Thoughts on Suicide Awareness Month

September 10, 2016      |      Posted on Posted in Total Well-Being
Thoughts on Suicide Awareness Month
by Natalie Nibler,
Clinical Consultant for ACI Specialty Benefits
When things work out just as we hoped they would, we often attribute the result to things like skill, ability, planning and hard work. Other times, there are no solid explanations as to how problems or sensitive situations find a positive resolution; they just do as things fall into place without our intervention. In Career Counseling, we refer to those times where situations and circumstances spontaneously and beneficially align as “happenstance.”
 
It can be an amazing experience to witness happenstance occurring in our everyday lives. As a provider in the Mental Health field, I am always looking for ways to be more proactive for my client care and coordination of community resources. While brainstorming a few weeks ago, I happened to find a fundraiser race for a local nonprofit organization that provides a 24/7 suicide crisis hotline as well as aftercare, and crisis walk-in clinics. With it being Suicide Awareness Month, I definitely was interested but decided I would wait a little longer to think about it before committing. A few days later, I received a crisis call from a client who desperately needed immediate support. We talked for a great deal of time how to keep them safe, and determined that they were not in immediate danger of self-harm. They had a chronic history of hopelessness and falling through the cracks of the mental health system but desperately wanted help and support. At the end of the call I told my client I would work to connect them to an in-person clinic that can provide counseling support and walk in services.
 
Then the happenstance stepped in. I gathered the zip code and started the search and immediately found that the closest walk-in clinic was that of the same nonprofit that was putting on the race! As someone who talks for a living, I am never at a loss for words, but I was stumbling to form a sentence at that moment. It was undeniable that happenstance was providing some signs that participating in the race and fundraiser was the right decision. I left that day feeling good knowing that my client not only was no longer in danger and had been connected to free aftercare support, but also so excited to contribute in prevention further by participating in the Walk/Run fundraiser that I had been debating to do!
For more information on the organization and the upcoming race, here is the website:
Or contact the organization at: