MU Extension Offers Free 1-Hour Suicide Prevention Class

Source: Karen Funkenbusch, 573-884-1268

COLUMBIA, MO. – An hour of your time could save a life.

The University of Missouri Extension will offer free one-hour suicide prevention training sessions online in April and May.

QPR Gatekeeper Training helps participants “question, persuade and refer” someone who may be suicidal, says MU Extension health and safety specialist Karen Funkenbusch. QPR was created in 1995 by clinical psychologist Paul Quinnett as an emergency mental health intervention for suicidal persons.

The free sessions, presented via Zoom, will help anyone who wants to know the warning signs of suicide, how to offer help and how to get help to save a life, Funkenbusch says. Participants learn to be “gatekeepers” who can recognize when a person might be in a suicide crisis and knows how to respond.

“A gatekeeper can be anyone,” Funkenbusch says. “We can all save lives. Signs of crisis are all around us. The QPR hourlong training empowers people to recognize those signs and make a positive difference.”

At the end of the training, attendees receive a two-year certification.

Dates and times:

• Tuesday, May 4, 12-1 p.m.
• Thursday, May 6, 12-1 p.m.
• Thursday, May 6, 6-7 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 11, 12-1 p.m.
• Thursday, May 13, 12-1 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 18, 6-7 p.m.
• Thursday, May 20, 12-1 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 25, 6-7 p.m.

Register at extension.missouri.edu/events/qpr-gatekeeper-training-via-zoom.

The Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant through Award # 2019-70028-30436 will fund the QPR Gatekeeper training.