WW50 January 3, 2018: Intentions Behind the Foundation’s Educational Efforts in 2018

"Anchoring myself with an intention, I mindfully elect a path that prioritizes
love over overwhelm, and values happiness more than exhaustion."
                                                                                    -Mary Joan Cunningham
                                                                                    Health and Wellness Advocate

In 2018, it will be our intention to continue empowering caregivers and emergency
workers with educational articles and programs designed to increase understanding
and confidence in the power each person has to make a difference in the lives of
others. Our Wednesday Wisdom™ series will continue to provide our followers with
information intended to support and expand an understanding of best practices for
helping others. We are also adding a new educational series that will be featured
on alternate Wednesdays, titled, QPR Quick Quotes™.

Health and wellness advocate Mary Joan Cunningham states that by creating an
intention, we suddenly know how to measure our day. She further says that
“intentions cause us to connect with the goal behind the goal”. The goal of our
model for assisting others following any crisis in the workplace, Human Services
Response (HSR)™, is based on research and interviews with survivors which span
over thirty years. Our research shows that survivors wish to receive practical, timely
help, offered by all who have resources to assist them. Because employees of
organizations are the ones most frequently near survivors when bad things happen,
and a crisis occurs in their workplace, we believe in educating everyone on how they
can help. QPR is an intervention for suicide prevention that is based on the same
belief, that all who know someone experiencing personal distress can help and
even prevent suicide.

While our research began in the late eighties, it is important to note that leaders of
many mental health organizations are now encouraging other helpers to adopt a
similar model which emphasizes human resilience and healthy adaptation to trauma.
The following quote is a validation of the Foundation's approach to educating all
helpers and assumes that every employee can help in some way, without specialized
clinical or medical training.

        Traditional thinking about mental health care is profoundly flawed, and radical
        remedies are required. Our present approach to helping people in acute
        emotional distress is severely hampered by old-fashioned and incorrect ideas
        about the nature and origins of mental health problems, and vulnerable people
        suffer as a result of inappropriate treatment. [1]

"As with most serious, life-threatening human crises, a team approach is best.
Professionals can provide treatment for those mental and emotional conditions that
often sponsor thoughts of suicide. But those who live and work with the suicidal
person are often in the best position to help with day-to-day problems and
to rekindle hope."[2]
                                                                                               –Paul Quinnett, Ph.D.
                                                                                               Founder of the QPR Institute

The Foundation has partnered with the QPR Institute for the past three years and
has offered numerous training opportunities for our members and those who attend
our meetings, seminars, workshops, and classes. The Institute’s approach for
training peers, co-workers, family members, and friends on a practical approach for
offering support and hope to those who are coping with various life stressors,
matches our own belief that everyone can help someone in need. QPR is an
acronym for question, persuade and refer. Like those who practice HSR, responders
trained in QPR need not have training as a counselor or any education as a
medical professional. A desire to help and willingness to listen and connect with
another person are the only requirements for practitioners of QPR.

Dr. Paul Quinnett, who founded the Institute and developed the QPR model,
emphasizes that people who commit suicide do not want to die—most often they
are facing a problem for which they alone are not able to see a solution. Being
able to share with one other person even a small amount of information about the
problem can be the beginning of hope. 

Starting January 10, QPR Quick Quotes will include valuable information about
supporting others who may need assistance during a challenging time in their life.
We will also include examples of where a peer, supervisor, or other caring person
has followed this simple, but effective model, and saved a life. For more information
on QPR programs see www.qprinstitute.com. To follow the Foundation's educational
programs including learning how you can become a certified QPR trainer, see
www.fafonline.org/qpr or call Dede Young at +1 404-881-2895 and ask about
upcoming classes and training opportunities. 
 

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[2] Quinnett, Paul. The Tender Leaves of Hope: Helping Someone Survive a Suicide
Crisis. (1993)

 

                                                                   

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