The West Virginia Council for the Prevention of Suicide announces that it will host a workshop to educate the community and increase awareness about the silent epidemic of suicide. The workshop will be hosted on Friday, June 29 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express located at 100 Civic Center Drive in Charleston. Any individual interested in learning about the prevention of suicide is encouraged to attend.
Registration costs $15 and will begin at 8 a.m. the day of the workshop. Application has been made to offer continuing Education Units for West Virginia social workers, nurses, licensed professional counselors and certified addiction counselors in attendance. To register, please contact Lora Humphrey at 304-296-1731 at extension 4269.
“Education is one of the most effective ways to impact suicide statistics,” stated Bob Musick, executive director of the West Virginia Council for the Prevention of Suicide. “Our organization’s goal is to help the community understand that the problem is real, provide information about the many available resources to assist those in crisis, and bring awareness to the fact that suicide can be prevented when warning signs are recognized and addressed.”
Programming and educational efforts initiated by West Virginia Council for the Prevention of Suicide in recent years are working. According to the American Association of Suicidology, West Virginia has dropped from being the U.S. state with the seventh highest rate of suicide as a percentage of population to twentieth.
To continue battling the statistics, the workshop planned for June 29 will teach parents, educators and professionals the telltale signs of depression, suicide and the effects of substance abuse. The workshop will also address appropriate interventions and will review the proactive measures being taken by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services to lower suicide incidence rates.
The West Virginia Council for the Prevention of Suicide hopes to reach more than 1,200 workshop participants in its 2012 education series. For more information about the Charleston workshop or the West Virginia Council for the Prevention of Suicide, please contact Bob Musick at 304-296-1731 ext. 4181 or bmusick@valleyhealthcare.org, or contact Patrick Tenney, BA, at 304-296-1731 ext. 4197 or ptenney@valleyhealthcare.org.
