Helping Crisis Counselors Reduce Access to Lethal Means

Reducing access to lethal means can save lives. Research has shown that means reduction is one of the most effective short-term interventions to increase the chance a person will survive a suicidal crisis. In our field, there has long been consensus on the effectiveness of this strategy and numerous tools to implement it before an acute suicidal crisis occurs. However, there have been a lack of resources for helping someone reduce their access to lethal means during a crisis. A new SPRC online course, designed specifically for crisis counselors, helps fill that gap. 

Lethal means, or methods, are objects, substances, or places someone may use to take their life. The harder it is to access these methods during a moment of acute suicidal crisis, the more likely the person experiencing the crisis will survive. Studies have found that many suicide attempts occur with very little time passing from the decision to attempt suicide to acting on those thoughts. For example, a 2005 study found that 24% of people with “nearly-lethal suicide attempts” reported only five minutes passing between the decision to end their lives and their attempt. Another 24% reported this time as being 5–19 minutes. Reducing access to lethal means creates critical time and distance between the person and the method of suicide so they can safely survive a crisis.

There are many invaluable resources available to help reduce access to lethal means, including Zero Suicide and CALM America trainings as well as information offered by Means Matter. However, these resources are primarily designed for outpatient and inpatient settings, to help a person make a plan for reducing access to means before a crisis occurs. They do not address what to do during acute moments of crisis, a situation faced frequently by those in the crisis response field. This concern has particular significance for crisis line workers.

To address that need, SPRC developed the free online course, Talking About Lethal Means: A Course for Crisis Counselors, with key input from Vibrant Emotional Health, the Trans Lifeline, the Crisis Text Line, the Veteran’s Crisis Line, and the Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD. Using videos, knowledge checks, and interactive scenarios, course learners can begin to tackle the fundamentals of reducing access to lethal means during a moment of acute crisis. The course covers content such as language for talking about lethal means, short-term interventions for a range of lethal methods, and considerations for involving emergency services. Learners complete the course with an understanding of the importance of lethal means reduction and concrete skills to use during these crisis conversations.

This course meets the urgent need of providing strategies for increasing immediate time and distance between an individual and lethal means in a crisis line interaction, as opposed to longer-term means reductions explored in outpatient settings. The course’s audience is highly specific, as the content is designed for crisis line workers only and is not applicable to other professionals or settings. We’re grateful to our partners for their contributions to this innovative online course and encourage you to join us in sharing it with crisis organizations across the country to help save lives.

Julia Loewenthal, LICSW

SPRC Project Associate

Education Development Center