The Crisis Centre provides educational workshops aimed at building suicide-safer communities. Our training includes skills training, healthy coping, communication, peer support, and education to prevent and respond to crisis and suicide.

We collaborate with and support agencies, front-line workers, social workers, first responders, education providers, industries, and the general public to develop an approach to suicide prevention.

 Crisis Centre 15+ & Adult Workshops

Crisis Communication Skills for Peer Support (enhanced SAFE TALK)

In this dynamic, three‑hour, hands-on workshop, participants learn how to recognize when someone may be struggling and respond with clarity, compassion, and confidence. Blending the strengths of suicide‑alertness principles with the ADEPT communication model, this session equips learners to stay present, listen deeply, and support others without slipping into fixing, rescuing, or avoidance.
Through engaging videos, guided discussion, and practical skill-building activities, participants explore how to notice subtle invitations for help, respond with steadiness rather than fear, and communicate in ways that de-escalate distress while honouring a person’s autonomy and dignity.

By the end of the workshop, participants will be better able to:

• Recognize signs that someone may be thinking about suicide and understand how these invitations for help often show up in everyday interactions.
• Apply the ADEPT Model to de-escalate heightened emotions through active listening, validation, and respectful communication.
• Move beyond common tendencies to miss, dismiss, or avoid distress, replacing them with confidence, curiosity, and compassionate presence.
• Empower rather than advise, supporting a person’s self-determination while still offering a steady, supportive connection.

This workshop is suitable for anyone who interacts with people—students, educators, helping professionals, managers, or community members. No prior experience is required; just a willingness to show up, lean in, and learn skills that truly make a difference.

ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training)

Living Works’ two-day, interactive workshop that prepares caregivers to provide suicide life-assisting first-aid intervention. This workshop is open to all caregivers, formally designated or not; adults and youth 16 plus.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be better able to:

• Identify people who have thoughts of suicide
• Understand how beliefs and attitudes can affect suicide interventions
• Understand a person who is thinking about suicide’s story about suicide
• Recognize turning points that connect the person to life
• Conduct a safety assessment and develop a plan that will keep the person thinking about suicide safe for now
• Confirm the person thinking about suicide’s commitment to the safe plan and their intent to follow it through.

ASIST caregivers complete the process that safeTALK helpers start, providing life-assisting, suicide first-aid intervention.