Online Counseling and Suicide Intervention Specialist (OCSIS)

Why it will work

When people are in a suicidal crisis they need help NOW! For online suicide crisis intervention to be effective it must be accessible, available 24/7, affordable at no or low cost, and anonymous. Convenience and privacy cannot be overemphasized for high risk groups, including males and youth. Helpers responding to those at-risk and untreated who cannot or will not access traditional services must be well trained.

Why this training program?

Sigmund Freud once said, “By words alone one person can make another person blissfully happy or drive him to despair.” In this unique course you will learn to use the power of the written word to save lives. The arc of human communications has been forever changed by the Internet, and this training program was created specifically to help suicidal people seeking assistance in cyberspace.

International students please note

Suicide rates for QPR courses are US-specific. To determine suicide rates in your country, please visit the World Health Organization at http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide_rates/en/ .

As you will see, many of these reports are quite dated. If your country keeps such data but does not necessarily report to WHO, try Googling federal, state, or province name and "suicide rate." If you are teaching suicide prevention courses you will need this data; the more local the data the better. But remember that suicide rates need 5 to 10 year horizons to be of much value as to interpreting any changes in trend lines.

The training program

Modularized in a rich mix of text, video, voice-over PowerPoint™ lectures, interactive practice sessions, and other state-of-the-art interactive and e-learning technologies, by the end of your training experience you will have met or exceeded the educational standards currently in place for clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and clinical social workers.

Prerequisites include text messaging and web navigation skills. The course is SCORM compliant and approved for continuing education.

Core competencies taught

The suicide crisis intervention and risk assessment competencies taught in this course are derived from nationally defined standards and recommendations as published by the American Association of Suicidology and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.  Further, these competencies are framed within the 2009 Practice Guidelines: Core Elements in Responding to Mental Health Crises as published by the U.S. Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Note:

The inclusion of the word "Counseling" in the title of this course was recommended following a comprehensive peer review process during which reviewers noted that "suicide crisis intervention" was an insufficient description of what is taught. The counseling skills taught in this course are specific to mitigating suicide risk, and thus the course is not a comprehensive or substitute training program in counselor education, but rather a value-added skill set for those serving persons at-risk for suicidal behaviors.

The key knowledge competencies taught to all participants to earn a Certificate of Course Completion are listed below.

1. Is aware of relevant suicide prevention efforts in own country
2. Understands the ethical principles for online services
3. Understands suicidal behavior, terms, statistics, phenomenology
4. Understands common myths and misconceptions about suicide
5. Understands suicidal desire and its sources
6. Understands suicidal capability (attempt history, intoxication, etc.)
7. Understands suicidal intent (attempt in progress, lethal planning, etc.)
8. Understands the relationship of suicide to violence toward others
9. Understands suicide buffers (social supports, ambivalence, etc.)
10. Demonstrates knowledge of suicide risk and protective factors
11. Understands the relationship psychiatric illness to suicide
12. Understands the purpose of means restriction
13. Identifies high risk groups, especially in cyberspace
14. Understands involuntary treatment laws/need to rescue

The OCSIS Certificate of Course Completion means that the learner completed all modules and successfully passed all required quizzes, exams, and practice challenges, thus demonstrating having mastered the knowledge competencies listed above.

Available to those who earn a Certificate of Course Completion the QPR Institute offers an advanced, interactive skill demonstration course in which the competencies taught may be practiced with other students. Called the OCSIS Certificate of Competency, this 10-hour certificate is earned only through structured learning and practice sessions with other learners or an Institute instructor. To earn this certificate, core competencies must be successfully demonstrated. Learners produce a portfolio of three text-only interventions, assessments and crisis plans for expert instructor review and objective scoring. An interview and final exam is conducted by an Institute faculty member in person, by phone, Skype or via a text channel. Enrollment is limited to those who have earned the OCSIS Certificate of Course Completion.

Pricing

Volunteers, students, and paid professionals may earn the “Online Counseling and Suicide Intervention Specialist” certificate. There are two certificates available:

Individual Certificate Pricing:

Note: This certification fee includes an option to engage with other learners to master the core competency skills and covers the certification examination and personal interview. Personal time with an expert faculty may also be purchased (see below).

The OCSIS Certificate of Competency is issued only by the QPR Institute. Since the awarding of this certificate requires an expert faculty review and evaluation of the learner's work product, together with a final personal interview, there is no volume discount available for this certificate.

Note: For students who wish to have a live, online expert instructor available to them for questions and answers, guidance, mentoring, and discussion, an additional fee of $100 is charged. Appointments can be made with the instructor for phone or SKYPE conversation, or communication via email at any time. Please allow reasonable response time for answers to your email questions, as your instructor may not be in your time zone.

For any questions with pricing, please contact Brian Quinnett @ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thank you for helping to prevent suicide.

OCSIS Testimonials

What volunteers and professionals say about the OCSIS training program.

Benefits and recommendations

“I liked how the didactic aspects of this training were interspersed with videos, actual cases and personal stories.” -Karen Varano

“I think the most beneficial part of the training was having the ability to do practice exercises with real cases and responses. Simulating an actual setting you might come across later is vital to fully understanding it.” -Danielle Cantarella

“I really liked how I was able to complete this training at my own pace. As a college student, I am often very busy with classes and other activities, but I was able to complete the training on time because I was allowed to do it whenever I had free time.” -Kayla Michelle Imrisek

“I would say that this program takes a lot of very important and helpful information and delivers it in an easy to read, easy to understand manner. Though I would not consider the course easy, I would say that after completion it is rewarding, and very encouraging.” – crisis line volunteer

“The QPR Suicide Intervention Specialist Training is very thoughtful and thorough. I already posted Dr. Quinnett's free e-book on my facebook page and to the online facebook community I joined after 3 Cornell University Students jumped to their deaths in one month recently.” – a college student