The History Behind Reaching Out
The Reaching Out video and workshop system was developed by the Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of BC in 2007. The goal was to create the next generation of classroom educational tools to help prepare youth to Reach Out — to get help for themselves and to help their friends overcome suicidal feelings. Reaching Out will upgrade the Crisis Centre’s existing Community Education youth suicide-prevention workshops facilitated by our volunteers in high schools across Greater Vancouver.
The Conducting a Risk Assessment training package is a new creation. It’s been produced to meet the demand by school counsellors, as well as other youth service professionals, for effective and simple tools to guide their work with youth in suicidal crisis.
Reaching Out and Conducting a Risk Assessment are the latest educational videos produced by the Crisis Centre to help prevent youth suicide.
“Urgent Messages” was the Crisis Centre’s first teen suicide prevention production, created in 1983. This film was widely used by educators across North America.
“Choices” made its debut in 1994. “Choices” won the Golden Sheaf award as Canada’s top public service sector video (in the Broadcast or Non-Broadcast category) that year. It also won the Gold Medal from the International Television & Video Producers Association for best non-broadcast public service sector video produced anywhere in the world in 1994. “Choices” is still used by educators around the world in countries like Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the United States to help hundreds of thousands of students.
Reaching Out offers a more comprehensive film and workshop package based on current research and is sure to become a mainstay of youth suicide-prevention resources.