Introduction As a supporter of evidence-based treatment (EBT), and someone who endeavours to cite my sources and back up my claims wherever possible, I find the lack of science in some circles really frustrating. I recently stumbled upon an organization called International Suicide Prevention run by Matthew D. Dovel that makes very fantastic claims about the…
Category: Suicide Prevention / Crisis Intervention
Suicide prevention, risk assessment and intervention
Law Enforcement Suicide Prevention
Introduction Organizations like the Tema Conter Memorial Trust in Canada and Reviving Responders in the US have highlighted the skyrocketing rate of suicide among first responders, including police officers, paramedics and firefighters. In 2015, there were over 100 suicides by law enforcement officers in the US. (Kulbarsh, 2016) They note the high incidence of PTSD among law…
Canadian Suicide Statistics 2016
Introduction There are a variety of sources related to Canadian suicide statistics, but no source effectively summarizes all of the statistics, with graphs and charts, and links back to the original citation. The purpose of this article is to provide the most up-to-date information on suicide by method, gender, province, age-range, and other characteristics. The most…
Providing Emotional Support Over Text and Chat
Introduction to Text and Chat With text and chat services increasingly moving online, emotional support work – the core element of the work of crisis lines is needing to be adapted to work in new formats that require a change in your perspective and technique. On the telephone, there are a number of ways of…
Crisis Triage Rating Scale (CTRS)
Introduction The Crisis Triage Rating Scale (CTRS; Bengelsdorf, et. al. 1984) is a telephone triage tool that can be used for determining whether an individual in crisis requires psychiatric assessment. Turner & Turner (1991) determined that a cut-off score of 9 or lower necessitated admission. This was confirmed in a follow up study by Adeosun et. al….