Dr Radhika Tonsey
M.D. (Homeopathy)
One of the main reasons why I signed up for the Gatekeeper Training Course for Suicide Prevention was because of the research and reading I had been pursuing for the past 3 years. The pandemic showed us how we are facing a mental health crisis, that has long term consequences.
Given this, I thought it would be good to equip myself with tools and skills to be able to do a better job and aid wherever it was needed around me.
The skills I learnt during the course included rapport development, confidentiality, creation of a safe space and a safety plan. To empower and enable my patients to share their vulnerability has been one of the greatest skills I have learnt from this course.
The cohort learning was one of the most useful aspects of this course. In every session, there were a great number of articles and research material shared between batch mates. The course material was comprehensive, and the facilitators accommodated all our queries. We were able to create a safe space to share our stories too.
Vanshika Soni
B.A. Psychology, Indore
I enrolled for the Gatekeeper Training Course for Suicide Prevention because I have had close friends and family members who have struggled with their mental health. I was driven to enhance my support abilities and as someone with a background in psychology, I saw this as an opportunity to upgrade my skills in this field.
My biggest takeaways from this course include the warning signs of suicide, and how to provide support to those in crisis. Furthermore, being a gatekeeper can be a challenging and demanding role, so the need to take care of oneself when supporting individuals at risk of suicide is essential. I am grateful for the knowledge and skills gained from this course and feel better equipped to support those in need.
The facilitators were exceptional, creating a safe and non-judgmental environment that allowed for open communication and a deeper understanding of the subject matter. I appreciate the interactive approach and would highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn about suicide prevention and how to support others who may be struggling. It’s essential for all of us to have a basic understanding of mental health and suicide prevention, and this course provides just that.
Adarsh Ratnakaran
Research Associate, MeHeLP India Foundation
A person close to me lost their life to suicide, and even after having a background in mental health, I had limited information about suicide prevention. I signed up for CMHLP’s Gatekeeper Training Course for Suicide Prevention to increase my awareness.
The course has helped me clear my misconceptions about suicide. It has helped me change the fatalistic attitude I had toward the issue. Another key learning was the need to build protective factors that can be critical for suicide prevention.
The learning was provided through an interactive medium using discussions and role plays that accommodated everyone’s views. The content was delivered in a way that made it easy to understand for a person without any background in mental health, thus making it suitable for everyone. It is particularly useful for anyone whose work or social life involves interacting with a lot of people since they are more likely to notice a person in distress.
