Elements and Performance Criteria
- Identify and assess a caller's current suicide risk
- Recognise and respond to signs (such as statements, reactions, thoughts, feelings or disclosed behaviours) indicating that a caller may be considering or affected by suicide
- Attend to any hunches while listening to a caller, perhaps from indirect communications that suggest they may be considering suicide
- Ask directly about suicide whenever there are grounds for concern
- If suicide thoughts are present:
- Seek sufficient understanding of why the person is considering suicide, and what links them to life, to guide and facilitate the intervention
- Assess current suicide risk guided by risk assessment considerations outlined in the Range Statement and by whether there is an imminent threat to the caller's safety or the safety of others
- Apply telephone counselling skills to reduce immediate risk of suicide and increase caller safety
- Build a collaborative, empathic working relationship with the caller that acknowledges how thoughts of suicide and painful feelings behind them may affect their safety
- Listen to what lies behind thoughts of suicide, while affirming and strengthening the links to safety and living implicit in search for help that prompted the call
- Work with the caller to develop and implement a safety plan that builds on an assessment of suicide risk and reduces the immediate danger of self-harm or suicide
- Facilitate access to emergency medical help in any call where it is assessed to be needed to address an imminent threat to the caller's life or safety (such as a potential suicide in progress)
- Remain mindful of and address, as much as possible over the phone, potential risk to the safety of others involved in the situation
- Be aware of situations where police may need to be involved to address the safety of the caller or others and act accordingly
- Seek and act on feedback from the workplace supervisor and other internal performance review processes to ensure counselling is lawful, complies with good suicide intervention practice, and organisation policies consistent with that practice, ethical processes and duty of care obligations
- Observe occupational health and safety (OHS) obligations in relation to managing oneself
- Facilitate and strengthen the caller's links to further care
- Having worked with the caller to take any steps needed to address immediate safety:
- Acknowledge how the decision to seek and respond to help in this call has provided foundations for further care
- Provide information to enhance the caller's awareness of the nature and range of available resources and how to access them
- Explore the caller's openness toward available help and where possible address barriers to further help-seeking
- Develop with the caller an agreed plan and first steps for accessing and utilising informal supports and professional help that deal with their suicidality and factors associated with it
- Encourage further use of telephone counselling support and other services when needed
- Provide suicide intervention support that resources the caller beyond the immediate suicidal crisis
- When or if it is assessed that there is no imminent risk that needs to be immediately addressed:
- Identify those aspects of the caller's distress and concern related to their suicidal thoughts that most need attention now
- Help the caller identify coping strategies (both internal and external) which prepare them to manage any recurrence of suicidal thoughts in future, highlighting steps they could take to increase their safety and get help
- Determine whether underlying mental health concerns or personal circumstances (such as depression, substance misuse, significant losses or trauma) are present and require further help
- Provide counselling support to any caller concerned about someone at risk of suicide by exploring and determining the basis of concern and the potential role they may play in increasing that person's safety
- Provide counselling support to any caller impacted by someone else's suicide to ensure the nature of their concerns is explored, threat of risk to caller is evaluated and access to further help is facilitated
- Comply with laws, ethical guidelines and policy requirements that affect duty of care
- Document the suicide risk assessment and safety plan, including any follow up steps taken and the rationale behind them