Year: 2020 Source: Carrollton, Georgia: University of West Georgia. (2019). 120 p. SIEC No: 20200104

School counselors play a dynamic role in addressing concerns of students at-risk of suicide.
Fulfilling this role requires the current pedagogy provided to school counselors be reformed to
include best practices involving suicide intervention. As such, establishing a framework to
address the increased rates of adolescent suicide is essential to promoting the socio-emotional
health and safety of students. This research examined the impact the Applied Suicide
Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) program had on school counselor’s ability to address
students at immediate risk for suicide. Twenty Professional School Counselors participated in
this mixed method research design in effort to determine influence ASIST had on competency in
suicide intervention and situational preparedness for students at-risk of suicide. Each participant
completed a SIRI-2 assessment prior to and at the conclusion of training, as well as a post-
training scenario questionnaire. Results concluded that participant scores did increase as a result
of ASIST training, and the open-ended questionnaire identified three themes School Counselors
found useful when addressing students at immediate risk for suicide: Immediacy, Intent, and
Empathy. Future considerations regarding suicide intervention and prevention in schools are included as well.