capacity in providing suicide first aid. Those who attend will be able to develop a safety plan to keep someone safe and help them establish the connections to receive further help.
“It is widely recognized within the human services field and stands out on resumes as evidence of strong crisis intervention skills,” De Rosa said.
The first training was held on Sept. 20 and 21, with registration completely filled. The next one will be on March 16 and 17. Registration is free because of the support from the Virginia Department of Health’s Division of Injury and Violence Prevention.
Everyone who attends and participates receives a certification of training for 14 hours of instruction. Participants also receive resources to use beyond the training and stickers. The ASIST program was thought to be effective on the community.
“The training provided a framework and resources for navigating those situations, which I can say makes me feel more confident about what to do if anyone came to me about feeling suicidal,” Village Coordinator Jaslyn Williams said, who attended the training over the summer.
“I would recommend everyone take this training because it is a tool that can be used with friends, family, neighbors, etc.,” Williams said.
The ASIST program had a significant impact on the community in the year 2022. There were over 92,000 interventions total, with more than 74,000 participants. As a result of these interventions and the vast number of people who participated, nearly 13,000 suicides were prevented that year, according to the Virginia Wesleyan University Counseling Services website.
“One of the things that stood out to me is that the model it uses is so simple and straightforward that you can learn it in 20 minutes. I realized that its value lies not in the model itself, but in the many hours spent working through the steps and putting them in action one at a time,” Tyler Lehrer, assistant professor of history, said.
Starting in October, the Student Counseling Center will also be providing safeTALK workshops, which is a four-hour training that equips people to be more alert to someone thinking of suicide and will help connect them with further help. With over 120,000 people attending each year, it’s the world’s fastest-growing suicide prevention training course, as stated by Michelle De Rosa.
“We plan on providing two ASIST workshops as well as two to three safeTALK trainings each academic year to meet the needs of our campus community,” De Rosa said.
If you are interested in signing up, or for more information about ASIST or safeTALK workshops, email counseling@vwu.edu.
By: Omari Jones
ozjones@vwu.edu
