Photo of QPR Seminar for suicide prevention training Handout Booklet written by Paul Quinnett, Ph.D. ZENDRAH BONNICK / THE QUADRANGLE
Zendrah Bonnick, Asst. News Editor
On Thursday, March 12 and Wednesday, March 25, the Rodriguez Room in Miguel Hall at Manhattan University (MU) held the Question Persuade Refer (QPR) seminar for suicide prevention training. The event allowed faculty and staff to view a presentation on QPR and later discuss further with Carol Ciancutti, PhD., director of counseling and psychological services, who also gave the presentations at the university.
The QPR seminar calls for people who may be worried that someone they know might be suicidal to approach them with empathy, ask questions to person about whether or not they are suicidal, persuade them to seek help and refer the person to counseling or mental services that can help them. If students are nervous about seeking out the counseling center, accompanying them to the center can also be helpful in addition to contacting the university’s public safety number, the emergency 998 suicide and crisis line and other emergency mental health services like Trans Lifeline and Vets4Warriors.
An information booklet by Paul Quinnett, Ph.D., was handed out to those in attendance of the seminar. In it, it states, “When you learn QPR, you learn to lean into the other person’s pain, not lean away from it… Thus, using QPR is an act of courage.”
The Quadrangle spoke with members of the counseling center staff about the history of this program at MU, and its significance.
Ciancutti spoke on the role stigma plays in people’s wiliness to discuss the topic of suicide. She described misconceptions people often have about suicide that may make them hesitant to reach for someone.
“A lot of people worry that by asking someone if they are suicidal, [that] will make them suicidal,” Ciancutti said.
Ciancutti debunked this misconception and acknowledged the impact reaching out to someone can have.
“It’s the number one preventable death, just by showing someone you care you can make a difference,” Ciancutti said.
Later, Tim Bustle, a licensed social worker, and member of the clinical staff at MU’s counseling and psychological services articulated a similar sentiment.
“Just even talking about suicide, in that way, and trying to understand, it can feel extremely heavy, and it is a heavy thing,” Bustle said. “I think one of the things that QPR training does a good job of trying to demystify these sorts of myths around suicide. [A common myth] is if we talk about it, it can plant, like, a thought in someone’s head… If people are thinking about suicide, they are thinking about it on their own. So it’s much more helpful to talk about it and engage with it.”
Bustle went further to describe how a lack of understanding of suicidality and suicide prevention poses its own risks, and how the QPR seminar spreads information that works to combat the risks that come with being misinformed or uninformed.
“[It helps people] to not feel that ‘if I talk about this, I’m going to be sent to a hospital,’ because sometimes that is the case, but if someone really is an imminent harm to themselves,” Bustle said. “Before all of that sort of stuff, it is really having the space to explore, ‘why do I feel this way?’ At the crux of it is someone who feels like, ‘I don’t think I can change this, I don’t think I can change my environment. I’m really struggling to see a way out.’”
While discussing, Bustle gave an example of how using language that fits how people in a relationship usually communicate can be helpful. Meaning, talking to your friends with sensitivity but also using language they use to describe their situation.
“When talking with friends and family, even as a clinician, it can be really different, how am I engaged with that professionally versus personally,” Bustle said. “But I would say, just using your relationship with that person to say, ‘I’ve kind of noticed, that it seems like you’ve been down,’ and using this language to call attention to [it].”
During the interview, Bustle discussed that coming from a place of genuine concern and empathy is important when talking to a person who you may be concerned is suicidal. Emphasizing that while no student should be made to feel solely responsible for the wellbeing of another person, the genuine care and concern they can exercise could be a valuable resource toward the betterment of someone’s life.
“‘I was feeling concerned about you, and I just wanted to take the time to ask, have you been feeling that you might want to hurt yourself, or that you’ve been feeling suicidal, or that you don’t want to be here?’” Bustle said. “I wish there was a perfect phrase for how to have these conversations, but I think, just coming from a place of concern is always a good way to start that sentence. ‘I’m concerned [about you].’”
While speaking to members, the impact that social, political and financial stressors have on people’s mental health and wellbeing became increasingly evident. A major risk factor for suicidality also includes marginalization and ostracization, often affecting BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals.
At the moment the seminar is primarily given for faculty and staff, but Ciancutti expressed she hopes to someday be able to give the student body a seminar training them on suicide prevention. She later went on to clarify additional financial concerns that people have that make them hesitant to seek help.
“Access to the counseling center is free… All students have health insurance so not being able to afford hospital trips hasn’t been a concern,” Ciancutti said.