Suicide is the thirteenth leading cause of death worldwide, with about 1 million deaths every year due to self-inflicted violence (BMJ Best Practice Guidelines, 2017). Globally, suicides account for 50% of all violent deaths in men and 71% in women (WHO Preventing Suicide 2014). For people on the frontline working with suicidal individuals, PROTECT provides a structured approach to mindfully manage ones thinking, feelings and responses  that are needed to steer a person amidst intense suicidal distress towards safety. The skills, knowledge and competencies needed are captured in four frameworks, outlined below. The online courses / one, two or three day face to face workshop translates the latest research into practice and is applicable across all age groups and diagnostic categories. Experienced psychiatrists will get the opportunity to refresh their competencies and pick up new skills and concepts. Newcomers will gain a strong foundation to suicide risk management.

Why attend this course?

Without risk there is no recovery but there is a fine line to strike. Through a range of case studies and experiential training, workshop attendees will explore many innovative concepts. The scientific literature has been combined with contemporary practice from two successful initiatives from Cambridgeshire, UK; 333 – a recovery oriented model of inpatient/community crisis care (Kar Ray et al 2019) and PROMISE – a programme to reduce coercion in care by enhancing patient experience (Lombardo et al 2018). The resulting PROTECT (PROactive deTECTion) frameworks operationalise ongoing practice of relational safety in these initiatives. Deep empathy, relational safety, rational vs rationalising, despair map, risk response balance sheet, “1-2-7” and “creep – crash – crawl” to name a few. The knowledge and competencies needed are captured in three modules that make up PROTECT.

• CORE (Introductory Module): Lays the foundation of relational safety to balance risk vs recovery (Care Compass) and identifies the key shift in mindset
• ASSESS (Assessment Module): Provides comprehensive understanding of suicide phenomenology, the assessment process, clinical decisions (AWARE), formulation (DESPAIR) and documentation (NOTES)
• ASPIRE (Management Module): Provides in depth understanding of supporting the recovery journey from Safety Planning (SAFE & SOLVE) to Monitoring (Review Cycle) to Resilience building (VALUES) to working with family (LOVE & CARERS)