Suicide First Aid
Develop the skills to recognise when someone may be thinking about suicide and respond with care, confidence and appropriate support.
Suicide First Aid
This one-day Suicide First Aid course equips learners with the knowledge and practical skills needed to respond confidently when someone may be experiencing thoughts of suicide. Designed for use in both everyday and professional environments, the training explores suicidal thoughts and behaviours, helps learners identify signs that someone may be struggling, and introduces practical approaches for starting supportive conversations. Participants will also learn how to use the Suicide-Safety Guide to help keep someone safe and connected to appropriate support.
What is Suicide First Aid?
Suicide First Aid is a City & Guilds-accredited one-day course that helps learners understand suicide prevention and develop practical intervention skills.
The course introduces the knowledge, language and tools needed to recognise when someone may be thinking about suicide. It also supports learners to understand suicidal thoughts and behaviour, some of the causes behind them and how to respond in a way that helps someone move towards safety.
A key part of the course is the Suicide-Safety Guide. This gives learners a clear structure for recognising suicide thoughts, asking about suicide and exploring options for support.
Suicide First Aid does not make learners therapists, counsellors or clinicians. Instead, it helps them understand the suicide first aider role, including how to listen with care, ask supportive questions, assess risk within the scope of the role and connect someone with appropriate support.
For staff who work with people in distress, this training can help build a more confident and consistent approach to suicide prevention.
Who Is This Course For?
This course is suitable for anyone who may need to support others with thoughts of suicide and doesn’t require any previous experience or training. It is widely used across:
The course can be particularly helpful for people whose work involves supporting others through distress, uncertainty, pressure, crisis or moments of increased vulnerability.
It is also suitable for organisations that want staff to feel more prepared to recognise concern, respond calmly and understand what appropriate support might look like.
What Will Learners Gain From The Course?
By the end of the Suicide First Aid course, learners will have a clearer understanding of suicide prevention and how to support someone who may be thinking about suicide.
Learners will explore how to:
- Identify someone who may have suicidal thoughts
- Understand thoughts of suicide and behaviour, and some of the causes behind them
- Intervene to help create suicide-safety using the Suicide-Safety Guide
- Understand risk assessment within the suicide first aider role
- Recognise the importance of self-care when supporting others
The course is designed to build both knowledge and practical confidence. Learners are supported to engage with a sensitive subject in a carefully held environment, with time to reflect, ask questions and practise applying what they are learning.
The purpose here is to help you notice when someone may need support, ask carefully, listen with compassion and help the person move towards safety and appropriate help.
The Suicide First Aid course is delivered over one day.
It can be delivered:
- Face-to-face
- Online
The training is highly interactive and emotionally engaging. It includes tutor-facilitated Socratic learning, guided practice, mini-lectures, group work and audiovisual presentation.
The course is delivered by experienced suicide prevention trainers and is structured to help learners build understanding gradually. Sensitive topics are approached with care, while still giving people the opportunity to develop practical intervention skills.
This format helps learners move beyond awareness alone and begin practising how suicide prevention conversations can be approached in real situations.
What Does The Course Cover?
The Suicide First Aid course is structured across four parts.
Exploration
Part one sets the scene for suicide prevention by exploring stigma and the lasting impact suicide can have on those bereaved by it.
Learners consider the difference between suicidal thoughts and suicidal behaviour, intention and outcome, and some of the factors that may contribute to suicidal thoughts. This creates a careful foundation for understanding suicide prevention with compassion and context.
Wider Impact
The second part explores the wider impact of suicide, including the ripple effect, population-based prevention approaches and partnership working.
Learners also reflect on attitudes and values, supported by an audiovisual case study. This part of the course helps learners consider how beliefs, assumptions and social context can affect how suicide is understood and responded to.
Suicide-Safety Guide
In the third part, we focus on meeting the needs of someone who may be thinking about suicide. You are introduced to the Suicide-Safety Guide and explore how to recognise and ask about suicide. You consider options for support and how to approach conversations in a careful, direct and supportive way.
This section helps learners build practical confidence in having conversations that many people can feel unsure about.
Further Learning
The final part brings the learning together by focusing on safeguarding, suicide-safety and the importance of self-care.
Learners explore risk assessment within the suicide first aider role, as well as suicide and suicide gestures. The session also looks at further learning, helping learners leave with a clearer understanding of their role, their boundaries and how to look after their own wellbeing when supporting others.
What Will Learners Receive?
When the course is completed, all learners receive resources to support their learning and continued understanding..
Course takeaways include:
- Course workbook
- Digital certificate of attendance
- Optional RSPH Level 4 Award in Suicide First Aid®
These resources are designed to help learners revisit key parts of the course and continue developing their understanding after the training day.
Why Choose Changing Minds Training?
Changing Minds Training delivers suicide prevention and mental health training with care, clarity and practical focus.
Suicide prevention can feel difficult to talk about, even for people who are used to supporting others. Staff may worry about asking the wrong question, missing signs or not knowing what to do if someone says they are thinking about suicide. This course gives learners a clear framework, supportive practice and the confidence to take appropriate next steps.
Led by Founding Director Olivia-Louise Hamilton, Changing Minds Training brings together lived experience, professional clinical expertise and emergency services experience. This helps the training feel steady, thoughtful and relevant to real conversations.
Our approach is:
- Warm, human and reassuring
- Practical and confidence-building
- Sensitive around suicide prevention and mental health
- Focused on real conversations
- Clear about boundaries, risk and signposting
- Supportive of learner self-care
- Suitable for workplace, clinical, care and community settings
Learners are supported to build confidence carefully, with training that respects the seriousness of the subject without using sensational or distressing language.
Public and private Suicide First Aid courses
Public Courses
Public courses are suitable for individuals and small groups who would like to join an open course. These may be delivered online or at a public venue.
This can be a useful option for people who want to develop suicide intervention skills independently, or for organisations that only need a small number of places.
Private Courses
Private courses are delivered for one organisation at your premises, chosen venue or online.
This can be a helpful option when you want a group of staff to learn together and build a shared understanding of suicide prevention. Private delivery allows teams to develop a consistent approach to recognising concern, asking about suicide and supporting someone towards safety.
The Suicide First Aid course is available for groups of up to 16 learners.
Individual Rate
Group Rate
Is this the right course for your team?
Suicide First Aid is a strong option if you want staff to build practical suicide prevention skills and feel more confident responding when someone may be thinking about suicide.
This course is particularly useful for people working in health, housing, social care, education, emergency services, call centres, frontline support roles or any setting where staff may come into contact with people in distress.
It helps learners understand suicidal thoughts and behaviour, use the Suicide-Safety Guide, consider risk within the suicide first aider role and recognise the importance of self-care.
If you want your team to feel more prepared for sensitive conversations and clearer about what to do next, this course is a helpful place to begin.
If you would like to talk through whether Suicide First Aid is the right level for your team, we’re here to help you compare options.
Enquire about Suicide Prevention Training
Ready to bring Suicide First Aid training to your team or looking to book as an individual?
Get in touch to ask about public course places, private delivery or the most suitable suicide prevention training pathway for your organisation.
- Call Us Directly01737 632279
- Send an Emailenquiries@changingmindstraining.com
- Business Hours
Monday – Friday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM