In this episode, I’m diving into one of the most important topics we face as school counselors—suicide prevention. As someone who has experienced the heartbreaking reality of losing students to suicide, this topic is very personal for me. But it’s also a call to action for all of us.

Here’s what you can expect from today’s episode:

• I share my own experiences as a school counselor and how suicide has impacted the schools I’ve worked in.
• We’ll talk about how September is Suicide Prevention Month and why it’s the perfect time to raise awareness with your students.
• I walk you through simple, effective strategies like classroom presentations, partnering with teachers, and creating safe spaces for students to talk about mental health.
• You’ll hear about real ways to make a difference with events like mental health fairs, anonymous drop boxes, and even role-playing scenarios to teach kids how to support their peers.
• Plus, I’m sharing a freebie! Download your 988 posters to hang up in your schools to help promote the suicide prevention hotline in a student-friendly way.

Grades 6-7 Suicide Prevention Lesson

Grades 8+ Suicide Prevention Lesson

Free 988 School Posters

Grab the Show Notes: Counselingessentials.org/podcast

Join Perks Counseling Club Membership and get the lessons, small group and individual counseling materials you need. Join now and get your first month free when you sign up for 3 months!

Connect with Carol:

• TpT Store
• Counseling Essentials Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Elementary School Counselor Exchange Facebook Group
• Caught In The Middle School Counselors Facebook Group
• High School Counselor Connection Facebook Group

Mentioned in this episode:

Perks Membership

Carol: You're listening to the counselor chat podcast, a show for school counselors looking for easy to implement strategies, how to tips, collaboration, and a little spark of joy. I'm Carol Miller, your host. I'm a full time school counselor and the face behind counseling essentials. I'm all about creating simplified systems, data driven practices, and using creative approaches to engage students. If you're looking for a little inspiration to help you make a big impact on student growth and success, you're in the right place, because we're better together. Ready to chat? Let's dive in.

Carol: Hi, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Counselor Chat. I'm Carol, your host. And today we're talking about a topic that's not only vital, but could actually save lives. We're talking all about suicide prevention month. Now, as school counselors, we play a really crucial role and raising awareness about suicide prevention, along with creating, of course, safe environments for students to learn all about mental health. But in today's episode, I thought, in honor of Suicide Prevention Month, I really want to go over with you guys some really concrete ways that we can contribute to September suicide prevention awareness month and really help our students learn more about how to protect themselves as well as each other. So are you ready? Let's just dive in. I want to start with saying when I first became a school counselor, I really wasn't equipped with helping others with really suicide. And when I first started my position as a high school counselor, within the first week, we actually had lost a recent graduate, one that had graduated that June. I started in September to suicide, and it devastated the tiny little community that I was in. Sadly, as I was leaving that district. And by this time, I had moved on to the middle school, another of our students had completed suicide. So we had lost two students over the course of 20 years, because I had worked there for 20 years. But still, two students in a tiny little district is two too many lives to lose. So I think knowing what we can do and talking to kids about suicide prevention, it's really crucial because we can, we can save lives. So if you're not really familiar with suicide Prevention Month, let's talk all about what that is, because every September, organizations all across the country really come together to raise awareness about suicide, promote prevention strategies, and really educate communities on how to recognize the warning signs. And for us as school counselors, this month is really an opportunity to highlight the importance of mental health, provide some resources to students, and really let them know that they're not alone. Now, before we really dive into how we can help. I also just wanted to share with you a couple of really quick statistics to put all of this into perspective. According to the CDC, suicide is the second leading cause of death among individuals aged ten to 24 in the US. The second leading cause of death in individuals ten to 24. That's a really sobering fact. But it also reinforces why the work we do during suicide prevention month, well and beyond this month, is so important. Because we can, my friends, we can make a difference by equipping our students with knowledge and the tools that they need when either they or their peers need it most. And having worked in schools for as long as I have, I do know that if a student is contemplating suicide, their peers are probably going to be the first to know. So let's talk about some really practical ways that we as school counselors can support our kids. I think one of the best ways to reach students is really through classroom presentations. And we can schedule these throughout September. Maybe even it goes on beyond September and just focus on topics like managing stress or recognizing the signs of depression, and most importantly, the power of seeking help, because it's really crucial that we start to really normalize conversations around mental health so our kids feel comfortable speaking up. I always tell my kids, sometimes you have to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. And they look at me like I'm strange. But if we can't talk about things that a lot of people find uncomfortable and talking about, we can't do a lot of that preventative work. We can't help. So sometimes the best thing that we can do is get comfortable with being uncomfortable. But when we're having our presentations in class, they really don't have to be super long because even a 20 minutes session can really make a lasting impact. I know at the middle school level, I used to partner up with our health teacher, and if you're uncomfortable doing it alone, or maybe you don't have the space or a classroom of your own to do this in, it's. It's okay to partner up with someone else. You can partner up with the nurse or the PE teacher or the health teacher, or maybe you do it in a science class, but you can talk about it and give the kids the skills to recognize those warning signs, and then to actually give kids the skills and the tools that if someone's telling them, one of their friends is saying, hey, I really want to kill myself, that they know what to do, because that's a really scary situation. I remember when my twins were in high school, and I think Charlie was about in 9th grade. Yeah. I want to say he was in 9th grade. Maybe it was even 8th grade, but it was either his 8th or 9th grade year. When he comes running up to me and he's like, mom. And he shows me his Snapchat. And on there, before it disappeared, Washington, one of his friends, it wasn't a close friend of his, but someone who decided that they were going to confide in him to say that they wanted to end their life. And I know that he spent some time like, no, people would miss you. You have to stay around and all the things that were awesome things to do. But the most important thing that Charlie did was come to me because as he's showing me this, I'm now freaked out. And I'm like, well, what's his last name and where does he live? And we didn't have much to go on, and I had to call the police and give him the limited information that I knew. I knew kind of where he lived, but not the exact house number. And I had to have someone go and do a wellness check on him because we were concerned. And I think we have to let our kids know that they shouldn't be the ones handling this information all on their own because most of them, they don't drive, they can't get there. There's not a whole lot that they can actually do. And it's great to maybe keep the person on their phone, but we really need those wellness checks done. We need someone who can go and check in on them, make sure that they're okay and take things maybe away from them, things that are sharp or pills or alcohol or whatever. And we have to let them know that that's a lot of weight to put on their shoulders. And they need an adult to help them in these types of situations. So I would talk with kids about all their questions that they had. And sometimes it was really just a super huge discussion, but those were important conversations to have with some of the younger students, maybe fifth and 6th grade. I would go in and talk about the warning signs. I might even have some pamphlets or infographics to share about them. And we would talk things like the warning signs, like maybe a sudden mood, mood change, or when people are withdrawing from their friends or they're talking about hopelessness. And we would also talk about, once again, where they can go for help. And I always like to really highlight not only that 988 number, but also resources that are right in our backyard, whether it's our counseling office or trusted teacher or maybe one of the local mental health organizations. But as we're having these conversations, we really want to make sure that we are creating a really safe space for these types of conversations, because open dialogue can be really powerful. And whether it's through a peer support group or simply holding office hours where students know that they can come by and drop in and talk, but being accessible really can make all the difference. Now, some kids might even feel a little bit uncomfortable in coming to talk to us or approaching us directly. So we can also, like I always had, especially when we were having these hard conversations or things that I thought, oh, I might have some kids coming out of the woodworks. For this one, I would put a little box with like a little drop box by my door so that if kids wanted to leave me a little note, they could just drop it in the box. I'd also bring this box to class. So if they had questions that they didn't want people to know that they were asking, they could drop it in the box. So the next time we got together, I would pull the questions out and I'd answer the questions. And that way they felt like they could ask things without everybody having eyes on them, like they were the ones that were maybe doing something wrong or having some sort of thoughts or they didn't want to be judged. So having a little box where people can just drop things in anonymously and they know that you're going to get to it and answer it and respond is really, it's an awesome thing to do. And of course, it doesn't take much to do. Other things that we can do is suicide Prevention Month is to maybe host a mental health awareness event. We've had some, even at the elementary levels where we've had a mental health awareness event. And we just talked about, we invited, sometimes we did these in the evening so that parents could come, and we had outside organizations come set up little booths. Usually we had it in the cafeteria and we provided some sort of like maybe parent university to go along with it. But we talked about things that we could do to help our kids. But you could even do this with kids themselves or whether they're in elementary, middle, or high school. In high school, we would have mental health fairs with our high school students, and those were pretty awesome. We, once again, we would have the different organizations come in. Usually we put them in the gym, maybe in the cafeteria, and we used to do this like during the day, like maybe right after lunch or before lunch, so that kids could walk around, ask questions. And it was a really great way to have our local mental health professionals come in and engage with our kids. And sometimes they even offered workshops or they had little mini Q and a sessions. And we also did things like we ran poster contests or, you know, now you might even want to do maybe a social media challenge that really focuses on positive mental health messages. And I know that at the high school level, we used to do positive messages every morning. And during the month of September, we would always talk about a stat, mental health related stat, just so that kids were aware of how prevalent mental health problems are in the United States. And I think when you talk about them openly and you share these numbers and these facts, you're letting them know that it's not just that. Like, if somebody's having a problem, it's not just them, that there are other people who maybe feel the same way or are struggling with some of the same things. And then we're giving them ideas of how they can get that help. Now, you might want to really teach suicide prevention, and another way to do that is not just going into class and having conversations, but maybe doing some role playing where you can have exercises where students really practice what they can say to a friend that they're worried about, and it gives them a chance to really work through the discomfort of these conversations in a really safe environment. You could even do like a find the help scavenger Huntley, where you can guide students to different places around the school where they can find mental health supports, whether it's in the nurse's office, a trusted teacher's classroom, or even in your office, a social worker's office, or your school psychologist's office. But you can have some fun with it, too. We also put up posters. So some nine, eight, eight posters, suicide prevention posters. And those are always great to hang around your school, and even things like in your classroom lessons or in your announcements, or in little messages that you're leaving around just having some positive mental health message as well out long resilience or coping strategies and emotional regulations. Because along with suicide prevention, we really want to weave sel into our curriculum. So we want to really focus on skills where our kids are learning to manage their feelings of sadness, anxiety, or hopelessness. And we give them skills to really handle these tough emotions and these situations, because in the long run, this really serves as a preventative measure because we want to help kids manage their stress before it really escalates. So maybe when they're little, like in our school, we're not really talking about suicide with our we little loves, but we are talking about how we can be resilient, how when things aren't going our way, we can remain calm. How when we're feeling really mad, we find ways to relax and calm down and ask for help. And these are things that we. These are the skills that we really want kids to learn. So suicide prevention, it's not something that is just for the big kids. It's for all of our kids. We have to approach it in a really age, developmental fashion. But there are things that we can do for all of our kids. Once again, I think one of the best things that we can do is really teach kids that if they notice a friend or classmate struggling, that they have options. They can either offer support, they can encourage their friend to seek help, or they can report their concerns to an adult that they really trust. We really want to remove the stigma around getting help or getting involved. Kids need to know it's okay to ask for help, especially when something kind of feels off. Now, I know that there are a lot of challenges to really consider when we're talking about these really sensitive issues. Stigma is one of the biggest barriers that we face, because students, they might be hesitant to talk about mental health because once again, they fear that they're being judged or that we might not understand what they're feeling, or it might not be something that they talk about in their family as kind of like a taboo subject. But we want kids to understand that talking about mental health is an okay conversation. Last but not least, my friends talking about suicide prevention can be emotionally taxing. So it's crucial that as counselors, we're also practicing self care, too. Make sure that you have a support system in place, whether it's a peer network of other counselors or a mental health professional that you can debrief with. Attend professional development workshops to stay informed, but also to get a break and maybe gain some new perspectives and set your boundaries. Don't carry the weight of the work around all day. Remember, you can't pour from an empty cup. But like I said in the very beginning, we don't go into this job thinking of these worst case scenarios. Like, we want to help kids really get through the day to day stuff, but this is more than the day to day. This is the really heavy, heavy never leaves you, makes an impact on your life kind of stuff. And if you do or have had a student that has completed suicide and you feel like you have all this weight of caring for your community, you have to have a plan for that. As we're talking about suicide awareness and suicide prevention. I think part of what we need to do as school counselors is to create a plan for ourself. If in the event something does happen, and that's what we're doing with our kids, we also need to do it for us as adults. So make sure that you have that network in place for yourself, that you know where to go for that help, that you know who's going to help ease the load that you're carrying if you ever have to go through this experience. As we wrap up today's episode, it's really important that we remember that suicide prevention month is really a time for us to be proactive. It's the opportunity to give our students the knowledge, the resources, and the support they need to navigate their mental health and to remind them that no matter what, help is always available. I used to tell my kids, in fact, I still tell my kids, you know, there are times in life where sometimes I can't do the work for them. It's just not possible. But they don't have to go through it alone. And there are times that I might be ahead of them as we forge along the path because I'm going to clear the way for them. There might be times that I'm walking behind them because I know that they need a little push to get through that path. And there are other times that I'm going to be walking right beside them and we're going to go through this together. And they have the skills that they need, and I'm just there in case they need me. But no matter what, they don't have to go it alone. But as I say all this, I've talked about a lot of stuff. If you need some things for suicide prevention, I have a couple lessons on that. I'm going to drop the links in the show notes, but I also have a freebie that I want to share with, with you guys, and that's on the nine eight eight posters. I created a couple that are really nice for the schools and you can put them in the bathrooms or in the hallways and they're just, I think they're kid appropriate, so I want to share those with you if you're interested. Like I said, check the link for the show notes. Anyway, my friends, if you have your own ideas or challenges around suicide prevention, hop on over to our Facebook groups, whether it's elementary school counselor exchange or cotton middle school counselors or the high school counselor connections, and let's get these conversations going. Let's talk about how we can help our kids around this heavy topic and what we can do to really make sure that we end the stigma of mental health and that we let them know that they have a really safe space to come to talk and to let us know what's going on. Anyway, until next time, I hope you guys have a really great week. Bye for now.

Carol: Thanks for listening to today's episode of Counselor Chat. All of the links I talked about can be found in the show notes and@counselingessentials.org podcast. Be sure to hit, follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast player. And if you would be so kind to leave a review, I'd really appreciate it. Want to connect? Send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram at counseling essentials until next time. Can't wait till we chat. Bye for now.