Lifeline Services

Lifeline 24 hour crisis and referral line

Lifeline Gippsland provide a 24 hour Telephone Counselling, Information and Referral service that is available 24 hours a day seven days a week and is staffed by counsellors trained by Lifeline Gippsland itself.

ASIST - Suicide Intervention Workshop

Lifeline Gippsland provides ASIST Workshops - Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training to:

Caregivers seeking to prevent the immediate risk of suicide. Caregivers include people concerned about family,friends, counsellors, teachers and ministers, workers in health, welfare or justice, community volunteers, emergency service workers and responsible employers interested in the welfare of employees.

Fifty Australians die by suicide every week - young people and adults of all ages. How can further deaths be prevented? How can we support people to choose life when painful experiences prevent them from seeing a way forward?

Most people considering suicide signal their distress and their intent. Training can help us see and respond to these invitations to help. It can provide us with the confidence to ask about suicide if we are concerned about someone's safety.

LivingWorks is one of the most widely used suicide intervention training programs. Over 250,000 have completed the workshop world wide, 16,000 here in Australia. LivingWorks now has over 250 registered trainers located throughout every Australian state and territory. These trainers are from a wide range of community organisations. The two-day ASIST workshop is one of the most extensively evaluated suicide intervention training programs.

ASIST moves beyond suicide awareness to help participants develop skills in how to recognise and respond to a person at risk, linking them to further help.

Lifeline holds low priced workshops for the community. Phone or email us for further information and dates.

Lifeline's Suicide Crisis Support Program

Lifeline Gippsland has a new pilot program running to support people at risk of suicide. The Suicide Crisis Support Program was officially launched on the 3rd of April with the CEO of Lifeline Australia, Dawn Smith, and the coordinator, Jess Mills speaking to members of mental health agencies and the public.

The program is being run at five Lifeline centres this year, however Gippsland is the only regional location being trialled.

The Suicide Crisis Support Program is designed to support individuals who are in a current suicidal crisis (or supporting someone who is), by providing regular telephone counselling with a Support Counsellor, for a period up to 8 weeks. Support Counsellors have been specially trained for this realm of counselling and are supported by Lifeline Duty Supervisor’s and the Suicide Crisis Support Program Coordinator.

Throughout the eight week period the counsellor works with the client to manage their crisis. The program will aim to assist the client to develop relationship building skills; to have stronger help-seeking and coping skills; to be linked into longer term supports for the next time they are in crisis; and for the client to reconnect with their local community.

Clients will initially be referred to the program through the 13 11 14 crisis line number, however partnerships between Lifeline and the Gippsland Mental Health Services community will mean clients may be referred to the program externally also.

To participate in the program, people who are interested must be:

• 18 years of age or over
• At risk of suicide with a current situational crisis
• Or a close friend or family member supporting the person at risk of suicide
• Within Lifeline Gippsland’s call centre area (051 & 056 phone codes)
• Willing and able to give consent to participate in the program
• Able to receive calls at agreed times from a Support Counsellor

If you, or someone you know, are feeling suicidal and would like to find out more about the program, please call the Lifeline Gippsland office or if you would like to download these detail, follow the link:
SUICIDE CRISIS SUPPORT PROGRAM
If you need immediate counselling please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Trauma Response Team

Lifeline Gippsland have a number of trauma counsellors trained by the Department of Human Services who, in the event of an emergency, are available for community support at relief centres, call centres, at a designated venue or on site whenever there is a traumatic event in the community. This assistance involves restoring balance in people’s lives through providing emotional comfort, psychological first-aid and information as well as referrals. In the past we have provided support in times of drought, after bushfires or when a local community speaks out against abuse.

Workshops - Listening & Communication and Working With Difficult Behaviours

G.V.A.P

Lifeline Gippsland is the after hours service for the Gippsland Victims of Crime Assistance Program. Working in conjunction with Anglicare, Quantum Support Services and Gippsland Centre Against Sexual Assault, Lifeline Telephone Counsellors give crisis support, information and referral to any Gippslanders who have suffered or been affected by crime.