March 8, 2023

Skills for Safer Living

Skills for Safer Living (SfSL) is a four-week group program for youth who have suicide ideation and their caregivers. This project is being funded by the Government of Alberta.

The group meets once a week for a 90-minute session for four weeks. In the sessions, youth learn to build skills and capacity to help keep themselves safe. Caregivers meet in a group that takes place at the same time. In addition to building capacity in youth, the program builds the same knowledge in families/caregivers. It intends to foster a feeling of support from and among caregivers in a situation that is scary, but not hopeless.

Each week the psychoeducational/psychosocial group will cover one of the four themes:

  • creating a climate of safety
  • building networks
  • identifying early warning signs
  • developing a safety plan

The sessions are led by an allied health professional and a peer facilitator who has lived experience. The program introduces basic language, skills, and concepts to better understand the thoughts and feelings associated with suicide and strategies to mitigate them and keep the participant as safe as possible. By the end of the program, each participant will have developed a safety plan and skills for keeping themselves safe.

Groups are being offered in-person in: